Audi A7 MOT pass rate and common problems

The Audi A7 passed 84.5% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 12.2 percentage points above the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm.

Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.

How the A7 compares

Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.

84.5%

Audi A7

78.5%

Audi average

72.3%

UK average, all cars

The A7 runs 6 points ahead of the Audi average. It is 12th of the 24 Audi models in the data. The average A7 arrived at its test 9.3 years old with 86,444 miles recorded.

A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.

A7 MOT pass rate by age

The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.

Audi A7 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 88.8% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 80.8%, a drop of 8 percentage points.

Age at testTestsPass ratevs UK average
3 to 5 years 2,313 88.8% 16.5 pts above
6 to 10 years 8,900 85.4% 13.1 pts above
11 years and over 5,368 80.8% 8.5 pts above

That is a typical decline as cars age. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.

Where A7 failures cluster

Every failure item recorded on Audi A7 cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.

  • Tyres37.3%
  • Suspension18.4%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment12.2%
  • Brakes8%
  • Visibility6.8%
  • Noise, emissions and leaks5.8%

Tyres and suspension together account for 55.8% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.

The 10 most common A7 MOT failures

Specific items recorded on Audi A7 cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.

  1. 1Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mmTyres 12.3%
  2. 2Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively wornSuspension 7.8%
  3. 3Condition has ply or cords exposedTyres 7.7%
  4. 4Condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cordsTyres 7.1%
  5. 5Coil spring fractured or brokenSuspension 4.3%
  6. 6Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunctionNoise, emissions and leaks 4.1%
  7. 7Headlamp aim too lowLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.1%
  8. 8Condition has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structureTyres 3.4%
  9. 9Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectivelyVisibility 3.3%
  10. 10Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thickBrakes 3.3%

Together these 10 items make up 57.5% of everything testers recorded against failed Audi A7 cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.

What to look at on a A7

The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.

1

Tyres

Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, condition has ply or cords exposed, condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords and condition has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure. 30.4% of failure items.

2

Suspension

Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn and coil spring fractured or broken. 12.2% of failure items.

3

Noise, emissions and leaks

Recorded most often: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction. 4.1% of failure items.

4

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

Recorded most often: headlamp aim too low. 4.1% of failure items.

The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific A7 has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Audi A7 buying guide.

Already found one?

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

Audi A7 MOT FAQs

What is the Audi A7 MOT pass rate?

84.5% of Audi A7 cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 16,921 tests. That is 12.2 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 126th of 575 models.

What does an Audi A7 most commonly fail its MOT on?

The item testers recorded most often on Audi A7 cars failing their 2025 MOT was tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, on 12.3% of failure items. Next were pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (7.8%) and condition has ply or cords exposed (7.7%).

Which area causes the most Audi A7 MOT failures?

Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was tyres at 37.3%, followed by suspension at 18.4%.

Do older Audi A7 cars fail their MOT more often?

Audi A7 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 88.8% of MOT tests in 2025, against 80.8% for cars aged 11 years and over.

Does this mean every Audi A7 has these problems?

No. These are the items testers recorded across every Audi A7 that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.

How do I see a specific Audi A7's MOT history?

Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.