Volkswagen Passat 1998: MOT failure rate for its age

48.2% of 1,976 MOT tests of the Volkswagen Passat first registered in 1998 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 102.0 (95% CI 95.5–108.5; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 1998 build year is no different from other years of the same model at the same age. This is a rough estimate from a smaller sample.

Volkswagen Passat built in 1998 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	48.2	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	1976
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 95.5–108.5)	102.0	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	1976
Rank among this model's 23 build years	16	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	1976
Tested in 2024	14	tests	median 203,802 miles	2024	14

Built 1998 against Volkswagen Passat normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 21: 48.2% vs 48.5%; age 22: 48.3% vs 45.5%. Axis from 0% to 50%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 1998 Volkswagen Passat by registration · All Volkswagen Passat 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 1998 Volkswagen Passat fail at each age?

Cars built in 1998 were tested at ages 21 to 22 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.

Volkswagen Passat built 1998: 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)
21	1,183	48.2	45.3–51	48.5	99.4
22	793	48.3	44.8–51.8	45.5	106.2

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,976 (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 1998 Volkswagen Passat?

The most common failure group on cars built in 1998 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 53.9 items per 100 first tests, against 17.4 across all build years of the Volkswagen Passat. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 1998 were tested at ages 21 to 22.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Volkswagen Passat built 1998 against the Volkswagen Passat in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 1998, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	53.9	17.4	1,842
Suspension	32.6	20.1	1,112
Body, chassis, structure	26.1	9.9	893
Brakes	22.5	9.7	768
Visibility	14	7.8	477

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 3,416 (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 1998 compare with the years around it?

Among the 23 published build years of the Volkswagen Passat, 1998 ranks 16 (1 = fails least for its age). 1999: index 107.5.

Volkswagen Passat build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	102.0	95.5–108.5	no different (rough estimate)	1,976
1999	107.5	102.7–112.4	worse (rough estimate)	3,725
2000	107.9	103.8–112.0	worse	5,348
2001	102.7	100.0–105.3	no different	12,340
2002	101.1	99.2–103.1	no different	22,605
2003	99.9	98.3–101.5	no different	33,703
2004	99.7	98.2–101.2	no different	38,725
2005	101.7	100.3–103.1	worse	48,329
2006	106.3	105.0–107.5	worse	65,864
2007	100.3	99.3–101.4	no different	85,981
2008	98.9	97.9–100.0	no different	84,877
2009	98.3	97.2–99.4	better	89,098
2010	102.4	101.2–103.5	worse	82,866
2011	99.1	98.1–100.1	no different	114,070
2012	101.9	100.7–103.1	worse	95,118
2013	102.1	100.8–103.5	worse	79,848
2014	103.0	101.7–104.4	worse	94,832
2015	93.3	92.0–94.6	better	100,863
2016	95.8	94.4–97.3	better	97,150
2017	90.2	88.6–91.8	better	77,107
2018	95.1	92.9–97.3	better	45,612
2019	86.3	83.3–89.3	better	23,088
2020	78.9	74.9–83.0	better	12,158

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,315,283 (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). Volkswagen Passat 1998 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/volkswagen-passat/1998/

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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