At a glance
How 1,745 first tests went in 2025.
- Passed first time
- 72 in every 100
- Did not pass first time
- 28 in every 100494 failed first-attempt tests
- The typical car
- 17 yearsabout 139,705 miles
- First tests counted
- 1,745
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.
These are patterns across 2008 Audi Q7 vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.
Brakes
Two faults. The strongest is the handbrake efficiency below minimum (decelerometer test): 16 times as often as on similar cars.
Figures below are measured across the 493 of 494 failed first attempts (99.8%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.
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.
Handbrake efficiency below minimum (decelerometer test)
Electronic stability control
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.
Noise, emissions and leaks
One fault: diesel engine warning light, 4.0 times as often as on similar cars.
Diesel engine warning light
What it means
An engine malfunction indicator lamp that is illuminated to show a malfunction is graded Major on a diesel, but only on the diesels the test covers, which depends on the vehicle type and when it was first used. DVSA lists it under exhaust emissions for compression ignition engines, and the detail line for the row also names an inoperative lamp.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Tyres
One wear pattern: tyre tread depth (rear), 2.3 times as often as on similar cars.
Tyre tread depth (rear)
What it means
Only primary grooves count when tread depth is assessed: those holding the wear indicators, or cut as deep as those when new. Shallower secondary grooves are ignored. Tread depth below the minimum for the vehicle is Dangerous, and so is a pattern not visible over the whole tread, but that second row applies only to vehicles that need the lower minimum.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Lamps and electrical
Two faults. The strongest is the individual sidelight or tail light (rear): 2.2 times as often as on similar cars.
Individual sidelight or tail light (rear)
What it means
A position lamp showing red light to the front or white light to the rear is Major. Rear lamps must show a steady red light, and front ones can show white, predominantly white with a blue tinge, or yellow if combined in a yellow headlamp. With a multiple light source, up to half not working is Minor and more than half is Major.
Number plate lights (rear)
What it means
Registration plate lamps must light up the rear registration plate and operate at the same time as the position lamps. A missing or inoperative lamp is Major when the plate has only one lamp or all its lamps are not working, and Minor when the plate has several lamps or light sources and not all have failed. A lamp throwing direct white light to the rear is also Minor.
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 sub-frame pins and bushes (front)
Suspension arm (rear)
Suspension arm ball joint (front)
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
- 72in every 100
- Passed on the first test.
- Fixed at the station
- 7in every 100
- Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
- Failed
- 21in every 100
- Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.
First-attempt pass 71.7% of 1,745 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 78.6%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 7 fixed and the 21 not fixed make the 28 in every 100 that did not pass first time.
Same model, other years
Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.
Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 70 in every 100 passed first time.
| Year | Passed first time | First tests |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 73 in every 100 | 905 |
| 2007 | 72 in every 100 | 2,337 |
| 2008 This car | 72 in every 100 | 1,745 |
| 2009 | 73 in every 100 | 1,062 |
| 2010 | 77 in every 100 | 1,280 |
| 2011 | 79 in every 100 | 1,590 |
| 2012 | 80 in every 100 | 2,111 |
| 2013 | 82 in every 100 | 2,959 |
| 2014 | 81 in every 100 | 2,993 |
| 2015 | 83 in every 100 | 3,031 |
| 2016 | 81 in every 100 | 4,542 |
| 2017 | 83 in every 100 | 4,975 |
| 2018 | 85 in every 100 | 4,520 |
| 2019 | 86 in every 100 | 4,259 |
| 2020 | 90 in every 100 | 3,428 |
| 2021 | 89 in every 100 | 2,965 |
| 2022 | 89 in every 100 | 3,033 |
FAQs
Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.
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.
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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