MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Volkswagen Caravelle — MOT statistics 2024

The Volkswagen Caravelle failed 34.8% of 18,657 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 106.4 (100 = expected for its age profile). This van fails its MOT about 6% more often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 106.4, 95% CI 104.3–108.5 (100 = national average) 100 106.4 0 200
Index
106.4
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
34.8%
n = 18,657
Dangerous /100
11
national ≈11
Diesel − petrol
-3.3 pp
fail-rate gap
Rank
528 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Volkswagen Transporter (index 105.7) — the two published results are 0.7 index points apart.

Volkswagen Caravelle common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are well below the reference at 29.3 per 100 tests, against 38.8 per 100 tests across UK vans and pickups of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Volkswagen Caravelle common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

family vs national — matched to UK vans and pickups of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.

Component-group comparison table

Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Lamps & electrical29.331,40338.80.75×0.75–0.76
Suspension25.827,62429.40.88×0.87–0.89
Brakes20.822,28424.90.83×0.82–0.85
Body & structure13.914,90220.00.70×0.69–0.71
Visibility12.913,77316.60.78×0.76–0.79
Tyres8.08,5897.81.03×1.01–1.05
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 107,032 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Rear registration plate lamp or light source…A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources6.752.832.39×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Strength or continuity of the load bearing…The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired4.591.124.11×Look underneath for rust or cracks around subframe and suspension mountings
Suspension joint dust cover severely deterioratedA suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated4.971.902.61×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view4.532.361.92×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer…A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc3.731.782.09×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test
Brake pipe damaged or excessively corrodedBrake pipe damaged or excessively corroded2.861.412.04×Look underneath for rust or cracks around subframe and suspension mountings
Suspension pin, bush or joint excessively wornA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn6.264.871.29×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test
Aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down…The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements3.862.571.50×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Windscreen washers not working or not providing…Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen2.831.621.75×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Spring or spring component fractured or seriously…A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened2.842.860.99×Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Volkswagen Caravelle MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Brakes are highest at 48.5 per 100 tests; Emissions & leaks are lowest at 9.9 per 100 tests — the gap is 38.6 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Volkswagen Caravelle MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Brakes48.5
Suspension38.1
Tyres34.1
Non-component advisories12.2
Body & structure10.2
Emissions & leaks9.9

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Volkswagen Caravelle against cars of the same age

AgePartVolkswagen CaravelleSame age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres5.544.171.37
3 yearsBrakes1.971.770.20
3 yearsSuspension2.590.631.96
4 yearsTyres6.214.541.67
4 yearsBrakes2.852.430.42
4 yearsSuspension3.841.212.63
5 yearsTyres6.625.061.56
5 yearsBrakes2.653.09-0.44
5 yearsSuspension5.682.193.49
6 yearsTyres6.45.540.86
6 yearsBrakes3.283.81-0.53
6 yearsSuspension6.783.723.06
7 yearsTyres6.685.950.73
7 yearsBrakes3.474.55-1.08
7 yearsSuspension7.815.682.13
8 yearsTyres6.416.310.10
8 yearsBrakes3.945.38-1.44
8 yearsSuspension9.087.781.30

Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.

If a van like this fails, does it fail again?

A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.

After this year's testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed35.2%7,776
It passed29.2%50,362

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 6.0 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is identification of the vehicle — 36.8% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.

Adjusted for how much these are actually driven

The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every van with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 102,962 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.

Standardised forIndexReading
Age only107.2fails more often than expected
Age and annual mileage100.9fails more often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year10.0%a normal spread of use

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 6.3 points — this fleet works harder than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view penalises it — but it does not change which side of normal the van sits on. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.

How the Volkswagen Caravelle compares with cars of its own age and size

Not against the whole fleet — against other light commercials tested at the same age, 2019-2024.

