At a glance
How 16,464 first tests went in 2025.
- Passed first time
- 48 in every 100
- Did not pass first time
- 52 in every 1008,622 failed first-attempt tests
- The typical car
- 19 yearsabout 96,627 miles
- First tests counted
- 16,464
What failed most often
- Drive shaft joints and boots (front)18 in every 100 failed tests
- Individual sidelight or tail light (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
- Petrol emissions (with catalyst)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.
These are patterns across 2006 Volkswagen Polo 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.
Body and structure
Three faults. The strongest is the other passenger door condition (rear): 6.9 times as often as on similar cars.
Figures below are measured across the 8,608 of 8,622 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.
Other passenger door condition (rear)
What it means
A lack of door handles is not a defect where it comes from the original design or a specialist modification, provided the door latches securely closed and opens using a control such as a button or a fob. Hinges, catches and pillars are rejected for deterioration only if the doors stop working as intended. A hinged door likely to open inadvertently or not remain closed is graded Dangerous.
Exhaust system (front)
What it means
Exhaust fumes causing a danger to health of persons on board are graded Dangerous, and so is a silencer likely to become detached. Fumes entering the cabin are Major. One or more missing or defective mountings does not necessarily make the exhaust insecure, since testers assess the overall security of the system.
Also noted as an advisory
Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 368 first tests, 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.
Drive shaft joints and boots (front)
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
Two faults. The strongest is the side repeater indicators (front): 5.1 times as often as on similar cars.
Side repeater indicators (front)
What it means
Sequential or dynamic direction indicators are not a reason to fail. Where a side repeater is required, it is allowed to be part of the front direction indicator if it has a marked wraparound lens, or an amber light coming through the front lens when viewed from a set distance to the side of the rear bumper. A lens defect with no effect on the emitted light is Minor, and one that adversely affects the light is Major.
Individual direction indicators (rear)
What it means
Direction indicators must be amber, though vehicles first used before a set date may have white at the front and red at the rear when the indicators are combined with stop or position lamps, and sequential or dynamic ones are not a reason to fail. A lamp that is missing, inoperative or has more than half of a multiple light source not functioning is graded Major. A flashing rate outside the permitted range is graded Minor.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Brakes
Three faults. The strongest is the handbrake lever: 4.0 times as often as on similar cars.
Handbrake lever
Also noted as an advisory
Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 27 first tests, 2.2 times as often as on similar cars.
Flexible brake hoses (front)
What it means
Testers reject a flexible brake hose for being excessively damaged or chafed only if it is severe enough to expose the reinforcement. Slight damage, chafing or twisting is graded Minor. A leak is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic braking system and Major on an air system, and a hose damaged and likely to fail is also Dangerous.
Brake imbalance across an axle (roller test, efficiency check, rear)
What it means
A wheel giving less than a set share of the maximum effort from the other wheel on the same axle is Major. On a steered axle, less than half is graded Dangerous. Testers disregard an imbalance if the lower effort is the result of a locked wheel, or if the higher effort from a wheel is at or below a low set figure.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.
Noise, emissions and leaks
Two faults. The strongest is the petrol emissions (with catalyst): 2.4 times as often as on similar cars.
Petrol emissions (with catalyst)
What it means
Emissions levels over the manufacturer's specified limits are Major, as are levels over default limits, which apply when no exact match is found for the vehicle. Dense blue or clearly visible black smoke at idle, held for a set period, is Major, except for certain older vehicles and two stroke engines where smoke is unavoidable. An induction or exhaust leak that could affect emissions levels is Major too.
Also noted as an advisory
Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 27 first tests, 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.
Petrol emissions not tested
What it means
On a petrol car, an emissions test recorded as not tested or unable to be completed is failed as Major. DVSA's wording gives no reason why.
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.
Individual direction indicators (front)
All direction indicators
Brake fluid
Suspension arm (front)
Brake imbalance across an axle (roller test, rear)
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
- 48in every 100
- Passed on the first test.
- Fixed at the station
- 8in every 100
- Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
- Failed
- 44in every 100
- Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.
First-attempt pass 47.6% of 16,464 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 56.4%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 8 fixed and the 44 not fixed make the 52 in every 100 that did not pass first time.
Petrol and diesel
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.
| Year | Passed first time | First tests |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 57 in every 100 | 347 |
| 1999 | 60 in every 100 | 710 |
| 2000 | 53 in every 100 | 1,908 |
| 2001 | 54 in every 100 | 2,969 |
| 2002 | 48 in every 100 | 4,711 |
| 2003 | 47 in every 100 | 8,132 |
| 2004 | 47 in every 100 | 10,245 |
| 2005 | 46 in every 100 | 12,446 |
| 2006 This car | 48 in every 100 | 16,464 |
| 2007 | 51 in every 100 | 19,945 |
| 2008 | 50 in every 100 | 22,110 |
| 2009 | 52 in every 100 | 20,959 |
| 2010 | 55 in every 100 | 34,091 |
| 2011 | 57 in every 100 | 36,544 |
| 2012 | 60 in every 100 | 35,425 |
| 2013 | 62 in every 100 | 36,830 |
| 2014 | 66 in every 100 | 42,662 |
| 2015 | 72 in every 100 | 49,512 |
| 2016 | 74 in every 100 | 49,981 |
| 2017 | 76 in every 100 | 44,389 |
| 2018 | 75 in every 100 | 42,231 |
| 2019 | 79 in every 100 | 35,183 |
| 2020 | 86 in every 100 | 25,440 |
| 2021 | 88 in every 100 | 29,050 |
| 2022 | 92 in every 100 | 21,988 |
If you are buying one
What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.
Mileage matters most on a 2006 Polo.
Of 2006 Polo vehicles with under 67,000 miles, 62 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 128,000 miles or more, 42 in every 100 did.
Petrol or diesel?
| Typical mileage | Passed first time, as tested | Passed first time, same mileage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 94,228 miles | 48 | 47 |
| Diesel | 130,275 miles | 49 | 53 |
Figures are in every 100 first tests. At the same mileage, diesel passed more often (53 against 47 in every 100).
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 67,000 | 88,000–106,000 | 128,000 and over | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drive shaft joints and boots (front) | 5.1 | 10.2 | 11.3 |
| Individual sidelight or tail light (front) | 1.5 | 6.6 | 11.0 |
| Petrol emissions (with catalyst) | 2.1 | 6.6 | 9.2 |
| Headlight aim | 2.6 | 5.2 | 6.7 |
| Windscreen washers | 2.6 | 4.9 | 5.3 |
Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.
When a car fails
of failed cars had one item to fix.
of failed cars had three or more items to fix.
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.
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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