Audi A4 MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Audi A4 took 267,800 MOT tests in Britain and passed 73% of them first time, close to the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.

MOT tests in 2023: 267,800
First-time pass rate: 73%
All cars: 71%

What the A4 fails on

Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.

Lights and electrics9.1% (all cars 11.3%)
Suspension8.9% (all cars 9.0%)
Tyres7.8% (all cars 6.4%)
Brakes5.5% (all cars 6.8%)
Body and structure3.9% (all cars 3.5%)
Exhaust and emissions3.4% (all cars 3.1%)
Visibility3.2% (all cars 4.8%)
Steering1.3% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Coil spring: fractured or broken 3.6%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 3.4%
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 2.5%
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction 2.2%
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect 1.9%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn 1.8%
Tyres, condition: has ply or cords exposed 1.7%
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick 1.6%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 21.2%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 11.5%
Brake pads: wearing thin 8.4%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 8.1%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 5.2%
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil 5.0%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 4.5%
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread 2.8%

Pass rate by year of registration

Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare a car with others of the same age.

First registered	Tests	Pass rate
1997	325	60%
1998	588	66%
1999	857	61%
2000	1,147	60%
2001	1,190	61%
2002	2,668	59%
2003	5,039	60%
2004	8,327	60%
2005	9,719	61%
2006	15,555	62%
2007	17,653	63%
2008	17,386	64%
2009	13,999	66%
2010	13,875	68%
2011	14,305	71%
2012	13,902	73%
2013	16,378	74%
2014	17,185	75%
2015	16,641	77%
2016	22,396	80%
2017	21,481	83%
2018	13,801	85%
2019	13,740	87%
2020	8,965	88%
2021	357	91%

Typical mileage by age

Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.

Age at test	Average mileage
3 years	30,903 miles
4 years	39,853 miles
5 years	48,645 miles
6 years	61,591 miles
7 years	73,459 miles
8 years	84,427 miles
9 years	95,077 miles
10 years	103,059 miles
11 years	113,997 miles
12 years	123,869 miles
13 years	129,255 miles
14 years	133,526 miles
15 years	133,917 miles
16 years	133,593 miles
17 years	135,538 miles
18 years	138,776 miles
19 years	144,794 miles
20 years	148,076 miles

Check a particular A4

Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.

Other Audi models

Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.