Audi A8, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls
9,339 Audi A8s are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 87.2% of initial MOT tests, 14.9 points above the 72.3% UK average.
Looking at a specific A8? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Audi A8 at the MOT
87.2% of 11,123 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the A8 87th of 575 models. Audi A8s aged 3 to 5 years passed 93% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 82.2%.
First-time pass rate, 2025
Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.
Pass rate by age at test
Audi A8 tests in 2025.
Where A8s fail
Share of all failure items recorded on Audi A8 tests in 2025.
The items testers recorded most often were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (6.3%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (6.2%) and condition has ply or cords exposed (5.8%).
The MOT page lists every common A8 MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.
What to look at on a viewing
The A8's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks in each.
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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.21.1% of A8 failure items
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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.18% of A8 failure items
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Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.16.2% of A8 failure items
Audi A8s in the UK
9,339 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has fallen 27% since the end of 2014.
- Change since 2014
- −27%from 12,771 licensed
- Typical year of first use
- 2015half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2015 or earlier
- First registered in 2025
- 154against 1,118 in 2018
- Declared off the road
- 3,42127% of those registered, under SORN
Licensed Audi A8s since 2014
Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.
Show the figures
| Date | Licensed |
|---|---|
| End of 2014 | 12,771 |
| End of 2015 | 13,066 |
| End of 2016 | 13,228 |
| End of 2017 | 13,024 |
| End of 2018 | 13,041 |
| End of 2019 | 12,822 |
| End of 2020 | 12,452 |
| End of 2021 | 12,178 |
| End of 2022 | 11,755 |
| End of 2023 | 11,173 |
| End of 2024 | 10,341 |
| End of 2025 | 9,740 |
| End of June 2026 | 9,339 |
How old they are
Licensed Audi A8s by year of first use.
- Licensed at the end of 2025
- First registered that year
A further 626 were first used before 2006.
Show the figures
| First used | Licensed, end 2025 | First registered that year |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 139 | 154 |
| 2024 | 102 | 124 |
| 2023 | 336 | 394 |
| 2022 | 230 | 265 |
| 2021 | 254 | 321 |
| 2020 | 355 | 425 |
| 2019 | 669 | 825 |
| 2018 | 885 | 1,118 |
| 2017 | 566 | 679 |
| 2016 | 647 | 823 |
| 2015 | 723 | 1,010 |
| 2014 | 720 | |
| 2013 | 621 | |
| 2012 | 581 | |
| 2011 | 567 | |
| 2010 | 355 | |
| 2009 | 268 | |
| 2008 | 460 | |
| 2007 | 330 | |
| 2006 | 219 |
723 A8s first used in 2015 were still licensed at the end of 2025, roughly 72% of the 1,010 first registered that year.
A8 engines and fuel
3.0 litre engines made up 76% of Audi A8 MOT tests in 2025, followed by 4.1 litre at 7.2%. Diesel accounts for 85% of licensed A8s and petrol for 12%.
Engine size at MOT, 2025
Share of 11,121 initial MOT tests in 2025.
Fuel type, licensed A8s
DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.
| Fuel | Licensed | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 1,155 | 12% |
| Diesel | 7,899 | 85% |
| Plug-in hybrid | 257 | 3% |
| Hybrid electric | 19 | 0.2% |
| Gas | 9 | 0.1% |
Audi A8 recalls
24 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Audi A8. The 8 most recent are below. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every A8 is affected.
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Oct 2025 R/2025/441
Software update for battery control unit
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.
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Jul 2024 R/2024/310
Replacing front suspension link
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- A suspension link on the front axle that has invisible cracks may have been fitted to your vehicle. This possible damage means the service life of the suspension link can no longer be guaranteed and the component may fail. A failure particularly at higher speeds may result in vehicle behaviour that is difficult to control.
- Remedy
- For safety reasons it is necessary to replace the front upper left suspension link
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May 2022 R/2022/132
The mesh size of the oil strainer in the oil supply for both turbochargers is too small
Defect and remedy
- Remedy
- The oil strainer will be replaced with a revised version with a larger mesh size.
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Feb 2022 R/2022/036
Following a previous campaign the toe and/or camber values on the rear axle may in certain circumstances incorrectly be changed without this being noticed
Defect and remedy
- Remedy
- The wheel alignment must be checked and if necessary the suspension must be serviced on the affected vehicles.
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Sep 2021 R/2021/330
Function of the driver airbag might be restricted due to its age
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- On vehicles with 3-spoke steering wheel manufactured within a specific period the function of the driver airbag may be restricted due to its age.
- Remedy
- The gas generator in the driver airbag must be replaced on the affected vehicles.
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Sep 2021 R/2021/234
The deployment of the Takata airbag may be delayed or insufficiently powerful due to a potential reduction in the performance of the gas generator
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- On vehicles with TAKATA driver airbag and NADI gas generator manufactured within a specific period it is possible that the function of the driver airbag may be restricted due to its age.
- Remedy
- The driver airbag unit must be checked on the vehicles affected and the gas generator must be replaced if necessary
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Jun 2021 R/2021/236
Rear axle suspension links nuts do not meet specifications
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- One or more nuts which do not meet the specifications may have been fitted on the rear axle suspension links.
- Remedy
- The affected nuts on the rear axle will be replaced on affected vehicles.
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Oct 2020 R/2020/287
The engine compartment seal may become deformed and loose
Defect and remedy
- Defect
- The engine compartment seal may become deformed and come loose in unfavourable circumstances
- Remedy
- A retaining plate will be fitted on the affected vehicles to prevent the engine compartment seal from coming loose.
Audi A8 FAQs
How many Audi A8s are there in the UK?
9,339 Audi A8s were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 3,421 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.
Is the Audi A8 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 87.2% first-time pass rate for the Audi A8 across 11,123 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.
Has the Audi A8 had any recalls?
24 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Audi A8. 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 A8?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: tyres, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension. 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 A8'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 A8?
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.