Does the Volkswagen Golf fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?
The Volkswagen Golf records 11.56 brakes failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 12.94 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−1.38, 95% interval −1.41 to −1.35). It ranks 422 of 712 models on brakes (1 = most failures above expected).
Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on brakes · check a Volkswagen Golf by registration
What exactly fails on brakes?
The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Volkswagen Golf is “a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm”, recorded 110,662 times in 2019–2024.
| DVSA defect wording | Items | Per 100 tests |
|---|---|---|
| a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm | 110,662 | 2.08 |
| Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake | 87,124 | 1.64 |
| Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement | 72,110 | 1.35 |
| Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn | 35,005 | 0.66 |
| Warning device shows system malfunction | 33,365 | 0.63 |
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 5,326,892 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV
If a Volkswagen Golf gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?
12.2% of Volkswagen Golf MOTs with a brakes advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12.1 months and 5,752 miles later (809,629 advisories followed).
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 809,629 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV
Other pages for this model
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