AgeVolkswagen CaravelleSame class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years13.95%19.96%-6.01 pp4,817
4 years16.49%22.99%-6.49 pp4,814
5 years19.54%25.49%-5.95 pp4,785
6 years20.69%28.95%-8.26 pp4,702
7 years21.79%32.39%-10.6 pp4,787
8 years24.55%35.71%-11.16 pp4,538
9 years27.83%38.49%-10.66 pp4,132
10 years27.89%40.94%-13.05 pp3,761
11 years33.35%43.13%-9.78 pp3,805
12 years35.3%44.95%-9.65 pp3,654
13 years37.95%46.11%-8.17 pp3,468
14 years41.72%46.88%-5.16 pp3,507
15 years44.32%47.4%-3.09 pp3,457
16 years46.13%47.58%-1.45 pp3,685
17 years46.04%47.52%-1.48 pp3,821
18 years47.47%47.45%+0.03 pp3,920
19 years45.19%46.96%-1.77 pp3,826
20 years45.71%46.1%-0.38 pp3,581

Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.

How does the Volkswagen Caravelle perform as it gets older?

The Caravelle at age 13 is well below the reference at 29.4%, against 38.2% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Volkswagen Caravelle perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: van age, years · failure-rate scale 0–51%.

Takeaway: a 10-year-old Caravelle has roughly a 29% chance of failing its MOT; from about age 16 it stays above the national age curve.

Data table
AgeVolkswagen CaravelleAll vehiclesGap
315.9%12.4%+3.5 pp
414.6%13.1%+1.5 pp
517.8%15.1%+2.6 pp
622.1%17.5%+4.6 pp
720.7%20.2%+0.5 pp
824.9%23.3%+1.6 pp
930.2%26.5%+3.7 pp
1029.3%30.1%-0.8 pp
1129.6%33.2%-3.6 pp
1228.2%35.7%-7.5 pp
1329.4%38.2%-8.8 pp
1438.3%40.4%-2.1 pp
1544.6%41.6%+3.0 pp
1645.6%43.1%+2.5 pp
1743.9%43.1%+0.8 pp
1845.9%43.9%+2.0 pp
1947.1%43.5%+3.6 pp
2043.5%41.0%+2.4 pp

Is a Volkswagen Caravelle ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Volkswagen Caravelle MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 31.9%.

Based on 15,352 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.

higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 12
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 2,014
6–7 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,627
8 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,016
9 years20.8%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 712
10–14 years0.6%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 3,375
15–17 years2.9%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,549
18 years2.8%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 598
19 years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 645
20+ years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 3,804

How dangerous are Volkswagen Caravelle MOT failures?

Major defects stand out at 88.2 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Volkswagen Caravelle MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor27.8814.221.96×
Major88.1652.751.67×
Dangerous11.2411.151.01×

Chart values: Minor 27.9 · Major 88.2 · Dangerous 11.2.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of a Volkswagen Caravelle MOT matter?

May is highest at 36.8%; Mar is lowest at 33.7% — the gap is 3.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Volkswagen Caravelle MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 27%–38%.

bars: Volkswagen Caravelle · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthVolkswagen CaravelleAll vehiclesGap
Jan34.93%31.12%+3.8 pp
Feb35.11%29.99%+5.1 pp
Mar33.74%28.26%+5.5 pp
Apr36.71%29.78%+6.9 pp
May36.81%28.79%+8.0 pp
Jun35.77%28.15%+7.6 pp
Jul36.74%29.33%+7.4 pp
Aug36.25%29.2%+7.1 pp
Sep35.2%28.19%+7.0 pp
Oct36.22%30.34%+5.9 pp
Nov36.71%30.58%+6.1 pp
Dec34.38%29.33%+5.1 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 3.1 percentage points — noticeable seasonality. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.

Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.

