Volkswagen Passat 2018: reliability & common MOT faults

At a glance

How 10,052 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time: 84 in every 100
Did not pass first time: 16 in every 1001,631 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car: 7 yearsabout 80,470 miles
First tests counted: 10,052

What failed most often

Shock absorbers (rear)18 in every 100 failed tests
Tyre condition (rear)16 in every 100 failed tests
Tyre tread depth (front)12 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 2018 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

One fault: shock absorbers (rear), 13 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,631 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.

Shock absorbers (rear)

Failed on 301 first tests13 times as often as similar carsStrong 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 149 first tests, 5.0 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.

MOT pass rates

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

Passed first time: 84in every 100; Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station: 2in 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 83.8% of 10,052 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 86.0%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 2 fixed and the 14 not fixed make the 16 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage

Diesel6,73387,048 miles8384

Petrol1,89958,472 miles8683

Hybrid1,42082,132 miles8283

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.

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 85 in every 100 passed first time.

Year	Passed first time	First tests
2000	56 in every 100	353
2001	58 in every 100	732
2002	61 in every 100	1,268
2003	59 in every 100	2,009
2004	60 in every 100	2,309
2005	60 in every 100	2,817
2006	57 in every 100	3,744
2007	59 in every 100	5,753
2008	60 in every 100	7,149
2009	62 in every 100	9,220
2010	62 in every 100	9,539
2011	64 in every 100	14,564
2012	65 in every 100	12,714
2013	67 in every 100	11,280
2014	69 in every 100	13,875
2015	77 in every 100	14,533
2016	79 in every 100	14,196
2017	81 in every 100	13,102
2018 This car	84 in every 100	10,052
2019	86 in every 100	6,894
2020	88 in every 100	5,426
2021	87 in every 100	3,304
2022	87 in every 100	2,281

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2018 Passat.

Of 2018 Passat vehicles with under 55,000 miles, 89 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 116,000 miles or more, 81 in every 100 did.

Under 55,0002,038 tests

89

55,000–72,0002,009 tests

86

72,000–90,000 Typical car1,989 tests

83

90,000–116,0001,982 tests

80

116,000 and over2,033 tests

81

Petrol or diesel?

	Typical mileage	Passed first time, as tested	Passed first time, same mileage
Diesel	87,048 miles	83	84
Petrol	58,472 miles	86	83

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 87,048 against 58,472). 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 55,000	72,000–90,000	116,000 and over
Shock absorbers (rear)	0.1	3.2	3.9
Tyre condition (rear)	2.6	2.5	2.5
Tyre tread depth (front)	1.1	2.1	2.4
Diesel engine warning light	0.3	1.6	2.4
Brake pads (rear)	1.0	0.8	1.3

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

When a car fails

57in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

15in 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.

Is the 2018 Volkswagen Passat reliable?

The 2018 Volkswagen Passat follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Shock absorbers (rear), about 18 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 83.8% of 10,052 first MOTs on the 2018 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 86.0%. Among 1,631 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Shock absorbers (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (18.5% of those tests; 301 observed failures; about 13× 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.

What is most likely to fail on a 2018 Volkswagen Passat?

Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2018 Volkswagen Passat at the first attempt were Shock absorbers (rear) (18.5%), Tyre condition (rear) (15.8%) and Tyre tread depth (front) (12.0%), 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.

What common MOT faults stand out on the Volkswagen Passat 2018?

Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Shock absorbers (rear) (18.5% of those tests; 301 observed failures; about 13× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.

Why does Shock absorbers (rear) stand out?

Shock absorbers (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (18.5% of those tests; 301 observed failures; about 13× 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.

What are common problems with the 2018 Volkswagen Passat?

Common MOT problem areas for the 2018 Volkswagen Passat include Shock absorbers (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.

What does this Volkswagen Passat 2018 MOT report cover?

This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2018 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.

Does this include engine and gearbox problems?

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.