Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volkswagen Touran 2016: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 79 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2016 Volkswagen Touran were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Diesel engine warning light.

Summary

A 2016 Volkswagen Touran passed first time about 3 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2015 and 2017 model years.

At a glance

How 3,486 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
79 in every 100
Did not pass first time
21 in every 100722 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
9 yearsabout 77,717 miles
First tests counted
3,486

What failed most often

  1. Diesel engine warning light12 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (rear)11 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Coil spring (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 2016 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.

Lamps and electrical

Two faults. The strongest is the individual sidelight or tail light (rear): 5.9 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 722 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.

Individual sidelight or tail light (rear)

Failed on 54 first tests5.9 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A position lamp showing red light to the front or white light to the rear is Major. Rear lamps must show a steady red light, and front ones can show white, predominantly white with a blue tinge, or yellow if combined in a yellow headlamp. With a multiple light source, up to half not working is Minor and more than half is Major.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 57 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

All stop lamps missing or not working is graded Dangerous, and so is a stop lamp that stays on when the brakes are released. A stop lamp that is missing or not working is Major. On some vehicles with LED rear lamps, part of the stop lamp can go out when the rear fog lamp is lit, which is not regarded as a defect.

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

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel engine warning light, 3.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 87 first tests3.6 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.

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.

Number plates (rear)

Noted on 28 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Non-component advisories (rear)

Noted on 79 first tests2.1 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
79in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
6in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
15in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 79.3% of 3,486 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 84.6%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 6 fixed and the 15 not fixed make the 21 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as tested
Diesel2,98981,644 miles78
Petrol49758,486 miles85

Figures are in every 100 first tests.

Same model, other years

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

4060801002005201020162020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020162020Older 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, 81 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200453 in every 1001,266
200553 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
2016 This car79 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

If you are buying one

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

Mileage makes a modest difference on a 2016 Touran.

Of 2016 Touran vehicles with under 55,000 miles, 84 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 106,000 miles or more, 77 in every 100 did.

Under 55,000679 tests
84
55,000–70,000700 tests
83
70,000–85,000 Typical car688 tests
77
85,000–106,000728 tests
75
106,000 and over690 tests
77

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 55,00070,000–85,000106,000 and over
Diesel engine warning light1.52.82.6
Tyre condition (rear)1.03.32.3
Coil spring (rear)1.31.52.6
Tyre tread depth (front)1.02.21.7
Brake light (rear)2.11.51.4

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

When a car fails

53in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

18in 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 2016 Volkswagen Touran passed first time about 3 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2015 and 2017 model years. In 2025, 79.3% of 3,486 first MOTs on the 2016 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 84.6%. Among 722 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Individual sidelight or tail light (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (7.5% of those tests; 54 observed failures; about 5.9× 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 2016 Volkswagen Touran at the first attempt were Diesel engine warning light (12.0%), Tyre condition (rear) (11.5%) and Coil spring (rear) (8.7%), 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: Individual sidelight or tail light (rear) (7.5% of those tests; 54 observed failures; about 5.9× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Individual sidelight or tail light (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (7.5% of those tests; 54 observed failures; about 5.9× 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 2016 Volkswagen Touran include Individual sidelight or tail light (rear), Diesel engine warning light, Brake light (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 2016 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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