Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Skoda Octavia 2015: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 77 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2015 Skoda Octavia were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

The 2015 Skoda Octavia follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 17,600 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
77 in every 100
Did not pass first time
23 in every 1004,023 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
10 yearsabout 101,141 miles
First tests counted
17,600

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)11 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Headlight aim10 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Shock absorbers (front)7 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 2015 Skoda Octavia 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.

Suspension

Two faults. The strongest is the shock absorbers (front): 3.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 4,022 of 4,023 failed first attempts 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.

Shock absorbers (front)

Failed on 272 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Slight seepage that leaves a film of fluid on a shock absorber does not fail it. Severe leakage, or damage so that it does not function, is Major. A shock absorber missing or likely to become detached is graded Dangerous, though a missing one is only rejected if shock absorbers were fitted as standard.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 741 first tests, 5.2 times as often as on similar cars.

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

Failed on 193 first tests2.1 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.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Brakes

One fault: brake performance (roller test, rear), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake performance (roller test, rear)

Failed on 167 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A wheel with no recorded braking effort on the roller test is graded Dangerous. Inadequate effort, a brake grabbing severely, abnormal lag and excessive fluctuation in effort are each Major. So is significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied, which indicates a binding brake.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 185 first tests, 2.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

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. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Brake performance (plate test, rear)

Noted on 50 first tests3.1 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
77in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
5in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
18in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 77.1% of 17,600 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 82.0%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 5 fixed and the 18 not fixed make the 23 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel13,973109,298 miles7677
Petrol3,62772,954 miles8177

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.

4060801002005201020152020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020152020Older carsNewer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 79 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200158 in every 100439
200263 in every 100665
200357 in every 1001,033
200458 in every 1001,315
200555 in every 1002,192
200655 in every 1003,683
200755 in every 1004,542
200857 in every 1004,443
200959 in every 1005,581
201062 in every 1007,901
201164 in every 1009,733
201264 in every 1009,485
201371 in every 1009,814
201476 in every 10015,498
2015 This car77 in every 10017,600
201680 in every 10018,877
201782 in every 10017,153
201883 in every 10015,441
201983 in every 10018,357
202086 in every 10011,334
202188 in every 1008,884
202289 in every 1005,796

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2015 Octavia.

Of 2015 Octavia vehicles with under 70,000 miles, 85 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 144,000 miles or more, 71 in every 100 did.

Under 70,0003,486 tests
85
70,000–91,0003,557 tests
80
91,000–112,000 Typical car3,529 tests
77
112,000–144,0003,486 tests
74
144,000 and over3,540 tests
71

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Diesel109,298 miles7677
Petrol72,954 miles8177

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 109,298 against 72,954). 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 70,00091,000–112,000144,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)2.12.72.6
Headlight aim0.92.33.6
Shock absorbers (front)1.01.91.1
Tyre tread depth (front)0.71.82.0
Diesel engine warning light0.51.02.9

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

When a car fails

47in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

24in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

7in 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 2015 Skoda Octavia follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (front), about 11 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 77.1% of 17,600 first MOTs on the 2015 Skoda Octavia passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 82.0%. Among 4,023 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Shock absorbers (front) appears more often than on similar cars (6.8% of those tests; 272 observed failures; about 3.1× 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 2015 Skoda Octavia at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (11.3%), Headlight aim (10.3%) and Shock absorbers (front) (6.8%), 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: Shock absorbers (front) (6.8% of those tests; 272 observed failures; about 3.1× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Shock absorbers (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (6.8% of those tests; 272 observed failures; about 3.1× 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 2015 Skoda Octavia include Shock absorbers (front), Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front), Brake performance (roller test, rear). 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 2015 Skoda Octavia (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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