Volkswagen Caravelle average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of Caravelles runs from 54,140 miles to 91,792 miles, against 71,357 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Bars: Volkswagen Caravelle · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: van age, years · odometer scale 0–235k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Volkswagen Caravelle MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 15+, 29.5% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 46.6% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

Does high mileage mean more Volkswagen Caravelle MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Volkswagen Caravelle: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles13.5%11.7–15.6%1,197
3–540-70k miles21.1%18.1–24.4%654
3–570-100k miles19.4%12.9–28.1%103 (rough estimate)
6–9<40k miles15.4%12.5–18.7%508
6–940-70k miles23%20.8–25.3%1,335
6–970-100k miles28.9%26.1–31.8%963
6–9100-140k miles29.6%24.8–35%304 (rough estimate)
6–9140k+ miles24.9%19.9–30.7%245 (rough estimate)
10–14<40k miles13.2%9.1–18.8%189 (rough estimate)
10–1440-70k miles23.5%20.3–27.1%608
10–1470-100k miles29.3%26.6–32.2%1,014
10–14100-140k miles34.6%31.7–37.6%983
10–14140k+ miles39.9%36–43.9%582
15+<40k miles29.5%21.8–38.5%112 (rough estimate)
15+40-70k miles34.7%29.3–40.5%271 (rough estimate)
15+70-100k miles37.4%33.5–41.5%559
15+100-140k miles42.9%40.2–45.5%1,351
15+140k+ miles46.6%45.2–48.1%4,299

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
320,38727,52436,821509
424,69435,06346,620677
531,02342,83156,799828
637,88450,75067,066666
746,31563,62484,203961
854,14071,35791,7921,016
958,94779,14599,687712
1060,11080,808105,579615
1167,26587,977110,066696
1276,71399,847134,935802
1377,546103,860134,749663
1486,598113,434142,535600
1588,977117,096149,021406
16106,182135,123167,363562
17109,740143,638180,997581
18120,428158,453203,966599
19131,019162,658202,619647
20+137,286179,817223,7703,815

A typical 8-year-old Caravelle has ~71,357 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Volkswagen Caravelle fails its MOT most

Plymouth area is highest at 47.6%; Ilford area is lowest at 19.3% — the gap is 28.3 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Where in Britain the Volkswagen Caravelle fails its MOT most — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Plymouth (PL)47.55%+11.8 pp
Brighton (BN)46.36%+10.6 pp
Perth (PH)46.3%+10.6 pp
Exeter (EX)45.97%+10.3 pp
Truro (TR)45.76%+10.0 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Ilford (IG)19.26%-16.5 pp
Uxbridge (UB)20.92%-14.8 pp
Romford (RM)21.33%-14.4 pp
Dartford (DA)21.89%-13.8 pp
London E (E)22.32%-13.4 pp

Why do areas differ?

For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.

In areas with the highest mot centre density this model fails 9.6 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.52, n=53 areas with ≥800 tests).

In the most coastal fifth of areas this model fails 8.5 pp more often than in the most inland fifth (r=-0.48, n=53 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest terrain gradient this model fails 7.7 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.46, n=29 areas with ≥800 tests).

Volkswagen Caravelle Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
MOT centre density31.4%41.0%+9.6 ppr=0.52
Distance to coast40.3%31.8%-8.5 ppr=-0.48
Terrain gradient32.7%40.4%+7.7 ppr=0.46

Factors that only mean something combined

Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.

Composite area indicators, each tested against a defect rate we measure
CompositeBuilt fromTested againstrVerdict
Underbody corrosionfrost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1)share of tests with a corrosion defect+0.42holds (116 areas)
Tyre wearrain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisoryshare of tests failing on tyres+0.45holds (116 areas)
Overnight corrosionterraced housing × cars per household × frost daysshare with a corrosion defect+0.41holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index
Deferred maintenancedeprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour ratecars repeating the same advisory−0.26fails (118 areas)
Powertrain stressengine capacity ÷ kerb weightsuspension, brake and emissions failures−0.16fails (22 models)

The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.

