Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volkswagen Transporter 2011: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 65 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2011 Volkswagen Transporter were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Anti-lock braking system (ABS).

Summary

The 2011 Volkswagen Transporter follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 11,699 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
65 in every 100
Did not pass first time
35 in every 1004,067 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
14 yearsabout 129,762 miles
First tests counted
11,699

What failed most often

  1. Anti-lock braking system (ABS)9 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Windscreen washers9 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 2011 Volkswagen Transporter 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: anti-roll bar pins and bushes (front), 9.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 4,065 of 4,067 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.

Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 109 first tests9.1 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

An anti-roll bar pin or bush that is excessively worn is Major, and one likely to become detached is graded Dangerous. The wording is DVSA's general rule for a suspension pin, bush or joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 133 first tests, 6.6 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.

Brakes

Two faults. The strongest is the anti-lock braking system (ABS): 4.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-lock braking system (ABS)

Failed on 356 first tests4.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

ABS is failed as removed only where it has obviously been removed, because not every vehicle in the age range where removal is not permitted has ABS. A warning lamp that does not light or shows an ABS fault is Major, as is a missing or excessively damaged wheel speed sensor. Every failure row for this component is Major.

Electronic stability control

Failed on 147 first tests3.1 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.

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.

Power steering pump

Noted on 26 first tests28 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Seat belt condition (front)

Noted on 163 first tests3.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Power steering pipes and hoses

Noted on 28 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension mounting area (front)

Noted on 22 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Seat belt condition (rear)

Noted on 55 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
65in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
5in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
30in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 65.2% of 11,699 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 70.4%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 5 fixed and the 30 not fixed make the 35 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

40608010019851990199520002005201120152020Older carsNewer cars
4060801001990200020112020Older 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, 67 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
198559 in every 100414
198663 in every 100668
198761 in every 100586
198864 in every 100751
198962 in every 1001,014
199063 in every 1001,024
199162 in every 100696
199253 in every 100915
199354 in every 100880
199455 in every 1001,547
199553 in every 1001,828
199653 in every 1002,153
199755 in every 1002,564
199854 in every 1003,263
199954 in every 1003,621
200054 in every 1004,114
200154 in every 1005,678
200255 in every 1005,811
200354 in every 1006,356
200454 in every 1008,432
200555 in every 1009,265
200655 in every 10010,567
200757 in every 10012,554
200858 in every 10011,988
200959 in every 1008,628
201063 in every 10010,394
2011 This car65 in every 10011,699
201267 in every 10012,064
201370 in every 10014,083
201469 in every 10015,453
201571 in every 10017,534
201674 in every 10019,427
201775 in every 10019,561
201877 in every 10019,427
201979 in every 10018,198
202080 in every 10014,018
202181 in every 10017,468
202284 in every 10012,292

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2011 Transporter.

Of 2011 Transporter vehicles with under 90,000 miles, 74 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 177,000 miles or more, 60 in every 100 did.

Under 90,0002,325 tests
74
90,000–117,0002,309 tests
68
117,000–143,000 Typical car2,346 tests
64
143,000–177,0002,381 tests
60
177,000 and over2,332 tests
60

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 90,000117,000–143,000177,000 and over
Anti-lock braking system (ABS)3.23.12.4
Windscreen washers2.23.13.4
Coil spring (rear)2.33.42.7
Drive shaft joints and boots (front)0.52.94.3
Track rod end (front)0.93.14.0

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

When a car fails

34in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

41in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

7in 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 2011 Volkswagen Transporter follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Anti-lock braking system (ABS), about 9 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 65.2% of 11,699 first MOTs on the 2011 Volkswagen Transporter passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 70.4%. Among 4,067 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (front) appears more often than on similar cars (2.7% of those tests; 109 observed failures; about 9.1× 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 2011 Volkswagen Transporter at the first attempt were Anti-lock braking system (ABS) (8.8%), Windscreen washers (8.8%) 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: Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (front) (2.7% of those tests; 109 observed failures; about 9.1× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (2.7% of those tests; 109 observed failures; about 9.1× 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 2011 Volkswagen Transporter include Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (front), Anti-lock braking system (ABS), Electronic stability control. 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 2011 Volkswagen Transporter (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.

Check any vehicle’s MOT history

Full MOT history, mileage records, and reliability insights for any UK vehicle.

Run a free check