60.7%
Volkswagen Bora
Volkswagen Bora MOT pass rate and common problems
The Volkswagen Bora passed 60.7% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 11.6 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was position lamp not working.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Bora compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
73.1%
Volkswagen average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Bora runs 12.3 points behind the Volkswagen average. It is 27th of the 31 Volkswagen models in the data. The average Bora arrived at its test 21.8 years old with 140,293 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.
Bora MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 years and over | 4,358 | 60.7% | 11.6 pts below |
Every Volkswagen Bora tested in 2025 was aged 11 years and over, so there is no other age group to compare with. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Bora failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Volkswagen Bora cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and brakes together account for 43.9% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Bora MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Volkswagen Bora cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 33.2% of everything testers recorded against failed Volkswagen Bora cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Bora
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working, headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect and stop lamp not working. 12.8% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, coil spring fractured or broken, component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength and ball joint excessively worn. 11.1% of failure items.
3
Body, chassis, structure
Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 4.6% of failure items.
4
Brakes
Recorded most often: rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements. 2.6% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Bora has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Volkswagen Bora buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Volkswagen Bora MOT FAQs
What is the Volkswagen Bora MOT pass rate?
60.7% of Volkswagen Bora cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 4,358 tests. That is 11.6 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 485th of 575 models.
What does a Volkswagen Bora most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Volkswagen Bora cars failing their 2025 MOT was position lamp not working, on 5.2% of failure items. Next were headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.7%) and joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.6%).
Which area causes the most Volkswagen Bora MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 26.5%, followed by brakes at 17.4%.
Does this mean every Volkswagen Bora has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Volkswagen Bora 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 Volkswagen Bora'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.