Renault Clio vs Volkswagen Polo
Take the Volkswagen Polo for lower age-adjusted MOT risk: its index is 114.8 versus 141.5 for the Renault Clio, and the 95% confidence intervals do not overlap.
Lower is better. The index adjusts for each fleet's exact age profile; the raw failure rate below does not. The index gap is 26.7 points. Data release dvsa-2024-v1.
Side-by-side evidence
| Measure | Renault Clio | Volkswagen Polo |
|---|---|---|
| Age-adjusted MOT Risk Index | 141.5 (141.0–141.9) | 114.8 (114.5–115.1) |
| Raw initial failure rate | 41.43% | 32.68% |
| Dangerous defects per 100 tests | 17.09 | 12.62 |
| Initial tests | 473,424 | 895,817 |
Where their MOT failures diverge
These are component groups present in both models' published top-six failure lists, sorted by the absolute gap. A positive difference means the Renault Clio records more failure items; a negative one means the Volkswagen Polo does.
| Component group | Renault Clio | Volkswagen Polo | Difference | Lower rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 42.5 | 31.7 | +10.8 pp | Volkswagen Polo |
| Suspension | 34.6 | 25.3 | +9.3 pp | Volkswagen Polo |
| Brakes | 23.5 | 20.2 | +3.3 pp | Volkswagen Polo |
| Body, chassis, structure | 10.9 | 14.0 | -3.1 pp | Renault Clio |
| Visibility | 15.7 | 12.7 | +3.0 pp | Volkswagen Polo |
Counts are defect items, not the share of cars: one failed test can contain several items. A group absent from a model's top six is not treated as zero.
What the six-year test history says
The longitudinal layer follows the same vehicles between MOTs from 2019 to 2024. It separates a one-day retest from the harder question of what returns next year, and puts failures against miles actually driven.
| Component | Renault Clio | Volkswagen Polo | Difference | Tracked advisories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steering | 24.7% | 12.8% | +11.9 pp | 58,501 / 32,648 |
| Suspension | 31.2% | 22.2% | +9.0 pp | 214,959 / 418,807 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 14.5% | 21.0% | -6.5 pp | 56,481 / 128,938 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 6.7% | 11.1% | -4.5 pp | 86,984 / 96,258 |
| Visibility | 15.3% | 12.4% | +3.0 pp | 1,996 / 3,682 |
| Brakes | 17.2% | 14.5% | +2.7 pp | 373,062 / 470,517 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 8.6% | 6.4% | +2.2 pp | 6,804 / 15,272 |
| Tyres | 11.2% | 9.6% | +1.6 pp | 440,451 / 697,783 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4.6% | 3.8% | +0.9 pp | 29,550 / 67,580 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 36.6% | 37.2% | -0.6 pp | 65,427 / 52,234 |
| Measure | Renault Clio | Volkswagen Polo |
|---|---|---|
| Repaired and passed the same day | 43.2% | 45.9% |
| Passed 1–10 days later | 54.0% | 51.5% |
| Median retest delay | 1.0 days | 1.0 days |
| Failures per 10,000 miles | 0.814 | 0.602 |
| Three-test clean streak | 28.8% | 37.6% |
| Same advisory repeated 3+ times | 36.2% | 31.7% |
Care proxy is descriptive, not a claim about an owner's character: a clean streak means three or more consecutive tests with nothing recorded; the repeat measure means the same advisory appeared at least three times.
Safety recalls
| Model | Campaigns listed | Per 10,000 licensed |
|---|---|---|
| Renault Clio | 24 | 0.76 |
| Volkswagen Polo | — | — |
More campaigns do not by themselves mean a less reliable car: recalls are manufacturer remedies, and the licensed-fleet denominator is unavailable for some families. Check a registration for outstanding work before buying.
Do other countries see the same thing?
Both models appear in the same independent national inspection datasets below. Compare each model with that country's own average; absolute pass rates are not portable between rulebooks.
| Country / test | Model | Model fails | National average | Position | Inspections |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland · Katsastus | Renault Clio | 36.4% | 26.3% | +10.1 pp | 9,865 |
| Finland · Katsastus | Volkswagen Polo | 24.0% | 26.3% | -2.3 pp | 21,606 |
| Netherlands · APK | Renault Clio | 55.1% | 50.9% | +4.2 pp | 102,834 |
| Netherlands · APK | Volkswagen Polo | 54.1% | 50.9% | +3.2 pp | 180,660 |
| Norway · PKK | Renault Clio | 42.4% | 33.5% | +8.9 pp | 595 |
| Norway · PKK | Volkswagen Polo | 35.8% | 33.5% | +2.3 pp | 5,829 |
Sources are the national PKK, Katsastus and APK datasets recorded in each family artifact. Position is model failure rate minus that country's national rate.
Quick answers
- Is the Renault Clio or the Volkswagen Polo more reliable?
- The Volkswagen Polo has the stronger age-adjusted MOT result: index 114.8 against 141.5 for the Renault Clio, with non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals.
- Does the Renault Clio or the Volkswagen Polo fail more MOTs?
- 41.43% of Renault Clio initial tests and 32.68% of Volkswagen Polo initial tests found a failing defect in 2024. The lower raw rate belongs to the Volkswagen Polo, but the age-adjusted index is the fairer model comparison because the fleets can be different ages.
- What are the main MOT problem areas on the Renault Clio and Volkswagen Polo?
- The leading published failure group for the Renault Clio is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 42.5 items per 100 tests; for the Volkswagen Polo it is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 31.7 per 100.
- Should I buy a Renault Clio or a Volkswagen Polo?
- If MOT reliability is the deciding factor, the Volkswagen Polo is the evidence-led choice. Still check the individual car's MOT history and condition: these figures describe whole model populations, not a particular vehicle.
Model pages and nearby comparisons
See the Renault Clio and Vauxhall Corsa comparisonSee the Toyota Yaris and Vauxhall Corsa comparisonSee the Nissan Leaf and Tesla Model 3 comparison
Browse all car reliability comparisons.
How to read and cite this comparison
Scope: class-4 vehicles, initial tests only, Great Britain 2024. PRS fixed-on-the-spot results count as failures because a defect was present on arrival. Index = observed initial failures ÷ age-profile-expected failures × 100; intervals are 95% confidence intervals. Every model family combines all generations and engines. Full method: methodology.
Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Renault Clio vs Volkswagen Polo: MOT reliability comparison, 2024 (dvsa-2024-v1). https://motriskindex.co.uk/compare/renault-clio-vs-volkswagen-polo/