Volkswagen Polo: 65% pass.

573,464 tests of cars aged 3 and over passed first time 65% of the time in 2025. For cars of the same ages, 69% would be expected: 4 points worse than that.

How it does as it ages.

01 / By age

Source: Anonymised MOT tests and results (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) Checked 4 Nov 2026, 13:37

Diesel
Age of car	Pass first time	All cars this age	Fixed at the station	Failed	Tests
4 years	68%	86%	14%	18%	44
5 years	78%	84%	4%	18%	414
6 years	76%	82%	3%	21%	572
7 years	69%	79%	4%	27%	627
8 years	67%	76%	4%	29%	1,665
9 years	65%	73%	4%	30%	2,920
10 years	63%	70%	5%	31%	4,243
11 years	59%	67%	7%	34%	3,395
12 years	56%	64%	7%	37%	3,772
13 years	55%	62%	7%	39%	4,401
14 years	52%	60%	7%	40%	4,249
15 years	52%	58%	7%	40%	3,248
16 years	49%	57%	8%	43%	3,526
17 years	48%	57%	8%	44%	3,062
18 years	51%	57%	8%	41%	1,853
19 years	48%	57%	9%	43%	1,640
20 years	47%	57%	7%	46%	1,745

Petrol
Age of car	Pass first time	All cars this age	Fixed at the station	Failed	Tests
3 years	89%	88%	2%	8%	6,067
4 years	88%	86%	3%	9%	10,163
5 years	81%	84%	3%	16%	28,359
6 years	76%	82%	3%	21%	42,274
7 years	76%	79%	4%	20%	39,609
8 years	76%	76%	4%	21%	48,306
9 years	74%	73%	4%	23%	47,430
10 years	69%	70%	5%	25%	42,837
11 years	65%	67%	8%	28%	36,668
12 years	62%	64%	8%	30%	33,236
13 years	60%	62%	8%	32%	33,480
14 years	57%	60%	8%	36%	31,876
15 years	55%	58%	7%	38%	26,746
16 years	53%	57%	8%	40%	18,152
17 years	52%	57%	9%	40%	19,316
18 years	50%	57%	9%	41%	17,244
19 years	47%	57%	9%	43%	13,895
20 years	48%	57%	10%	42%	9,784

Ages with fewer than 30 tests are left out. "All cars this age" is every make and model at that age, so you can see whether this one does better or worse than most.

A pass rate is the share of normal MOT tests a car passed first time, with no repair needed at the test station. A car that failed and was fixed on the spot is counted separately. Retests, aborted tests and other vehicles are left out.
The figures say how often cars of a kind pass, not how reliable or safe they are. Cars that are looked after better, or that are driven fewer miles, pass more often, and that differs by model. Groups of fewer than 30 tests are left out.
Make and model names are as DVSA records them, and a model can appear under more than one name.

More on Volkswagen and costs.

02 / Related

Data sources

Anonymised MOT tests and results (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT test results for cars, counted by make, model and age from DVSA's anonymised data. The counts are ours; DVSA does not endorse them.