MOT comparison

Audi A3 8P vs Volkswagen Golf Mk5

How the Audi A3 8P (2nd Gen) (2003–2012) and the Volkswagen Golf Mk5 (2003–2008) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

Audi A3 8P (2nd Gen)

3,268,136

MOT tests compared · built 2003–2012

Passes more often in 13 of 16 mileage bands

Volkswagen Golf Mk5

4,688,377

MOT tests compared · built 2003–2008

Passes more often in 0 of 16 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

Share of MOTs passed first time, at the mileage recorded at the test.

Audi A3 8P Volkswagen Golf Mk5

Under 10,000 miles 90.5% vs 89.3%

10,932 and 19,083 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 90.6% vs 90.1%

67,790 and 107,296 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 87.3% vs 87.0%

153,714 and 241,748 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 84.6% vs 83.8%

211,907 and 330,671 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 81.4% vs 80.0%

241,989 and 366,296 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 78.1% vs 76.1%

259,322 and 380,755 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 74.8% vs 72.4%

267,891 and 386,592 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 71.8% vs 68.8%

271,014 and 386,399 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 69.0% vs 65.4%

268,696 and 377,517 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 66.5% vs 62.5%

257,494 and 361,891 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 63.0% vs 58.7%

546,841 and 764,188 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 59.6% vs 55.5%

373,161 and 514,216 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 57.4% vs 53.8%

204,854 and 274,680 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 56.0% vs 52.6%

88,064 and 117,032 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 55.5% vs 52.6%

39,936 and 53,880 MOTs

250,000–300,000 miles 56.1% vs 53.1%

4,531 and 6,133 MOTs

Parts that fail more often

Only differences that hold across at least half of the mileage bands we could compare, and that are far too large to be chance, are listed. How we decide

Audi A3 8P fails more often on

Rear direction indicator

Fails over 20 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk5: 1.1% of MOTs against 0.08%.

In 11 of 16 mileage bands · Lights & Signals

Volkswagen Golf Mk5 fails more often on

Side repeater

Fails about 4 times as often as the Audi A3 8P: 1.7% of MOTs against 0.44%.

In 16 of 16 mileage bands
Front position lamp

Fails about 4 times as often as the Audi A3 8P: 2.3% of MOTs against 0.83%.

In 11 of 16 mileage bands · Lights & Signals

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Audi A3 8P with another model

These are differences in real MOT results, not engineering verdicts. Owner mix differs between models (some are more often taxis, first cars or rural cars), which is why every figure compares cars at the same mileage. How we compare cars.

MOT records: DVSA MOT history, which contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See this the other way round.