68.3%
Volkswagen Transporter
Volkswagen Transporter MOT pass rate and common problems
The Volkswagen Transporter passed 68.3% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 4 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was coil spring fractured or broken.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Transporter 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 Transporter runs 4.8 points behind the Volkswagen average. It is 21st of the 31 Volkswagen models in the data. The average Transporter arrived at its test 13.3 years old with 114,205 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.
Transporter MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Volkswagen Transporter cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 80.9% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 60.3%, a drop of 20.6 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 47,937 | 80.9% | 8.6 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 94,119 | 74.5% | 2.2 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 169,325 | 60.3% | 12 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 Transporter failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Volkswagen Transporter cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 45.9% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Transporter MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Volkswagen Transporter cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 29.8% of everything testers recorded against failed Volkswagen Transporter cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Transporter
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, ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt and component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength. 13.1% of failure items.
2
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively and washers provides insufficient washer liquid. 5.2% of failure items.
3
Body, chassis, structure
Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 3.3% of failure items.
4
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working. 3% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Transporter has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Volkswagen Transporter buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Volkswagen Transporter MOT FAQs
What is the Volkswagen Transporter MOT pass rate?
68.3% of Volkswagen Transporter cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 321,556 tests. That is 4 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 379th of 575 models.
What does a Volkswagen Transporter most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Volkswagen Transporter cars failing their 2025 MOT was coil spring fractured or broken, on 4.5% of failure items. Next were pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (3.8%) and joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (3.3%).
Which area causes the most Volkswagen Transporter MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 23%, followed by suspension at 22.9%.
Do older Volkswagen Transporter cars fail their MOT more often?
Volkswagen Transporter cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 80.9% of MOT tests in 2025, against 60.3% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Volkswagen Transporter has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Volkswagen Transporter 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 Transporter'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.