67.4%
Volkswagen Polo
Volkswagen Polo MOT pass rate and common problems
The Volkswagen Polo passed 67.4% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 4.9 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Polo 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 Polo runs 5.6 points behind the Volkswagen average. It is 23rd of the 31 Volkswagen models in the data. The average Polo arrived at its test 11.3 years old with 67,803 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.
Polo MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Volkswagen Polo cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.5% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 55.9%, a drop of 29.6 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 84,399 | 85.5% | 13.2 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 230,536 | 73.7% | 1.4 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 298,057 | 55.9% | 16.4 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 Polo failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Volkswagen Polo cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 43.2% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Polo MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Volkswagen Polo cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 31.8% of everything testers recorded against failed Volkswagen Polo cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Polo
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, coil spring fractured or broken, linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt and shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak. 13.1% of failure items.
2
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working and headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect. 6.3% of failure items.
3
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. 3.6% of failure items.
4
Steering
Recorded most often: track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it 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 Polo has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Volkswagen Polo buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Volkswagen Polo MOT FAQs
What is the Volkswagen Polo MOT pass rate?
67.4% of Volkswagen Polo cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 632,067 tests. That is 4.9 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 395th of 575 models.
What does a Volkswagen Polo most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Volkswagen Polo cars failing their 2025 MOT was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, on 5% of failure items. Next were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (3.6%) and track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (3.4%).
Which area causes the most Volkswagen Polo MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 23.6%, followed by suspension at 19.6%.
Do older Volkswagen Polo cars fail their MOT more often?
Volkswagen Polo cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.5% of MOT tests in 2025, against 55.9% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Volkswagen Polo has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Volkswagen Polo 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 Polo'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.