Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volkswagen Tiguan 2015: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 75 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Suspension arm pins and bushes (front).

Summary

A 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan passed first time about 2 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2014 and 2016 model years.

At a glance

How 19,130 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
75 in every 100
Did not pass first time
25 in every 1004,837 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
10 yearsabout 81,548 miles
First tests counted
19,130

What failed most often

  1. Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)17 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Coil spring (front)16 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Suspension arm (rear)9 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 Volkswagen Tiguan 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): 44 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 4,837 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.

Suspension arm (rear)

Failed on 429 first tests44 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 824 first tests, 18 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 830 first tests4.0 times as often as similar carsLikely 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.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 881 first tests, 2.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Coil spring (front)

Failed on 778 first tests3.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A missing bump stop rubber is not a reason to fail a coil spring. When the vehicle is jacked and lowered, a spring that does not correctly locate as the suspension returns to its normal running position is rejected as insecurely attached. A missing spring is Major, and graded Dangerous where directional control is affected.

Shock absorbers (rear)

Failed on 228 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsPossible 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 289 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.

Propeller shaft flexible couplings (rear)

Noted on 62 first tests27 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (rear)

Noted on 84 first tests11 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Anti-roll bar (rear)

Noted on 55 first tests8.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)

Noted on 148 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Suspension sub-frame (rear)

Noted on 156 first tests2.4 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
75in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
3in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
22in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 74.7% of 19,130 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 77.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 22 not fixed make the 25 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as tested
Diesel18,81581,889 miles75
Petrol31557,286 miles79

Figures are in every 100 first tests.

Same model, other years

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

406080100201020152020Older 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, 78 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200861 in every 1003,530
200960 in every 1005,382
201062 in every 1006,050
201164 in every 1006,320
201266 in every 1008,517
201371 in every 10011,727
201472 in every 10014,642
2015 This car75 in every 10019,130
201681 in every 10017,818
201786 in every 10025,265
201885 in every 10028,186
201987 in every 10033,089
202089 in every 10022,815
202190 in every 10021,506
202289 in every 10016,343

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 Tiguan.

Of 2015 Tiguan vehicles with under 61,000 miles, 81 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 105,000 miles or more, 71 in every 100 did.

Under 61,0003,883 tests
81
61,000–75,0003,661 tests
76
75,000–88,000 Typical car3,912 tests
74
88,000–105,0003,830 tests
71
105,000 and over3,842 tests
71

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 61,00075,000–88,000105,000 and over
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)3.14.45.4
Coil spring (front)4.23.64.5
Suspension arm (rear)1.82.12.7
Tyre tread depth (front)0.62.13.0
Tyre condition (rear)1.21.92.2

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.

26in 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.

A 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan passed first time about 2 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2014 and 2016 model years. In 2025, 74.7% of 19,130 first MOTs on the 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 77.8%. Among 4,837 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (8.9% of those tests; 429 observed failures; about 44× 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 Volkswagen Tiguan at the first attempt were Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) (17.2%), Coil spring (front) (16.1%) and Suspension arm (rear) (8.9%), 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) (8.9% of those tests; 429 observed failures; about 44× 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 (8.9% of those tests; 429 observed failures; about 44× 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 Volkswagen Tiguan include Suspension arm (rear), Suspension arm pins and bushes (front), Coil spring (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 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan (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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