Volkswagen Touareg 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

35.1% of 1,615 MOT tests of the Volkswagen Touareg first registered in 2003 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 94.9 (95% CI 87.1–102.7; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2003 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 Touareg built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	35.1	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	1615
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 87.1–102.7)	94.9	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	1615
Rank among this model's 18 build years	8	of 18	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	1615
Tested in 2024	161	tests	median 127,671 miles	2024	161

Built 2003 against Volkswagen Touareg normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 36.5% vs 39.7%; age 17: 30.3% vs 37.6%; age 18: 40.6% vs 36.2%; age 19: 32.8% vs 35.1%; age 20: 34.9% vs 33.6%; age 21: 31.7% vs n/a%. Axis from 0% to 50%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Volkswagen Touareg by registration · All Volkswagen Touareg 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 2003 Volkswagen Touareg fail at each age?

Cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21 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 Touareg built 2003: 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)
16	466 (rough estimate)	36.5	32.2–40.9	39.7	91.9
17	363 (rough estimate)	30.3	25.8–35.2	37.6	80.6
18	315 (rough estimate)	40.6	35.4–46.1	36.2	112.3
19	256 (rough estimate)	32.8	27.4–38.8	35.1	93.4
20	215 (rough estimate)	34.9	28.8–41.5	33.6	103.7
21	161 (rough estimate)	31.7	25–39.2	not available	not available

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,776 (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 2003 Volkswagen Touareg?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 33 items per 100 first tests, against 14.2 across all build years of the Volkswagen Touareg. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Volkswagen Touareg built 2003 against the Volkswagen Touareg in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2003, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	33	14.2	586
Suspension	22.2	9.9	394
Brakes	18.2	8	323
Visibility	11.3	6.2	201
Tyres	7.2	7.5	128

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,776 (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 2003 compare with the years around it?

Among the 18 published build years of the Volkswagen Touareg, 2003 ranks 8 (1 = fails least for its age). 2004: index 101.4.

Volkswagen Touareg build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
2003	94.9	87.1–102.7	no different (rough estimate)	1,615
2004	101.4	97.3–105.5	no different	6,289
2005	101.3	98.1–104.4	no different	10,641
2006	98.5	95.8–101.2	no different	13,990
2007	102.5	99.8–105.2	no different	15,140
2008	107.3	103.9–110.7	worse	10,628
2009	109.9	105.7–114.1	worse	7,666
2010	103.7	98.3–109.0	no different	4,842
2011	93.1	89.6–96.6	better	10,886
2012	88.1	84.7–91.6	better	11,924
2013	87.0	83.7–90.2	better	14,543
2014	83.4	80.5–86.3	better	19,131
2015	110.3	107.3–113.4	worse	25,359
2016	119.5	116.1–123.0	worse	23,644
2017	113.9	109.9–117.9	worse	17,560
2018	77.0	71.4–82.7	better	6,294
2019	81.3	76.2–86.3	better	9,070
2020	80.4	72.5–88.4	better	4,015

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 213,237 (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 Touareg 2003 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-touareg/2003/

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.

Other pages for this model