71.5%
Volkswagen Passat
Volkswagen Passat MOT pass rate and common problems
The Volkswagen Passat passed 71.5% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 0.8 percentage points below 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 Passat 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 Passat runs 1.6 points behind the Volkswagen average. It is 17th of the 31 Volkswagen models in the data. The average Passat arrived at its test 11.9 years old with 123,807 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.
Passat MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Volkswagen Passat cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 87.8% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 63.3%, a drop of 24.5 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 14,652 | 87.8% | 15.5 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 65,292 | 79% | 6.7 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 93,769 | 63.3% | 9 pts below |
That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Passat failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Volkswagen Passat cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment together account for 47.5% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Passat MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Volkswagen Passat cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 45.9% of everything testers recorded against failed Volkswagen Passat cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Passat
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: coil spring fractured or broken, pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak and linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 19.9% of failure items.
2
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm and condition has ply or cords exposed. 12% of failure items.
3
Noise, emissions and leaks
Recorded most often: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction. 4.2% of failure items.
4
Body, chassis, structure
Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 3.4% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Passat has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Volkswagen Passat buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Volkswagen Passat MOT FAQs
What is the Volkswagen Passat MOT pass rate?
71.5% of Volkswagen Passat cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 175,901 tests. That is 0.8 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 323rd of 575 models.
What does a Volkswagen Passat most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Volkswagen Passat cars failing their 2025 MOT was tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, on 6.7% of failure items. Next were coil spring fractured or broken (6.5%) and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (6.4%).
Which area causes the most Volkswagen Passat MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 29.2%, followed by lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 18.3%.
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, against 63.3% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Volkswagen Passat has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Volkswagen Passat 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 Passat'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.