All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
Factorrn areasLow-Q fail %High-Q fail %Gap ppLow-Q factorHigh-Q factor
MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles)0.5225331.441.0+9.65.78.3
Distance to coast (km)-0.4825340.331.8-8.56.281.9
Terrain gradient (% grade)0.4612932.740.4+7.70.63.4
Urban share (0–1)-0.2565339.836.2-3.50.40.9
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)-0.1825339.936.9-3.0210.6537
Frost days (days/year)-0.1755340.836.3-4.510.430.5
Income deprivation (score)0.0214831.333.5+2.20.10.1

Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.

Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 23%–45% failing.

Volkswagen Caravelle survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 19 is well below the reference at 80.3%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Volkswagen Caravelle survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: van age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
34,817100%13.95%
44,814100%16.49%
54,785100%19.54%
64,70298.6%20.69%
74,787100%21.79%
84,53895.2%24.55%
94,13286.7%27.83%
103,76178.9%27.89%
113,80579.8%33.35%
123,65476.7%35.3%
133,46872.8%37.95%
143,50773.6%41.72%
153,45772.5%44.32%
163,68577.3%46.13%
173,82180.2%46.04%
183,92082.2%47.47%
193,82680.3%45.19%

By age 19, only about 80% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈4,767); survivors still fail at 45.2% vs 16.5% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does a Volkswagen Caravelle last?

100,000+ miles is highest at 52.8%; 200,000+ miles is lowest at 15.7% — the gap is 37.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles56,21952.78%
150,000+ miles33,88231.81%
200,000+ miles16,72915.71%

Of 106,517 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 52.8% had reached 100k miles, 31.8% had reached 150k miles, 15.7% had reached 200k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is a Volkswagen Caravelle likely to last?

Bought at age 5 is highest at 12.0 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 4.9 years — the gap is 7.1 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—at least 12
8—at least 9.5
10—at least 9.3
12—at least 7.5
15—at least 4.9

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has at least 9.3 expected years of further MOT-present life. The curve is observed only until age 19, so the true figure is likely higher.

Volkswagen Caravelle faults that come together

Road Wheels + Seatbelts & SRS stand out at 5.60×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
Road WheelsSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems275.6× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems604.75× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsTyres574.36× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks1054.22× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems8133.93×
Body, chassis, structureSpeedometer and speed limiter283.82× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks1,5243.75×
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems9193.64×
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems3293.52× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels333.47× (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterVisibility293.46× (rough estimate)
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle2253.35× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks1,6253.27×
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle1803.27× (rough estimate)
BrakesRoad Wheels843.27× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering4333.25× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleVisibility2033.23× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSteering433.18× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSpeedometer and speed limiter463.17× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment3393.12× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension1,0923.11×
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels653.1× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1,2493.06×
Body, chassis, structureSteering1,7633.04×
Road WheelsVisibility733.04× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureBrakes3,3343.03×
BrakesSpeedometer and speed limiter273.01× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSteering1042.94× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels1192.87× (rough estimate)
BrakesSteering2,0192.85×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility6672.82×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks2,2142.75×
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering7152.73×
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment5,7922.66×
Speedometer and speed limiterSuspension332.65× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSuspension2422.59× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4,5922.58×
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility1,1962.57×
Identification of the vehicleTyres882.57× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension1,7222.49×
BrakesSuspension4,6052.47×
Road WheelsSuspension882.47× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSuspension3,6782.41×
SteeringSuspension2,3672.41×
Body, chassis, structureVisibility2,4622.39×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres3032.36× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering2,6922.35×
BrakesTyres1,5682.29×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility4,6352.28×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension6,8352.26×
BrakesVisibility2,8272.25×
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres5592.21×
SteeringVisibility1,4462.18×
TyresVisibility1,2932.02×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres2,2272.01×
SuspensionTyres1,9072.01×
Body, chassis, structureTyres1,1232.01×
SuspensionVisibility3,3651.93×
SteeringTyres6881.91×
Speedometer and speed limiterSteering15too few (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belt installation check13too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSpeedometer and speed limiter12too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkSteering10too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belt installation check10too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkSuspension10too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belt installation check9too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterTyres9too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleRoad Wheels7too few (rough estimate)
Buses and coaches supplementary testsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment7too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belt installation check6too few (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSpeedometer and speed limiter6too few (rough estimate)
Buses and coaches supplementary testsVisibility6too few (rough estimate)
BrakesBuses and coaches supplementary tests6too few (rough estimate)
Buses and coaches supplementary testsSuspension6too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems5too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureBuses and coaches supplementary tests5too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkVisibility5too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Body, chassis, structure» and «Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems» appear together 3.93× more often than chance (813 co-occurrences in the same test; lift≥1.3, n≥500).

Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).

Is low mileage better for a Volkswagen Caravelle?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 16.0%, against 26.6% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year16.04%4,003
8–12k miles/year26.64%11,032
Gap (low − normal)-10.6 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
511.8659021.141,646-9.28 pp
614.5457121.941,632-7.4 pp
713.1357122.291,709-9.16 pp
817.3556525.941,677-8.59 pp
918.0853129.321,504-11.24 pp
1019.7753131.631,334-11.86 pp
1118.1349136.831,390-18.71 pp
1222.6943238.351,335-15.67 pp
1323.7337541.281,301-17.54 pp
1424.4833545.061,376-20.58 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
55.713515.1533-9.44 pp
617.54018.4238-0.92 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 16.0% vs 26.6% for 8–12k miles/year — 10.6 pp lower (n_low=4,003, n_normal=11,032). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 15.7% low-use vs 25.2% normal (-9.5 pp).

Which Volkswagen Caravelle engine is best?

diesel over 2.0 is highest at 102.8; petrol 1.5–1.8 is lowest at 78.3 — the gap is 24.5 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Engine bands against this model's own failure rate at the same ages
FuelCapacityvs own age normRaw fail %Tests
petrol1.5–1.8 litre78.333.33%273 (rough estimate)
diesel1.5–1.8 litre93.640.5%400 (rough estimate)
petrol1.8–2.0 litre93.940.01%11,326
petrolover 2.0 litre96.342.34%3,897 (rough estimate)
diesel1.8–2.0 litre98.423.62%41,302
dieselover 2.0 litre102.844.46%46,064

Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel over 2.0 runs at 102.8 against this model's own age norm while the petrol 1.8–2.0 runs at 93.9 — a spread of 8.9 points between two cars that share a name.

Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.

Best year for a Volkswagen Caravelle, and the years to avoid

Build year 2016 is highest at 108.2; Build year 2013 is lowest at 90.8 — the gap is 17.4 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Volkswagen Caravelle build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Volkswagen Caravelle by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
202094.380.7–107.913.93%1,328no different
201993.884.3–103.415.15%2,462no different
2018107.798.3–117.218.53%2,682no different
201796.490–102.817.31%5,025no different
2016108.2102.2–114.120.99%6,040worse
2015107.5100.9–114.223.33%4,282worse
201496.890.2–103.322.86%3,697no different
201390.885.1–96.523.47%4,189better
20129589.8–100.126.81%4,860no different
20119488.6–99.429.06%3,964better
201097.391.8–102.832.87%3,666no different
2009106.299.4–11338.76%2,438no different
2008105.399.8–110.841.64%3,405no different
2007100.895.8–105.942.08%3,581no different
2006105.1100.1–110.146.04%3,708worse
2005101.797.2–106.345.87%4,151no different
200498.993.8–10445.31%3,176no different
200310297.2–106.847.19%3,700no different
200296.892.5–101.144.37%4,327no different
200199.494.5–104.245.86%3,502no different
200098.692.7–104.445.33%2,387no different
199910294.1–109.847.65%1,362no different
1998102.592.8–112.148.6%891no different

The best build year here is 2013 and the weakest is 2016. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 3 of 23 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Volkswagen Caravelle MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £125.86 to £239.13, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£126–239
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Suspension25.8 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£46.44
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment29.3 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£41.02
Brakes20.8 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£31.20
Tyres8.0 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£7.20

Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £126 to £239, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.

Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.

For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Volkswagen Caravelle running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 29.0%, against 18.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 5
18
vehicles needing work (rough estimate: 828 tests)
At age 10
29
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024 (rough estimate: 615 tests)
Repairs per 100
£12,586
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 28.68% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
315.91%27,524509-1.8 pp
414.62%35,063677-3.1 pp
517.75%42,831828+0.0 pp
622.07%50,750666+4.3 pp
720.71%63,624961+3.0 pp
824.9%71,3571,016+7.1 pp
930.2%79,145712+12.4 pp
1029.27%80,808615+11.5 pp
1129.6%87,977696+11.9 pp
1228.18%99,847802+10.4 pp
1329.41%103,860663+11.7 pp
1438.33%113,434600+20.6 pp
1544.58%117,096406+26.8 pp
1645.55%135,123562+27.8 pp
1743.89%143,638581+26.1 pp
1845.91%158,453599+28.2 pp
1947.14%162,658647+29.4 pp

No single year stands out as the point where this model starts costing more: the year-to-year steps in its failure rate are too small or rest on too few tests to name one (D1 rule: a step is named only with at least 2,000 tests on both sides and a jump above 3 percentage points).

Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.

Volkswagen Caravelle rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility stands out at 1.12×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
1.12×
0.86% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
56th
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 53 postcode areas

This Volkswagen Caravelle fails on corrosion at about the average rate once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are about typical for the models we publish.

Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.

Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.

Does a Volkswagen Caravelle advisory become a failure?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 35.1%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 35.1 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Volkswagen Caravelle chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Volkswagen Caravelle, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Lamps & electrical 35.1% · Suspension 23.4% · Body & chassis 22.3% · Brakes 18% · Steering 14.8% · Tyres 9.3% · Noise, emissions, leaks 8% · Seat belts & restraints 7.1%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment35.1%12.1 months4,2181,412
Suspension23.4%12.1 months4,61516,945
Body, chassis, structure22.3%12.1 months3,1085,817
Brakes17.9%12.1 months3,93321,373
Steering14.8%12.1 months4,3222,654
Tyres9.3%12.1 months5,30817,118
Noise, emissions and leaks8.0%12.1 months3,9337,875
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems7.1%12.1 months3,8921,546
Identification of the vehicle4.1%12.2 months5,0752,348
Non-component advisories0.0%——8,569

This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.

Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 35 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12.1 months and roughly 4,218 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.

What will fail next on a Volkswagen Caravelle?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 15-19 are highest at 34.7%; Suspension after a passed at age <3 is lowest at 3.5% — the gap is 31.2 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedTyres 4.7% · Visibility 4.6% · Suspension 3.5%2,133
<3advisoryTyres 6.4% · Visibility 4.8% · Suspension 4.6%734
<3failureTyres 7.9% · Visibility 5.2% · Suspension 4.9%407 (rough estimate)
3-5passedSuspension 5.3% · Tyres 5.0% · Visibility 4.5%6,214
3-5advisorySuspension 7.6% · Tyres 7.4% · Visibility 7.0%3,253
3-5failureSuspension 9.2% · Tyres 8.5% · Visibility 7.8%2,138
6-8passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.8% · Suspension 7.4% · Visibility 6.1%5,231
6-8advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.3% · Suspension 10.6% · Visibility 8.9%3,139
6-8failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 13.3% · Suspension 12.3% · Visibility 9.7%2,553
9-11passedSuspension 12.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.4% · Visibility 6.7%3,704
9-11advisorySuspension 16.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 15.8% · Visibility 8.8%2,654
9-11failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 22.4% · Suspension 21.4% · Visibility 12.0%2,906
12-14passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 17.7% · Suspension 17.7% · Brakes 7.7%2,676
12-14advisorySuspension 26.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 24.5% · Brakes 11.2%2,367
12-14failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 31.1% · Suspension 27.9% · Brakes 14.1%3,493
15-19passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 16.6% · Suspension 14.8% · Brakes 10.9%3,797
15-19advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 26.4% · Suspension 21.0% · Brakes 15.5%4,609
15-19failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 34.7% · Suspension 25.8% · Brakes 20.7%7,181
20+passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.4% · Suspension 11.3% · Brakes 10.8%6,968
20+advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.3% · Suspension 19.2% · Body, chassis, structure 17.1%7,894
20+failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 27.5% · Suspension 20.1% · Brakes 19.5%11,886
unknownpassedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 25.5% · Brakes 21.6% · Body, chassis, structure 19.6%51 (rough estimate)
unknownfailureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 19.7% · Suspension 11.5% · Visibility 11.1%208 (rough estimate)

