71.5%
Volkswagen Passat pass rate
Used Volkswagen Passat buying guide
In 2025, Volkswagen Passat cars passed 71.5% of 175,901 initial MOT tests, 0.8 points below the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Passat? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Volkswagen Passat MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
−0.8
percentage points below average
Ranked on pass rate the Passat sits 323rd of 575 models in the data. Volkswagen as a brand averaged 73.1%, so this model runs 1.6 points behind its own brand. Volkswagen Passat cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 87.8% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 63.3%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Volkswagen Passat MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Passat compares with similar cars.
Passat fuel types
Diesel made up 88.4% of Volkswagen Passat MOT tests in 2025, against 39.3% across all models in this data. Almost every used example you look at will be a diesel.
Where the Passat fails its MOT
Where Volkswagen Passat cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (6.7%), coil spring fractured or broken (6.5%) and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (6.4%). See every common Passat MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Volkswagen Passat that failed, not a claim that every Passat has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Passat?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 29.2% of Passat failure items.
2
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. 18.3% of Passat failure items.
3
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. 18.2% of Passat failure items.
4
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 11.6% of Passat failure items.
5
Body, chassis, structure
Look underneath and along the sills for corrosion, and check for damaged or poorly repaired panels. 6.8% of Passat failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
Passat vs similar cars
Head-to-head comparisons on the same 2025 DVSA data.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Volkswagen Passat failures cluster around suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact Passat you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Volkswagen history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Volkswagen models
The most-tested Volkswagen models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Passat.
- Used Volkswagen Golf 75.1% MOT pass rate
- Used Volkswagen Polo 67.4% MOT pass rate
- Used Volkswagen Transporter 68.3% MOT pass rate
- Used Volkswagen Tiguan 81.4% MOT pass rate
- Used Volkswagen Caddy 68.4% MOT pass rate
- Used Volkswagen Up 79.7% MOT pass rate
See all 31 Volkswagen models ranked by MOT pass rate.
Used Volkswagen Passat FAQs
Is the Volkswagen Passat 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 a 71.5% first-time pass rate for the Volkswagen Passat across 175,901 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Volkswagen Passat cars fail their MOT more often?
Volkswagen Passat cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 87.8% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 63.3%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Volkswagen Passat?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: suspension, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and tyres. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a Volkswagen Passat'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.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.