Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volkswagen Caddy 2020: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 81 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2020 Volkswagen Caddy were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

The 2020 Volkswagen Caddy follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 6,191 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
81 in every 100
Did not pass first time
19 in every 1001,197 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
5 yearsabout 55,691 miles
First tests counted
6,191

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)13 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre tread depth (front)8 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Brake pads (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 2020 Volkswagen Caddy 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.

Suspension

One fault: anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear), 99 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,197 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.

Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear)

Failed on 78 first tests99 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

An anti-roll bar pin or bush that is excessively worn is Major, and one likely to become detached is graded Dangerous. The wording is DVSA's general rule for a suspension pin, bush or joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 44 first tests, 38 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.

Lamps and electrical

Three faults. The strongest is the daytime running lights (front): 5.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Daytime running lights (front)

Failed on 25 first tests5.7 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Daytime running lamps are inspected only when fitted as original equipment to cars and similar passenger vehicles first used on or after a set date. A lamp that is missing or not working, or that shows red light to the front, is Major. These lamps need not operate when the engine is not running, the parking brake is on, or park is selected on an automatic.

Individual sidelight or tail light (front)

Failed on 76 first tests5.2 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

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.

Brake light

Failed on 35 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

All stop lamps missing or not working is graded Dangerous, and so is a stop lamp that stays on when the brakes are released. A stop lamp that is missing or not working is Major. On some vehicles with LED rear lamps, part of the stop lamp can go out when the rear fog lamp is lit, which is not regarded as a defect.

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

Brakes

One wear pattern: brake discs (rear), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake discs (rear)

Failed on 39 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A brake disc or drum must be significantly worn before it is rejected, and being worn below the manufacturer's recommended limits is not a reason in itself. Significantly and obviously worn is Major, as is contamination with oil or grease. A disc or drum that is fractured, insecure, seriously weakened or missing is graded Dangerous.

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

Engine oil leaks

Noted on 82 first tests3.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Number plates (front)

Noted on 24 first tests2.3 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
81in 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
14in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 80.7% of 6,191 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 85.9%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 5 fixed and the 14 not fixed make the 19 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

4060801002005201020152020Older carsNewer cars
40608010020102020Older 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, 80 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200456 in every 100939
200556 in every 1001,622
200658 in every 1002,461
200758 in every 1003,830
200860 in every 1004,793
200960 in every 1006,061
201059 in every 1008,243
201162 in every 10011,047
201263 in every 1009,053
201363 in every 10011,601
201465 in every 10011,187
201567 in every 10011,331
201669 in every 10012,380
201771 in every 10010,917
201879 in every 10010,137
201978 in every 1009,911
2020 This car81 in every 1006,191
202183 in every 1003,541
202285 in every 1002,410

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2020 Caddy.

Of 2020 Caddy vehicles with under 31,000 miles, 86 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 90,000 miles or more, 75 in every 100 did.

Under 31,0001,265 tests
86
31,000–47,0001,204 tests
83
47,000–64,000 Typical car1,235 tests
80
64,000–90,0001,238 tests
79
90,000 and over1,249 tests
75

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 31,00047,000–64,00090,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)3.02.13.0
Tyre tread depth (front)0.32.32.3
Brake pads (front)0.22.31.1
Windscreen washers0.91.12.0
Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear)0.11.22.4

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

When a car fails

45in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

25in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

6in 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 2020 Volkswagen Caddy follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (front), about 13 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 80.7% of 6,191 first MOTs on the 2020 Volkswagen Caddy passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 85.9%. Among 1,197 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (6.5% of those tests; 78 observed failures; about 99× 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 2020 Volkswagen Caddy at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (13.5%), Tyre tread depth (front) (8.1%) and Brake pads (front) (7.4%), 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: Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear) (6.5% of those tests; 78 observed failures; about 99× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (6.5% of those tests; 78 observed failures; about 99× 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 2020 Volkswagen Caddy include Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (rear), Daytime running lights (front), Individual sidelight or tail light (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 2020 Volkswagen Caddy (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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