Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Audi A3 2007: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 58 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2007 Audi A3 were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Drive shaft joints and boots (front).

Summary

The 2007 Audi A3 follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 11,651 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
58 in every 100
Did not pass first time
42 in every 1004,875 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
18 yearsabout 135,286 miles
First tests counted
11,651

What failed most often

  1. Drive shaft joints and boots (front)15 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Headlight aim11 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)11 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2007 Audi A3 vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Brakes

One fault: electronic stability control, 3.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 4,875 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Electronic stability control

Failed on 139 first tests3.4 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

An ESC warning lamp is failed only when the tester is certain it indicates an ESC malfunction, because the lamp takes various forms and the owner's handbook may need checking. The system is also called ESP, VDC or DSC, among many other names. Every failure row is Major, covering the lamp, wheel speed sensors, wiring, other components and the switch.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Suspension

Two faults. The strongest is the anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front): 2.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 518 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A suspension joint dust cover that is severely deteriorated is Minor. It becomes Major once it is missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, so what matters is whether it still keeps dirt out. DVSA words this for any suspension joint dust cover, and files it here under anti-roll bars.

Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 184 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A missing anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover is Major, and so is one that no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A cover that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. DVSA uses one wording for the dust cover on any suspension joint.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Body and structure

One fault: drive shaft joints and boots (front), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Drive shaft joints and boots (front)

Failed on 720 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A constant velocity boot that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. It is Major once it is missing, split or insecure so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A transmission joint excessively worn is Major, and graded Dangerous when it is so worn it is likely to fail.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail.

Suspension arm (rear)

Noted on 385 first tests2.7 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Petrol emissions (with catalyst)

Noted on 21 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Anti-roll bar (rear)

Noted on 69 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Anti-roll bar ball joint (rear)

Noted on 27 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension sub-frame (rear)

Noted on 780 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (rear)

Noted on 135 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm pins and bushes

Noted on 49 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Diesel emissions test (pre-reg turbo rules before 01/07/2008)

Noted on 26 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
58in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
8in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
34in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 58.2% of 11,651 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 66.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 8 fixed and the 34 not fixed make the 42 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel7,079149,148 miles5758
Petrol4,572113,723 miles6058

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

40608010020002007201020152020Older carsNewer cars
4060801002000200720102020Newer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200060 in every 100425
200164 in every 100682
200258 in every 100912
200357 in every 1001,174
200453 in every 1002,446
200556 in every 1005,785
200656 in every 1009,213
2007 This car58 in every 10011,651
200859 in every 10015,468
200962 in every 10019,263
201062 in every 10022,121
201164 in every 10019,732
201265 in every 10024,045
201373 in every 10026,090
201477 in every 10037,388
201580 in every 10040,074
201683 in every 10037,389
201785 in every 10032,467
201887 in every 10025,883
201986 in every 10019,953
202088 in every 10015,234
202188 in every 10019,629
202289 in every 10016,875

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2007 Audi A3.

Of 2007 Audi A3 vehicles with under 100,000 miles, 66 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 170,000 miles or more, 55 in every 100 did.

Under 100,0002,304 tests
66
100,000–125,0002,382 tests
57
125,000–145,000 Typical car2,288 tests
57
145,000–170,0002,356 tests
56
170,000 and over2,316 tests
55

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Diesel149,148 miles5758
Petrol113,723 miles6058

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 149,148 against 113,723). At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 100,000125,000–145,000170,000 and over
Drive shaft joints and boots (front)5.26.46.2
Headlight aim2.75.15.5
Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)4.74.03.5
Coil spring (front)3.04.25.0
Tyre condition (front)3.03.13.4

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

23in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

54in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

10in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2007 Audi A3 follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Drive shaft joints and boots (front), about 15 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 58.2% of 11,651 first MOTs on the 2007 Audi A3 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 66.2%. Among 4,875 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Electronic stability control appears more often than on similar cars (2.9% of those tests; 139 observed failures; about 3.4× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2007 Audi A3 at the first attempt were Drive shaft joints and boots (front) (14.8%), Headlight aim (10.6%) and Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front) (10.6%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Electronic stability control (2.9% of those tests; 139 observed failures; about 3.4× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Electronic stability control shows up more often than on similar cars (2.9% of those tests; 139 observed failures; about 3.4× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2007 Audi A3 include Electronic stability control, Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front), Drive shaft joints and boots (front). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2007 Audi A3 (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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