Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volkswagen Tiguan 2019: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 87 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (rear).

Summary

The 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 33,089 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
87 in every 100
Did not pass first time
13 in every 1004,246 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
6 yearsabout 48,179 miles
First tests counted
33,089

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (rear)16 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre tread depth (front)13 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Brake pads (rear)11 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 2019 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

One fault: suspension arm pins and bushes (front), 6.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 4,244 of 4,246 failed first attempts 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 pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 419 first tests6.0 times as often as similar carsStrong 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 369 first tests, 3.0 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.

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel engine warning light, 2.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 305 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

An engine malfunction indicator lamp that is illuminated to show a malfunction is graded Major on a diesel, but only on the diesels the test covers, which depends on the vehicle type and when it was first used. DVSA lists it under exhaust emissions for compression ignition engines, and the detail line for the row also names an inoperative lamp.

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.

Shock absorbers (front)

Noted on 407 first tests3.9 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Coil spring (rear)

Noted on 28 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Brake fluid

Noted on 21 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
87in 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
11in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 87.2% of 33,089 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 89.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 2 fixed and the 11 not fixed make the 13 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel19,05251,943 miles8687
Petrol14,03743,684 miles8888

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.

406080100201020152019Older carsNewer cars
40608010020102019Older 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, 88 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
201575 in every 10019,130
201681 in every 10017,818
201786 in every 10025,265
201885 in every 10028,186
2019 This car87 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 2019 Tiguan.

Of 2019 Tiguan vehicles with under 34,000 miles, 92 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 65,000 miles or more, 83 in every 100 did.

Under 34,0006,434 tests
92
34,000–44,0006,884 tests
89
44,000–53,000 Typical car6,607 tests
87
53,000–65,0006,479 tests
85
65,000 and over6,683 tests
83

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Diesel51,943 miles8687
Petrol43,684 miles8888

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 51,943 against 43,684). 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 34,00044,000–53,00065,000 and over
Tyre condition (rear)1.72.32.0
Tyre tread depth (front)0.61.82.6
Brake pads (rear)0.81.61.6
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)0.61.41.9
Diesel engine warning light0.40.71.8

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

When a car fails

60in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

12in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

5in 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 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre condition (rear), about 16 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 87.2% of 33,089 first MOTs on the 2019 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 89.2%. Among 4,246 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) appears more often than on similar cars (9.9% of those tests; 419 observed failures; about 6.0× 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 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan at the first attempt were Tyre condition (rear) (15.6%), Tyre tread depth (front) (13.5%) and Brake pads (rear) (10.7%), 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 pins and bushes (front) (9.9% of those tests; 419 observed failures; about 6.0× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (9.9% of those tests; 419 observed failures; about 6.0× 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 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan include Suspension arm pins and bushes (front), Diesel engine warning light. 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 2019 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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