Volkswagen Passat 2004: MOT failure rate for its age

43.9% of 38,725 MOT tests of the Volkswagen Passat first registered in 2004 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 99.7 (95% CI 98.2–101.2; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2004 build year is no different from other years of the same model at the same age.

Volkswagen Passat built in 2004 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	43.9	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	38725
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 98.2–101.2)	99.7	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	38725
Rank among this model's 23 build years	10	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	38725
Tested in 2024	3188	tests	median 157,926 miles	2024	3188

Built 2004 against Volkswagen Passat normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 15: 45.2% vs 45.5%; age 16: 43.6% vs 43.2%; age 17: 44.3% vs 44.1%; age 18: 44.2% vs 43.1%; age 19: 42.1% vs 43.4%; age 20: 41.4% vs 43.7%. Axis from 0% to 50%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2004 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 2004 Volkswagen Passat fail at each age?

Cars built in 2004 were tested at ages 15 to 20 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 2004: 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)
15	11,258	45.2	44.3–46.2	45.5	99.5
16	8,221	43.6	42.6–44.7	43.2	101
17	6,683	44.3	43.1–45.5	44.1	100.5
18	5,234	44.2	42.8–45.5	43.1	102.5
19	4,141	42.1	40.6–43.6	43.4	97.1
20	3,188	41.4	39.7–43.1	43.7	94.8

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 38,725 (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 2004 Volkswagen Passat?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2004 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 52.1 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 2004 were tested at ages 15 to 20.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Volkswagen Passat built 2004 against the Volkswagen Passat in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2004, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	52.1	17.4	20,163
Body, chassis, structure	30.7	9.9	11,892
Suspension	22.9	20.1	8,850
Brakes	21.2	9.7	8,215
Visibility	11.2	7.8	4,325

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 38,725 (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 2004 compare with the years around it?

Among the 23 published build years of the Volkswagen Passat, 2004 ranks 10 (1 = fails least for its age). 2003: index 99.9. 2005: index 101.7.

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 2004 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/2004/

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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