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Volkswagen Sharan MOT pass rate and common problems

The Volkswagen Sharan passed 75.7% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 3.4 percentage points above 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 Sharan compares

Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.

75.7%

Volkswagen Sharan

73.1%

Volkswagen average

72.3%

UK average, all cars

The Sharan runs 2.6 points ahead of the Volkswagen average. It is 13th of the 31 Volkswagen models in the data. The average Sharan arrived at its test 9.7 years old with 113,865 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.

Sharan MOT pass rate by age

The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.

Volkswagen Sharan cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.5% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 63.2%, a drop of 22.3 percentage points.

Age at testTestsPass ratevs UK average
3 to 5 years 6,130 85.5% 13.2 pts above
6 to 10 years 17,672 80.2% 7.9 pts above
11 years and over 11,205 63.2% 9.1 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 Sharan failures cluster

Every failure item recorded on Volkswagen Sharan cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.

  • Suspension26.7%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment19%
  • Tyres17.8%
  • Brakes11.4%
  • Body, chassis, structure7.5%
  • Noise, emissions and leaks5.9%

Suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment together account for 45.8% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.

The 10 most common Sharan MOT failures

Specific items recorded on Volkswagen Sharan cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.

  1. 1Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively wornSuspension 10.1%
  2. 2Condition has ply or cords exposedTyres 5.9%
  3. 3Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mmTyres 5.7%
  4. 4Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunctionNoise, emissions and leaks 4.3%
  5. 5Position lamp not workingLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.4%
  6. 6Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thickBrakes 3.1%
  7. 7Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirtSuspension 3.1%
  8. 8Coil spring fractured or brokenSuspension 2.9%
  9. 9Condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cordsTyres 2.9%
  10. 10Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirtBody, chassis, structure 2.3%

Together these 10 items make up 43.5% of everything testers recorded against failed Volkswagen Sharan cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.

What to look at on a Sharan

The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.

1

Suspension

Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt and coil spring fractured or broken. 16.1% of failure items.

2

Tyres

Recorded most often: condition has ply or cords exposed, tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm and condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords. 14.4% of failure items.

3

Noise, emissions and leaks

Recorded most often: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction. 4.3% of failure items.

4

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

Recorded most often: position lamp not working. 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 Sharan has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Volkswagen Sharan buying guide.

Already found one?

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

Volkswagen Sharan MOT FAQs

What is the Volkswagen Sharan MOT pass rate?

75.7% of Volkswagen Sharan cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 35,049 tests. That is 3.4 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 260th of 575 models.

What does a Volkswagen Sharan most commonly fail its MOT on?

The item testers recorded most often on Volkswagen Sharan cars failing their 2025 MOT was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, on 10.1% of failure items. Next were condition has ply or cords exposed (5.9%) and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (5.7%).

Which area causes the most Volkswagen Sharan MOT failures?

Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 26.7%, followed by lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 19%.

Do older Volkswagen Sharan cars fail their MOT more often?

Volkswagen Sharan cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.5% of MOT tests in 2025, against 63.2% for cars aged 11 years and over.

Does this mean every Volkswagen Sharan has these problems?

No. These are the items testers recorded across every Volkswagen Sharan 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 Sharan'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.