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Audi A7, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls

16,317 Audi A7s are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 84.5% of initial MOT tests, 12.2 points above the 72.3% UK average.

Looking at a specific A7? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.

Audi A7 at the MOT

84.5% of 16,921 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the A7 126th of 575 models. Audi A7s aged 3 to 5 years passed 88.8% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 80.8%.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Audi A784.5%
  • All Audi modelsThe A7 is 6 pts ahead78.5%
  • All cars72.3%

Pass rate by age at test

Audi A7 tests in 2025.

  • 3 to 5 years2,313 tests88.8%
  • 6 to 10 years8,900 tests85.4%
  • 11 years and over5,368 tests80.8%

Where A7s fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Audi A7 tests in 2025.

  • Tyres37.3%
  • Suspension18.4%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment12.2%
  • Brakes8%
  • Visibility6.8%

The items testers recorded most often were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (12.3%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (7.8%) and condition has ply or cords exposed (7.7%).

The MOT page lists every common A7 MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.

Full Audi A7 MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The A7's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks in each.

  1. Tyres

    Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear.37.3% of A7 failure items

  2. Suspension

    Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.18.4% of A7 failure items

  3. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

    Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting.12.2% of A7 failure items

Audi A7s in the UK

16,317 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has grown 96% since the end of 2014, although it peaked at 17,570 at the end of 2022.

Change since 2014
+96%from 8,323 licensed
Typical year of first use
2016half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2016 or earlier
First registered in 2025
109against 2,673 in 2016
Declared off the road
1,1806.7% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Audi A7s since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 20148,323
End of 201510,355
End of 201612,825
End of 201714,188
End of 201815,399
End of 201916,556
End of 202016,758
End of 202117,427
End of 202217,570
End of 202317,379
End of 202417,132
End of 202516,712
End of June 202616,317

How old they are

Licensed Audi A7s by year of first use.

  • Licensed at the end of 2025
  • First registered that year

A further 95 were first used before 2011.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025First registered that year
202595109
2024371408
2023475549
2022440509
2021641799
2020613765
20191,4231,699
20181,3541,633
20171,5041,804
20162,1232,673
20151,7472,361
20141,719
20131,692
20121,093
20111,283

1,747 A7s first used in 2015 were still licensed at the end of 2025, roughly 74% of the 2,361 first registered that year.

A7 engines and fuel

3.0 litre engines made up 83% of Audi A7 MOT tests in 2025, followed by 2.0 litre at 12%. Diesel accounts for 90% of licensed A7s and petrol for 8.4%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 16,919 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 3.0 litre83.4%
  • 2.0 litre11.7%
  • 4.0 litre4.8%

Fuel type, licensed A7s

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol1,3698%
Diesel14,69290%
Plug-in hybrid2562%

Audi A7 recalls

14 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Audi A7. The 8 most recent are below. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every A7 is affected.

  1. Oct 2025 R/2025/463

    Software update for battery control unit

    A7s built Dec 2021 to Jun 2024 · 6,160 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    On affected vehicles there may be defective battery modules which may result in a fire hazard when charging the high-voltage battery.
    Remedy
    Update the software of the high-voltage battery to improve the self-diagnosis capabilities. Vehicle owners are advised to not charge the high-voltage battery using external charging sources and also not use the e-tron modes "Battery charge" and "Battery hold" until the update is applied.

  2. Oct 2023 R/2023/317

    On certain vehicles an incorrect bracket for the side airbag was fitted in the left front seat

    A7s built Jul 2023 · 5 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    Replace the side airbag and bracket.

  3. Jan 2023 R/2023/027

    The fuel gauge may not show the drop in fuel level correctly during vehicle operation

    A7s built Apr 2018 to Oct 2021 · 5,487 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    The tank level sender must be replaced on the affected vehicles.

  4. Jun 2022 R/2022/169

    Engine control units might be fitted with semiconductor components that do not meet specifications

    A7s built Jan 2022 to Feb 2022 · 109 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    On a small number of vehicles manufactured within a specific period it is possible that the engine control units were fitted with semiconductor components which do not meet the specifications.
    Remedy
    The engine control unit must be replaced on the affected vehicles.

  5. May 2022 R/2022/132

    The mesh size of the oil strainer in the oil supply for both turbochargers is too small

    A7s built May 2012 to Mar 2017 · 4,690 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    The oil strainer will be replaced with a revised version with a larger mesh size.

  6. Jun 2021 R/2021/204

    Vehicles may have been fitted with a hinged towing bracket on which the locking mechanism in the hinge module could be faulty

    A7s built Dec 2015 to Dec 2018 · 263 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    The hinge module for the towing bracket must be checked and where necessary replaced on the vehicles affected.

  7. Mar 2021 R/2021/117

    The front passenger airbag might not inflate fully in the event of an accident

    A7s built Feb 2018 to Dec 2020 · 1,298 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    In the event of an accident requiring the vehicle's front passenger airbag to be activated the airbag might not inflate fully.
    Remedy
    The dash panel must be checked on the affected vehicles and repaired or replaced if required

  8. Jun 2020 R/2020/138

    Moisture may enter the belt-driven starter-alternator

    A7s built Jun 2017 to Mar 2020 · 34,982 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    It is possible that moisture may enter the belt-driven starter-alternator.
    Remedy
    The starter-alternator must be replaced on the affected vehicles.
How to check a specific A7 for recalls

Other Audi models

The most-tested Audi models in 2025, against the A7's 84.5% MOT pass rate.

All 24 Audi models

Audi A7 FAQs

How many Audi A7s are there in the UK?

16,317 Audi A7s were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 1,180 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Audi A7 reliable?

MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is an 84.5% first-time pass rate for the Audi A7 across 16,921 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.

Has the Audi A7 had any recalls?

14 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Audi A7. The most recent was published in October 2025. A recall applies to vehicles built in a set period, so check a specific car on the GOV.UK vehicle recall checker.

What should I check before buying a used Audi A7?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: tyres, suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment. Then check the individual car's own records. Outstanding finance, insurance write-offs and police stolen markers are not part of the MOT record, so they take a history check.

How do I check an Audi A7's history?

Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.

Already found an A7?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

Across the 1,548 vehicles of every make Carpeep has checked since November 2025, 19% had outstanding finance recorded and 13% an insurance write-off. More on the Audi history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Audi VIN check.

  • Outstanding finance
  • Write-off records
  • Stolen markers
  • Mileage history
  • Previous keepers

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), which also gives the engine sizes. Licensed, SORN, fuel and registration figures are from the Department for Transport vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0120, VEH0124, VEH0160). Recalls are from the DVSA vehicle recalls data, with recalls launched up to October 2026. Government data is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability. History-check findings are anonymous counts from reports bought on Carpeep, each vehicle counted once, and are published only where at least 100 vehicles returned an answer.