In 2025, 268,952 Volkswagen Transporter cars had a regular MOT in Great Britain. 66% passed first time, compared with 67% for all cars of the same ages, which makes the Transporter about average. Most are commercial vans or pick-ups, which usually cover far higher mileages and harder work than private cars, so we leave them out of the car rankings.
That comparison matters: older cars fail more often, so a raw pass rate flatters models that are mostly young. We compare each model against every car on the road at the same age.
Pass rate by age
At 5 years old, 81% of Transporters passed first time (all cars that age: 86%). By 20 years, that figure is 56% (all cars: 58%). It is weaker than average when young but holds up better than most from around 12 years.
Volkswagen Transporter All cars of that age
| Age | Tests | Transporter passed first time | All cars | Typical mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 years | 657 | 81% | 86% | 50,898 |
| 6 years | 13,717 | 80% | 84% | 62,989 |
| 7 years | 19,825 | 77% | 81% | 73,766 |
| 8 years | 20,231 | 75% | 78% | 82,106 |
| 9 years | 19,989 | 74% | 75% | 92,484 |
| 10 years | 17,971 | 71% | 72% | 99,427 |
| 11 years | 15,833 | 69% | 69% | 109,737 |
| 12 years | 14,401 | 70% | 66% | 120,222 |
| 13 years | 12,390 | 67% | 63% | 128,042 |
| 14 years | 12,008 | 66% | 61% | 135,934 |
| 15 years | 10,703 | 64% | 59% | 142,721 |
| 16 years | 8,901 | 60% | 58% | 143,257 |
| 17 years | 12,432 | 58% | 57% | 154,401 |
| 18 years | 13,095 | 58% | 57% | 161,857 |
| 19 years | 11,084 | 56% | 57% | 168,973 |
| 20 years | 9,724 | 56% | 58% | 174,197 |
What fails most on a Volkswagen Transporter
The area that lets the Transporter down most, relative to other cars, is body and structure: 8.3% of tests failed on it, 2.0 times the rate for the average car.
Share of Transporter tests failing on this area Average car
The six most common failure items
| Failure item | Area | Share of tests |
|---|---|---|
| A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn | Suspension | 7.5% |
| The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements | Lights and electrics | 5.5% |
| A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened | Suspension | 4.0% |
| A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc | Suspension | 4.0% |
| Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen | Visibility | 3.5% |
| A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc | Body and structure | 3.4% |
What to check when buying a used Transporter
Based on where the Transporter fails more often than other cars, these are the checks worth making before you buy:
- Body and structure: Get underneath with a torch: sills, jacking points, subframe mounts and floor pans. Structural rust is the failure that can make a car uneconomic to fix. Repair guide
- Steering: Feel for play or knocking through the wheel, and check power-steering fluid isn’t leaking. More
- Brakes: Look through the wheels for lipped or scored discs, check the handbrake holds on a slope, and feel for pulling or vibration under firm braking. Repair guide
Then check the individual car: its own MOT history will show whether it follows the pattern. A car with repeated advisories in the same weak area is more likely to fail its next test.
Check a specific Transporter
Enter the registration to see its full MOT history, mileage record and reliability score, compared with these figures.
Check a TransporterFrequently asked questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a Volkswagen Transporter?
In 2025, 66% of Volkswagen Transporter cars passed their MOT first time, across 268,952 tests. Cars of the same ages averaged 67%.
What do Volkswagen Transporter cars most often fail their MOT on?
The most common failure items were: a suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn (7.5% of tests); the aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements (5.5% of tests); a spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened (4.0% of tests).
Other Volkswagen models
Volkswagen Golf (73%), Volkswagen Polo (66%), Volkswagen Tiguan (78%), Volkswagen Passat (71%), Volkswagen Caddy (68%), Volkswagen Up (79%). All Volkswagen models
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT tests and results, 2025 (class 4 normal tests; first-time pass means passed with no faults fixed at the test). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.