Does the Volkswagen Polo fail the MOT on seat belts and airbags more than it should?
The Volkswagen Polo records 1.20 seat belts and airbags failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 1.23 expected for a car of the same age mix: about as expected for its class and age (the difference is within its interval or under 0.5 items per 100 tests) (−0.03, 95% interval −0.04 to −0.02). It ranks 290 of 627 models on seat belts and airbags (1 = most failures above expected).
Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on seat belts and airbags · check a Volkswagen Polo by registration
What exactly fails on seat belts and airbags?
The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Volkswagen Polo is “An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction”, recorded 16,279 times in 2019–2024.
| DVSA defect wording | Items | Per 100 tests |
|---|---|---|
| An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction | 16,279 | 0.45 |
| The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any seat belt anchorage (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired | 13,996 | 0.39 |
| Seat belt not functioning as intended or of an incorrect type | 4,258 | 0.12 |
| Seat belt buckle missing, damaged or not functioning as intended | 2,759 | 0.08 |
| Seat belt retractor not functioning as intended | 2,000 | 0.06 |
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 3,584,610 (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 Polo gets a seat belts and airbags advisory, how often does it fail next time?
6.4% of Volkswagen Polo MOTs with a seat belts and airbags advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12 months and 4,936 miles later (15,271 advisories followed).
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 15,271 (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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