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Volkswagen Passat, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls

171,812 Volkswagen Passats are licensed in the UK, the 58th most common model on the road. In 2025 they passed 71.5% of initial MOT tests, 0.8 points below the 72.3% UK average.

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

Volkswagen Passat at the MOT

71.5% of 175,901 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the Passat 323rd of 575 models. Volkswagen Passats 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%.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Volkswagen Passat71.5%
  • All Volkswagen modelsThe Passat is 1.6 pts behind73.1%
  • All cars72.3%

Pass rate by age at test

Volkswagen Passat tests in 2025.

  • 3 to 5 years14,652 tests87.8%
  • 6 to 10 years65,292 tests79%
  • 11 years and over93,769 tests63.3%

Where Passats fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Volkswagen Passat tests in 2025.

  • Suspension29.2%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment18.3%
  • Tyres18.2%
  • Brakes11.6%
  • Body, chassis, structure6.8%

The 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%).

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

Full Volkswagen Passat MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The Passat's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks 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

Volkswagen Passats in the UK

171,812 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has fallen 51% since the end of 2014.

Change since 2014
−51%from 348,664 licensed
Typical year of first use
2014half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2014 or earlier
First registered in 2025
3,036against 20,549 in 2015
Declared off the road
44,11020% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Volkswagen Passats since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 2014348,664
End of 2015342,896
End of 2016334,075
End of 2017319,522
End of 2018301,843
End of 2019281,027
End of 2020261,511
End of 2021244,387
End of 2022228,801
End of 2023210,106
End of 2024192,875
End of 2025178,923
End of June 2026171,812

How old they are

Licensed Volkswagen Passats by year of first use.

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

A further 9,601 were first used before 2006.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025First registered that year
20252,6773,036
20241,2001,406
20231,5291,767
20222,2952,703
20213,3233,914
20205,7206,671
20197,2068,081
201810,49612,507
201713,89316,845
201615,07819,054
201515,36020,549
201414,789
201311,818
201212,800
201115,129
20109,230
20098,614
20086,432
20075,104
20063,319

15,360 Passats first used in 2015 were still licensed at the end of 2025, roughly 75% of the 20,549 first registered that year.

Passat engines and fuel

2.0 litre engines made up 70% of Volkswagen Passat MOT tests in 2025, followed by 1.6 litre at 13%. Diesel accounts for 86% of licensed Passats and petrol for 7.7%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 175,880 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 2.0 litre69.5%
  • 1.6 litre13.3%
  • 1.9 litre7.2%
  • 1.4 litre5.2%
  • 1.5 litre3.1%

Fuel type, licensed Passats

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol13,2338%
Diesel147,58786%
Plug-in hybrid9,9786%
Hybrid electric1,0080.6%
Gas6<0.1%

Volkswagen Passat recalls

29 DVSA safety recalls launched from 2010 to July 2026 name the Volkswagen Passat. The 8 most recent are below. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every Passat is affected.

  1. Aug 2025 R/2025/357

    Takata front drivers or passenger airbag replacement

    Passats built Sep 2005 to May 2013 · 279 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Urgent Safety Warning - Do Not Drive Your Vehicle Our information shows your vehicle was originally allocated to or used for an extended period of time in a region with a climate zone considered to as HIGH RISK. Issue: The front airbag in your VW vehicle contains an ageing inflator propellant that may explode when deployed due to long-term exposure to heat and humidity. Risk: If the airbag inflator explodes metal fragments may be ejected causing life-threatening or fatal injuries to anyone in the vehicle.
    Remedy
    The front airbag must be replaced. Immediate Action Required: Stop driving your vehicle immediately. Contact the Takata Stop Drive helpline at 0113 526 9646 (MONDAY to FRIDAY 9:00AM to 5:00PM to arrange your recall service.

  2. Jun 2025 R/2025/208

    Replace front passenger airbag

    Passats built Jan 2025 to Mar 2025 · 2,067 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    The front passenger airbag may be faulty. In the event of an accident-related deployment the front passenger airbag may have a reduced protective effect also the gas generator housing may burst and components of the gas generator housing may come loose and cause serious or deadly injuries to vehicle occupants.
    Remedy
    The passenger airbag must be replaced.

  3. Jan 2024 R/2024/014

    On certain vehicles with electromechanical brake servo and DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) of a limited production period there is a possibility that a heat protection mat was incorrectly fitted. In individual cases the brake fluid reservoir can melt and cause a brake fluid leak into the engine compartment

    Passats built Aug 2019 to Oct 2023 · 26,721 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    A check of the installation of the heat protection mat on affected vehicles will be conducted. If necessary the correct heat shield condition will be restored and in a damage case the damaged components will be replaced.

  4. Jun 2023 R/2023/178

    Takata Front airbag

    Passats built Feb 2005 to Jun 2015 · 141,644 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    The function of the driver airbag inflators can degrade due to air and moisture ingress.
    Remedy
    Replace airbag

  5. Apr 2022 R/2022/086

    The fuse in the high-voltage system of plug-in hybrid vehicles was in some cases produced with too little so-called fire sand

    Passats built Jan 2019 to Feb 2022 · 1,868 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    An additional protective insulating mat is to be fitted to the switching unit for high-voltage battery.

  6. Oct 2021 R/2021/403

    Driver's air bag may not deploy correctly if activated

    Passats built Oct 1999 to Dec 2000 · 64 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Drivers airbag may not deploy correctly if activated.
    Remedy
    On the affected vehicles the airbag unit for the driver is to be checked and if necessary the gas generator replaced.

  7. Oct 2021 R/2021/404

    Driver's air bag may not deploy correctly if activated

    Passats built May 1998 to Dec 1999 · 300 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Drivers airbag may not deploy correctly if activated.
    Remedy
    On the affected vehicles the airbag unit for the driver is to be checked and if necessary the gas generator replaced.

  8. Sep 2021 R/2021/320

    The bolted connection of the pull rod between the electromechanical brake servo and brake pedal could come loose

    Passats built Jan 2019 to May 2021 · 145 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    The bolted connection of the pull rod between the electromechanical brake servo and brake pedal may come loose resulting in a loss of all service braking ability.
    Remedy
    Vehicles are not to be driven and the bolted connection of the input rod between the electromechanical brake servo and brake pedal must be checked and if necessary retightened
How to check a specific Passat for recalls

Passat vs similar cars

Head-to-head comparisons on the same 2025 DVSA data.

Other Volkswagen models

The most-tested Volkswagen models in 2025, against the Passat's 71.5% MOT pass rate.

All 31 Volkswagen models

Volkswagen Passat FAQs

How many Volkswagen Passats are there in the UK?

171,812 Volkswagen Passats were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 44,110 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

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.

Has the Volkswagen Passat had any recalls?

29 DVSA safety recalls launched from 2010 to July 2026 name the Volkswagen Passat. The most recent was published in August 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 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 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 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.

Already found a Passat?

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

Across the 1,390 vehicles of every make Carpeep has checked since November 2025, 19% had outstanding finance recorded and 13% an insurance write-off. More on the Volkswagen history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Volkswagen 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 July 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.