Volkswagen Passat MOT Reliability & Buying Guide

71.5%

MOT pass rate

Estate / saloon

Segment

Petrol, diesel, plug-in hybrid

Fuel types available

Source: DS Auto Labs analysis of DVSA's anonymised 2025 MOT test results (Open Government Licence v3.0): 175,901 first-time tests of Volkswagen Passat cars of all ages (test class 4, cars and light vans). A pass means a clean first-time pass; a car that failed and was repaired at the test station before passing counts as not passed, and aborted tests are excluded. Age is the car's age at the 2025 test.

What to know

In 2025, Volkswagen Passat cars passed their MOT first time 71.5% of the time, across 175,901 tests. That is 1.4 points below Volkswagen's overall brand average of 72.9% and 0.9 points below the national average of 72.4%.

Age explains much of the difference between models. Pass rates fall steeply as cars get older, for every make, so a model with many old cars on the road looks worse than it is, and a recent model looks better. This compares the Volkswagen Passat with the typical UK car of the same age.

MOT pass rate by vehicle age, 2025 first-time tests
Car age	Volkswagen Passat	All UK cars	Tests
3-5 years	88.0%	87.2%	11,966
6-9 years	82.0%	79.3%	46,917
10-13 years	69.9%	67.9%	54,488
14+ years	61.8%	59.3%	62,348

Allowing for the age mix of the cars tested, a typical UK car would be expected to pass about 69.2% of the time. The Volkswagen Passat passed at 71.5%, which is 2.3 points above that expected rate.

A model average says little about one particular car, so check its own MOT history for repeated advisories, past failures and mileage.

Check a specific Passat's MOT history, tax status, and advisories by registration number.

Check MOT history

See how the Volkswagen range compares overall, with model-by-model pass rates.

View Volkswagen brand page