Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Volkswagen Transporter 2014: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 69 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2014 Volkswagen Transporter were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Anti-lock braking system (ABS).

Summary

A 2014 Volkswagen Transporter passed first time about 1 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2013 and 2015 model years.

At a glance

How 15,453 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
69 in every 100
Did not pass first time
31 in every 1004,794 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
11 yearsabout 102,602 miles
First tests counted
15,453

What failed most often

  1. Anti-lock braking system (ABS)13 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Coil spring (rear)12 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Windscreen washers9 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 2014 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.

Brakes

Two faults. The strongest is the anti-lock braking system (ABS): 9.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 4,789 of 4,794 failed first attempts (99.9%) 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-lock braking system (ABS)

Failed on 628 first tests9.6 times as often as similar carsStrong 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 229 first tests5.1 times as often as similar carsStrong 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.

Suspension

Two faults. The strongest is the shock absorbers (front): 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Shock absorbers (front)

Failed on 243 first tests2.6 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.

Coil spring (rear)

Failed on 552 first tests2.4 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.

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.

Anti-roll bar pins and bushes (front)

Noted on 108 first tests8.3 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Power steering pipes and hoses

Noted on 48 first tests7.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Seat belt condition (front)

Noted on 145 first tests3.9 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Seat belt condition (rear)

Noted on 69 first tests3.3 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Steering rack play

Noted on 29 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Wheel bearings (rear)

Noted on 34 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsPossible 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
69in 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
26in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 69.0% of 15,453 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 73.6%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 5 fixed and the 26 not fixed make the 31 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

40608010019851990199520002005201020142020Older carsNewer cars
40608010019902000201020142020Older 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, 70 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
201165 in every 10011,699
201267 in every 10012,064
201370 in every 10014,083
2014 This car69 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 2014 Transporter.

Of 2014 Transporter vehicles with under 69,000 miles, 77 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 144,000 miles or more, 62 in every 100 did.

Under 69,0003,079 tests
77
69,000–92,0003,095 tests
71
92,000–114,000 Typical car3,105 tests
68
114,000–144,0003,068 tests
66
144,000 and over3,099 tests
62

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 69,00092,000–114,000144,000 and over
Anti-lock braking system (ABS)5.24.13.0
Coil spring (rear)3.14.03.3
Windscreen washers2.22.93.2
Track rod end (front)1.02.83.7
Tyre condition (rear)1.92.02.5

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

When a car fails

38in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

34in 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 2014 Volkswagen Transporter passed first time about 1 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2013 and 2015 model years. In 2025, 69.0% of 15,453 first MOTs on the 2014 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 73.6%. Among 4,794 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Anti-lock braking system (ABS) appears more often than on similar cars (13.1% of those tests; 628 observed failures; about 9.6× 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 2014 Volkswagen Transporter at the first attempt were Anti-lock braking system (ABS) (13.1%), Coil spring (rear) (11.5%) and Windscreen washers (9.1%), 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-lock braking system (ABS) (13.1% of those tests; 628 observed failures; about 9.6× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Anti-lock braking system (ABS) shows up more often than on similar cars (13.1% of those tests; 628 observed failures; about 9.6× 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 2014 Volkswagen Transporter include Anti-lock braking system (ABS), Electronic stability control, Shock absorbers (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 2014 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