Volkswagen Polo MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Volkswagen Polo took 624,655 MOT tests in Britain and passed 67% of them first time, below 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: 624,655
First-time pass rate: 67%
All cars: 71%

What the Polo fails on

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

Lights and electrics13.4% (all cars 11.3%)
Suspension10.2% (all cars 9.0%)
Brakes8.4% (all cars 6.8%)
Visibility6.5% (all cars 4.8%)
Tyres6.3% (all cars 6.4%)
Body and structure5.2% (all cars 3.5%)
Exhaust and emissions4.7% (all cars 3.1%)
Steering2.4% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Position lamp: not working 2.6%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.5%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn 2.5%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 2.2%
Coil spring: fractured or broken 2.2%
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect 2.1%
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 2.1%
Headlamp: not working on dipped beam 2.0%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 18.0%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 10.6%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 8.5%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 6.9%
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil 5.3%
Brake pads: wearing thin 4.9%
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases 4.2%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 3.6%

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
1996	408	61%
1997	501	56%
1998	635	58%
1999	1,189	61%
2000	3,123	56%
2001	4,761	54%
2002	7,621	48%
2003	12,895	47%
2004	15,658	48%
2005	18,042	48%
2006	22,574	49%
2007	25,512	53%
2008	27,221	53%
2009	24,587	55%
2010	38,833	59%
2011	40,592	60%
2012	37,722	64%
2013	38,809	65%
2014	44,275	69%
2015	51,571	75%
2016	51,857	78%
2017	46,094	80%
2018	43,785	80%
2019	36,694	86%
2020	26,519	90%
2021	1,227	94%

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	20,227 miles
4 years	26,969 miles
5 years	33,776 miles
6 years	40,061 miles
7 years	47,344 miles
8 years	54,305 miles
9 years	61,315 miles
10 years	67,094 miles
11 years	72,783 miles
12 years	78,854 miles
13 years	82,805 miles
14 years	82,928 miles
15 years	89,309 miles
16 years	92,306 miles
17 years	95,207 miles
18 years	96,080 miles
19 years	96,887 miles
20 years	95,629 miles

Check a particular Polo

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

Other Volkswagen 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.