Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volkswagen Touran 2005: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 53 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2005 Volkswagen Touran were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Drive shaft joints and boots (front).

Summary

The 2005 Volkswagen Touran follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 2,004 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
53 in every 100
Did not pass first time
47 in every 100933 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
20 yearsabout 150,044 miles
First tests counted
2,004

What failed most often

  1. Drive shaft joints and boots (front)16 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)14 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre condition (front)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 2005 Volkswagen Touran 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.

Brakes

Two faults. The strongest is the electronic stability control: 4.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 911 of 933 failed first attempts (97.6%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like. 2.4% of failures are excluded because no mileage was recorded, so treat these shares as indicative for this model year.

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.

Electronic stability control

Failed on 38 first tests4.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

An ESC warning lamp is failed only when the tester is certain it indicates an ESC malfunction, because the lamp takes various forms and the owner's handbook may need checking. The system is also called ESP, VDC or DSC, among many other names. Every failure row is Major, covering the lamp, wheel speed sensors, wiring, other components and the switch.

Flexible brake hoses (rear)

Failed on 28 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

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.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Noise, emissions and leaks

Two faults. The strongest is the diesel engine warning light: 3.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 33 first tests3.8 times as often as similar carsLikely 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.

Diesel emissions test (pre-reg turbo rules before 01/07/2008)

Failed on 79 first tests3.5 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Seat belts and restraints

One fault: seat belt condition (rear), 2.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Seat belt condition (rear)

Failed on 27 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Any sign of overstretching is a deficiency, and so is a cut anywhere on a child seat belt. On other belts the size of a cut decides it, with a stricter limit at the webbing edge than away from it. Webbing significantly stretched or weakened has rows in both Major and Dangerous grades.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 65 first tests, 13 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.

Suspension

Three faults. The strongest is the suspension arm pins and bushes (front): 2.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 129 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.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 201 first tests, 2.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)

Failed on 31 first tests2.2 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.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 89 first tests, 3.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 29 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.

Lamps and electrical

One fault: individual direction indicators (rear), 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Individual direction indicators (rear)

Failed on 36 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

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.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 25 first tests, 2.1 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.

Body and structure

One fault: drive shaft joints and boots (front), 2.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Drive shaft joints and boots (front)

Failed on 143 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A constant velocity boot that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. It is Major once it is missing, split or insecure so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A transmission joint excessively worn is Major, and graded Dangerous when it is so worn it is likely to fail.

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 108 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension sub-frame (rear)

Noted on 164 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Individual direction indicators (front)

Noted on 24 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm (rear)

Noted on 61 first tests2.3 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
53in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
9in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
38in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 53.4% of 2,004 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 61.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 9 fixed and the 38 not fixed make the 47 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

4060801002005201020152020Newer cars
406080100200520102020Newer 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, 52 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200453 in every 1001,266
2005 This car53 in every 1002,004
200652 in every 1002,921
200756 in every 1004,385
200855 in every 1004,134
200956 in every 1004,540
201057 in every 1004,410
201166 in every 1005,484
201267 in every 1005,401
201368 in every 1005,168
201472 in every 1004,764
201572 in every 1003,658
201679 in every 1003,486
201780 in every 1004,122
201881 in every 1003,523
201986 in every 1002,614
202088 in every 1002,111
202190 in every 100925
202287 in every 100368

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2005 Volkswagen Touran follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Drive shaft joints and boots (front), about 16 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 53.4% of 2,004 first MOTs on the 2005 Volkswagen Touran passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 61.8%. Among 933 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Electronic stability control appears more often than on similar cars (4.2% of those tests; 38 observed failures; about 4.1× 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 2005 Volkswagen Touran at the first attempt were Drive shaft joints and boots (front) (15.7%), Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) (14.2%) and Tyre condition (front) (8.6%), 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: Electronic stability control (4.2% of those tests; 38 observed failures; about 4.1× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Electronic stability control shows up more often than on similar cars (4.2% of those tests; 38 observed failures; about 4.1× 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 2005 Volkswagen Touran include Electronic stability control, Diesel engine warning light, Seat belt condition (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.
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 2005 Volkswagen Touran (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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