MOT comparison

Audi A3 8V vs BMW 1 Series F20/F21

How the Audi A3 8V (3rd Gen) (2012–2020) and the BMW 1 Series F20/F21 (2nd Gen) (2011–2019) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

Audi A3 8V (3rd Gen)

2,002,064

MOT tests compared · built 2012–2020

Passes more often in 13 of 15 mileage bands

BMW 1 Series F20/F21 (2nd Gen)

2,167,821

MOT tests compared · built 2011–2019

Passes more often in 0 of 15 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Audi A3 8V BMW 1 Series F20/F21

Under 10,000 miles 94.9% vs 95.2%

20,621 and 22,895 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 92.1% vs 92.0%

125,005 and 130,010 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 90.1% vs 88.8%

232,769 and 242,100 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 88.6% vs 86.2%

269,278 and 281,226 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 86.8% vs 83.4%

261,674 and 277,824 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 84.6% vs 81.0%

235,178 and 254,710 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 82.6% vs 78.7%

201,244 and 222,485 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 80.9% vs 76.3%

166,698 and 187,646 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 79.3% vs 74.3%

132,954 and 151,579 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 77.9% vs 72.6%

103,553 and 118,499 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 76.1% vs 69.8%

154,492 and 175,483 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 74.4% vs 67.4%

65,631 and 70,714 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 73.5% vs 65.7%

23,194 and 23,657 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 71.1% vs 65.5%

7,201 and 6,716 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 69.6% vs 64.9%

2,572 and 2,277 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 8V fails more often on

Rear coil spring

Fails about 6 times as often as the BMW 1 Series F20/F21: 1.2% of MOTs against 0.24%.

In 8 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

BMW 1 Series F20/F21 fails more often on

Front position lamp

Fails about 5 times as often as the Audi A3 8V: 4.0% of MOTs against 0.99%.

In 12 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Headlamp

Fails about 1.5 times as often as the Audi A3 8V: 3.7% of MOTs against 2.3%.

In 10 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Audi A3 8V 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.