The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.

The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.

Volkswagen Caravelle ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 64.7%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 6.6% — the gap is 58.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
28.68%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.621
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
31.76%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
2.832%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 28,234 failures followed through to their re-test, 28.68% were repaired and passed the same day and 64.73% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 84,164 defect items were cleared in the process.

Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.621 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 4,500 miles a year across 20,157 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.

Two populations hide inside one model. 31.76% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 39.64% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.

Odometer anomalies: 2.832% of 20,268 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 58,584 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.

Volkswagen Caravelle safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 6.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Volkswagen Caravelle recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Volkswagen Caravelle. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2006: 0 · 2007: 0 · 2008: 0 · 2009: 0 · 2010: 0 · 2011: 0 · 2012: 0 · 2013: 0 · 2014: 0 · 2015: 0 · 2016: 0 · 2017: 0 · 2018: 0 · 2019: 0 · 2020: 1.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Volkswagen Caravelle
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2020/12530/04/202020OWNER'S MANUALS FOR THE TRANSPORTER WERE INCLUDED INSTEAD OF FOR THE MULTIVAN
R/1994/03201/09/19944,813LOOSENING OF STEERING U/J CLAMPING BOLT
R/1993/01010/05/19933,918INADVERTENT RELEASE OF HANDBRAKE
R/1993/01126/04/199374STEERING SHAFT CLAMPING BOLTS MAY LOOSEN
R/1992/03227/06/19923,066STEERING RACK AND LOWER WISHBONE FASTENINGS AND CHAFING OF THE LIGHT SWITCH HARNESS
All 6 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2020/12530/04/202001/01/2020 – 28/02/202020OWNER'S MANUALS FOR THE TRANSPORTER WERE INCLUDED INSTEAD OF FOR THE MULTIVAN
R/1994/03201/09/199401/08/1991 – 30/07/19934,813LOOSENING OF STEERING U/J CLAMPING BOLT
R/1993/01010/05/199301/10/1990 – 31/05/19923,918INADVERTENT RELEASE OF HANDBRAKE
R/1993/01126/04/199301/10/1990 – 31/10/199274STEERING SHAFT CLAMPING BOLTS MAY LOOSEN
R/1992/03227/06/199201/10/1990 – 28/02/19923,066STEERING RACK AND LOWER WISHBONE FASTENINGS AND CHAFING OF THE LIGHT SWITCH HARNESS
R/1992/03227/06/199201/10/1990 – 28/02/19923,066STEERING RACK AND LOWER WISHBONE FASTENINGS AND CHAFING OF THE LIGHT SWITCH HARNESS

DVSA lists 6 safety recall campaigns for the Volkswagen Caravelle, covering roughly 14,957 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.

Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.

Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.

