Audi A4 2012: MOT failure rate for its age

24.8% of 85,563 MOT tests of the Audi A4 first registered in 2012 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 96.8 (95% CI 95.5–98.1; 100 = normal for this model at that age): close to other build years of the same model at the same age (within 5 points of normal).

Audi A4 built in 2012 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	24.8	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	85563
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 95.5–98.1)	96.8	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	85563
Rank among this model's 23 build years	3	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	85563
Tested in 2024	13423	tests	median 117,815 miles	2024	13423

Built 2012 against Audi A4 normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 7: 21.6% vs 22.1%; age 8: 22.3% vs 22.6%; age 9: 24.4% vs 24.5%; age 10: 26% vs 25.9%; age 11: 26.6% vs 28.6%; age 12: 28.8% vs 31.1%. Axis from 0% to 40%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2012 Audi A4 by registration · All Audi A4 MOT statistics · Download the build-year table (CSV)

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · full dataset (v5).

How does the 2012 Audi A4 fail at each age?

Cars built in 2012 were tested at ages 7 to 12 between 2019 and 2024. Each row compares their first-time failure share with what this model normally shows at that age, after allowing for the overall failure level of each test year.

Audi A4 built 2012: first-time MOT failure by age, against the model's normal rate at that age (2019–2024)
Age	Tests	Failed, %	95% interval	Normal for this model at that age, %	Index (100 = normal)
7	15,356	21.6	20.9–22.2	22.1	97.4
8	14,255	22.3	21.6–23	22.6	98.9
9	14,397	24.4	23.7–25.1	24.5	99.6
10	14,234	26	25.2–26.7	25.9	100.3
11	13,898	26.6	25.9–27.3	28.6	93.1
12	13,423	28.8	28–29.5	31.1	92.6

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 85,563 (initial tests) · Method: normal rate = this model's first-time failure share at that age across its build years (cells of 400+ tests), adjusted for each test year's overall level; cells of 30+ tests, under 500 marked rough · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

What fails most on the 2012 Audi A4?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2012 is tyres: 10.6 items per 100 first tests, against 11 across all build years of the Audi A4. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2012 were tested at ages 7 to 12.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Audi A4 built 2012 against the Audi A4 in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2012, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Tyres	10.6	11	9,058
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	9.6	15.5	8,243
Suspension	9	16.4	7,668
Visibility	6.5	7.5	5,587
Brakes	5.8	10.1	4,937

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 85,563 (initial tests of this build year) · Method: failure items grouped by DVSA's top-level defect groups, per 100 initial tests; groups with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How does 2012 compare with the years around it?

Among the 23 published build years of the Audi A4, 2012 ranks 3 (1 = fails least for its age). 2011: index 97.0. 2013: index 98.5.

Audi A4 build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	99.5	93.6–105.3	no different (rough estimate)	2,493
1999	105.1	100.8–109.4	worse	4,943
2000	103.1	99.7–106.5	no different	8,098
2001	104.2	101.3–107.1	worse	11,044
2002	104.3	102.4–106.1	worse	27,690
2003	102.9	101.5–104.3	worse	48,297
2004	103.2	102.1–104.4	worse	70,384
2005	100.6	99.5–101.7	no different	79,465
2006	98.8	97.9–99.8	better	111,125
2007	99.5	98.5–100.4	no different	121,675
2008	101.8	100.8–102.8	worse	114,742
2009	97.8	96.7–99.0	better	89,019
2010	96.7	95.5–97.9	better	85,387
2011	97.0	95.8–98.3	better	88,056
2012	96.8	95.5–98.1	better	85,563
2013	98.5	97.3–99.8	better	100,139
2014	102.6	101.2–103.9	worse	104,990
2015	105.7	104.2–107.2	worse	102,641
2016	99.2	97.9–100.5	no different	139,053
2017	92.7	91.3–94.2	better	116,667
2018	99.7	97.5–102.0	no different	56,650
2019	104.0	101.1–106.8	worse	39,761
2020	101.9	96.7–107.2	no different	12,131

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,620,013 (initial tests) · Method: observed failures against those expected for the same model at the same ages, test-year level adjusted; verdict follows the printed one-decimal bound · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How to cite this page

MOT Risk Index (2026). Audi A4 2012 MOT statistics (data release dvsa-2024-v2; full dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22975051), updated 30 September 2026. motriskindex.co.uk/cars/audi-a4/2012/

How every figure is calculated: methodology. Age, test year and build year are tied together (age = test year − build year), so the test-year level is taken as observed, not estimated.

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