Volkswagen Passat 2012: MOT failure rate for its age

30.1% of 95,118 MOT tests of the Volkswagen Passat 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 101.9 (95% CI 100.7–103.1; 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).

Volkswagen Passat built in 2012 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	30.1	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	95118
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 100.7–103.1)	101.9	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	95118
Rank among this model's 23 build years	15	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	95118
Tested in 2024	13990	tests	median 130,537 miles	2024	13990

Built 2012 against Volkswagen Passat normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 7: 26.3% vs 24%; age 8: 27.8% vs 25.3%; age 9: 29.7% vs 28.8%; age 10: 30.7% vs 31.2%; age 11: 32.8% vs 34%; age 12: 34.3% vs 35.7%. Axis from 0% to 40%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2012 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 2012 Volkswagen Passat 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.

Volkswagen Passat 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	17,902	26.3	25.7–27	24	109.7
8	16,323	27.8	27.2–28.5	25.3	110
9	16,157	29.7	29–30.4	28.8	103.2
10	15,752	30.7	30–31.4	31.2	98.6
11	14,994	32.8	32.1–33.6	34	96.5
12	13,990	34.3	33.5–35.1	35.7	96

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 95,118 (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 Volkswagen Passat?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2012 is suspension: 19.5 items per 100 first tests, against 20.1 across all build years of the Volkswagen Passat. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2012 were tested at ages 7 to 12.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Volkswagen Passat built 2012 against the Volkswagen Passat in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2012, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Suspension	19.5	20.1	18,549
Tyres	14.4	12.6	13,729
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	9.8	17.4	9,319
Brakes	8.1	9.7	7,731
Visibility	6.2	7.8	5,944

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 95,118 (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 Volkswagen Passat, 2012 ranks 15 (1 = fails least for its age). 2011: index 99.1. 2013: index 102.1.

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 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/volkswagen-passat/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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