Volkswagen Caravelle inspection results in other countries

Netherlands APK stands out at 65.9%, against 50.8% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)34.8%26.01%+8.8 pp18,657
NorwayPKK42.7%33.7%+9 pp4,051
FinlandKatsastus30.8%26.3%+4.5 pp1,251
NetherlandsAPK65.9%50.8%+15.1 pp781

The verdict is consistent across every regime where the difference is clear, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.

What Finland fails it for — share of recorded faults
Fault areaShare
Axles, wheels and suspension27.1%
Brake systems26.9%
Steering equipment22.5%
Other equipment and accessories13.1%
Environmental hazards3.8%

Useful as a cross-check on the UK defect table above: the categories are named differently, but a component that dominates in both regimes is a genuine weak point of the model rather than an artefact of one country's testing style.

The exact faults Netherlands records — APK defect codes, 2024
CodeFaultRecordedType
210Tyre pressure not at the correct value113failure
AC4Steering or suspension ball joint worn up to 1.0 mm99advisory
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed86failure
RA2Excessive leak of other fluids84advisory
497Number-plate light not working or missing80failure
205Tyre with insufficient tread67failure
391Wipers leave insufficient visibility47failure
188Stofhoes fuseekogel beschadigd en dicht niet af46failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 1.866 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.

Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Volkswagen Caravelle is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.

Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: Statens vegvesen — Periodisk kjøretøykontroll (PKK) 2024, CC BY 4.0; Traficom — Periodic inspections of cars by model / by model and fault object 2024, CC BY 4.0; RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.. Adapted; licences and full notice.

Volkswagen Caravelle MOT: quick answers

Volkswagen Caravelle MOT Risk Index stands out at 106.4, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

What is the Volkswagen Caravelle first-time MOT pass rate?
65.2% of first attempts passed in 2024 (18,657 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
Why does this number differ from other sites?
Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 34.8% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 18,657 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 106.4 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Volkswagen Caravelle with other cars

Kia Rio is highest at 106.8; Nissan Micra is lowest at 106.0 — the gap is 0.8 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Same brand

All Volkswagen MOT statisticsVolkswagen Transporter MOT statsVolkswagen Caddy MOT stats

Similar risk

Kia Sorento (index 106.1)Kia Rio (index 106.8)Nissan Micra (index 106.0)

Same size class

how Peugeot 508 compareshow Seat Mii compareshow BMW X2 compares

By build year

Volkswagen Caravelle 1998Volkswagen Caravelle 1999Volkswagen Caravelle 2000Volkswagen Caravelle 2001Volkswagen Caravelle 2002Volkswagen Caravelle 2003Volkswagen Caravelle 2004Volkswagen Caravelle 2005Volkswagen Caravelle 2006Volkswagen Caravelle 2007Volkswagen Caravelle 2008Volkswagen Caravelle 2009Volkswagen Caravelle 2010Volkswagen Caravelle 2011Volkswagen Caravelle 2012Volkswagen Caravelle 2013Volkswagen Caravelle 2014Volkswagen Caravelle 2015Volkswagen Caravelle 2016Volkswagen Caravelle 2017Volkswagen Caravelle 2018Volkswagen Caravelle 2019Volkswagen Caravelle 2020

By area

Volkswagen Caravelle MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Volkswagen Caravelle body, chassis and structure failuresVolkswagen Caravelle brakes failuresVolkswagen Caravelle vehicle identification failuresVolkswagen Caravelle lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresVolkswagen Caravelle noise, emissions and leaks failuresVolkswagen Caravelle road wheels failuresVolkswagen Caravelle seat belts and airbags failuresVolkswagen Caravelle steering failuresVolkswagen Caravelle suspension failuresVolkswagen Caravelle tyres failuresVolkswagen Caravelle visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Volkswagen Caravelle in NorwayVolkswagen Caravelle in FinlandVolkswagen Caravelle in the Netherlands


Data details & how to cite

Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:volkswagen-caravelle:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Volkswagen Caravelle MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/volkswagen-caravelle/ · Published 2026-07-30.