Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volkswagen Passat 2011: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 64 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2011 Volkswagen Passat were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Suspension arm pins and bushes (front).

Summary

The 2011 Volkswagen Passat follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 14,564 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
64 in every 100
Did not pass first time
36 in every 1005,231 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
14 yearsabout 144,815 miles
First tests counted
14,564

What failed most often

  1. Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)15 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (rear)11 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)10 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 2011 Volkswagen Passat 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

Four faults. The strongest is the suspension arm (rear): 9.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 5,227 of 5,231 failed first attempts (99.9%) 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.

Suspension arm (rear)

Failed on 400 first tests9.2 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

A missing bump stop rubber is not a reason to fail a suspension arm. A component that is fractured, missing or likely to fail is graded Dangerous, and one excessively damaged or corroded is Major. On some vehicles, some highly stressed parts are thin pressed steel, and many of those have hollow box sections or up-facing areas that can collect road dirt and salt, so they get special attention.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 582 first tests, 4.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 793 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Pins and bushes on suspension arms fail as Major when they are excessively worn. They are graded Dangerous when likely to become detached. DVSA uses the same wording for a suspension joint.

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

Failed on 498 first tests2.4 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 tests2.2 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. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Seat belts and restraints

One fault: airbag warning light, 3.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Airbag warning light

Failed on 321 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

The airbag warning lamp (SRS MIL in DVSA's wording) is failed only if it indicates a system malfunction, which is Major. A lamp lit to show the passenger airbag is disabled is not to be regarded as a defect. Dashboard messages are not a defect in their own right, though they can help the tester confirm a malfunction.

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.

Electronic parking brake

Noted on 40 first tests30 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)

Noted on 305 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (rear)

Noted on 115 first tests2.1 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
64in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
6in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
30in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 64.1% of 14,564 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 69.5%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 6 fixed and the 30 not fixed make the 36 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as tested
Diesel14,213145,796 miles64
Petrol35192,116 miles70

Figures are in every 100 first tests.

Same model, other years

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

40608010020002005201120152020Older carsNewer cars
406080100200020112020Older carsNewer cars

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

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200056 in every 100353
200158 in every 100732
200261 in every 1001,268
200359 in every 1002,009
200460 in every 1002,309
200560 in every 1002,817
200657 in every 1003,744
200759 in every 1005,753
200860 in every 1007,149
200962 in every 1009,220
201062 in every 1009,539
2011 This car64 in every 10014,564
201265 in every 10012,714
201367 in every 10011,280
201469 in every 10013,875
201577 in every 10014,533
201679 in every 10014,196
201781 in every 10013,102
201884 in every 10010,052
201986 in every 1006,894
202088 in every 1005,426
202187 in every 1003,304
202287 in every 1002,281

If you are buying one

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

Mileage makes a modest difference on a 2011 Passat.

Of 2011 Passat vehicles with under 110,000 miles, 69 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 184,000 miles or more, 62 in every 100 did.

Under 110,0002,880 tests
69
110,000–135,0002,998 tests
64
135,000–156,000 Typical car2,813 tests
63
156,000–184,0002,989 tests
63
184,000 and over2,877 tests
62

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 110,000135,000–156,000184,000 and over
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)4.65.65.7
Tyre condition (rear)3.34.34.4
Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)3.93.72.6
Coil spring (front)3.03.33.4
Suspension arm (rear)2.13.32.4

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

When a car fails

31in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

41in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

11in 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 2011 Volkswagen Passat follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Suspension arm pins and bushes (front), about 15 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 64.1% of 14,564 first MOTs on the 2011 Volkswagen Passat passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 69.5%. Among 5,231 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (7.7% of those tests; 400 observed failures; about 9.2× 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 2011 Volkswagen Passat at the first attempt were Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) (15.2%), Tyre condition (rear) (11.2%) and Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front) (9.5%), 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: Suspension arm (rear) (7.7% of those tests; 400 observed failures; about 9.2× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (7.7% of those tests; 400 observed failures; about 9.2× 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 2011 Volkswagen Passat include Suspension arm (rear), Airbag warning light, Suspension arm pins and bushes (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 2011 Volkswagen Passat (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.

Check any vehicle’s MOT history

Full MOT history, mileage records, and reliability insights for any UK vehicle.

Run a free check