Volkswagen Transporter 2012: MOT failure rate for its age

28.8% of 73,629 MOT tests of the Volkswagen Transporter 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 96.7 (95% CI 95.4–98.0; 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 Transporter built in 2012 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	28.8	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	73629
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 95.4–98.0)	96.7	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	73629
Rank among this model's 23 build years	4	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	73629
Tested in 2024	12235	tests	median 115,412 miles	2024	12235

Built 2012 against Volkswagen Transporter normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 7: 26.2% vs 26.3%; age 8: 26.1% vs 25.8%; age 9: 29% vs 27.9%; age 10: 29.5% vs 30.1%; age 11: 30.3% vs 32.7%; age 12: 31.5% vs 35.8%. Axis from 0% to 40%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2012 Volkswagen Transporter by registration · All Volkswagen Transporter 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 Transporter 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 Transporter 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	12,451	26.2	25.4–27	26.3	99.8
8	11,741	26.1	25.3–26.9	25.8	101
9	12,440	29	28.2–29.8	27.9	104
10	12,343	29.5	28.7–30.3	30.1	98.1
11	12,419	30.3	29.5–31.1	32.7	92.7
12	12,235	31.5	30.7–32.3	35.8	88

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 73,629 (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 Transporter?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2012 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 19.1 items per 100 first tests, against 27 across all build years of the Volkswagen Transporter. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2012 were tested at ages 7 to 12.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Volkswagen Transporter built 2012 against the Volkswagen Transporter in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2012, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	19.1	27	14,039
Suspension	17.4	25.2	12,802
Visibility	12.3	12.8	9,025
Brakes	8.7	16.4	6,394
Tyres	7.9	7.6	5,818

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 73,629 (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 Transporter, 2012 ranks 4 (1 = fails least for its age). 2011: index 94.5. 2013: index 95.3.

Volkswagen Transporter build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	98.0	95.0–101.0	no different	8,448
1999	99.1	96.7–101.6	no different	13,141
2000	101.4	99.4–103.4	no different	20,118
2001	101.1	99.6–102.7	no different	33,898
2002	99.6	98.2–101.1	no different	39,533
2003	100.8	99.4–102.2	no different	42,695
2004	103.1	101.8–104.3	worse	55,640
2005	101.6	100.4–102.8	worse	60,880
2006	103.0	101.8–104.1	worse	68,968
2007	102.0	100.9–103.0	worse	81,098
2008	103.8	102.6–104.9	worse	76,460
2009	103.6	102.2–105.0	worse	54,890
2010	95.7	94.4–96.9	better	64,392
2011	94.5	93.2–95.7	better	71,865
2012	96.7	95.4–98.0	better	73,629
2013	95.3	94.0–96.5	better	85,351
2014	102.2	100.9–103.4	worse	94,208
2015	101.7	100.4–102.9	worse	105,934
2016	97.4	96.2–98.7	better	116,586
2017	99.3	98.0–100.7	no different	100,386
2018	100.3	98.7–102.0	no different	76,987
2019	101.0	99.0–103.1	no different	54,896
2020	105.0	102.1–107.9	worse	28,105

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,428,108 (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 Transporter 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-transporter/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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