MOT comparison

Ford Focus Mk2 vs Volkswagen Golf Mk5

How the Ford Focus Mk2 (2004–2011) 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.

Ford Focus Mk2

9,004,243

MOT tests compared · built 2004–2011

Passes more often in 1 of 17 mileage bands

Volkswagen Golf Mk5

4,689,526

MOT tests compared · built 2003–2008

Passes more often in 13 of 17 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Ford Focus Mk2 Volkswagen Golf Mk5

Under 10,000 miles 90.9% vs 89.3%

66,723 and 19,083 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 89.9% vs 90.1%

322,871 and 107,296 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 86.8% vs 87.0%

645,338 and 241,748 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 82.5% vs 83.8%

817,774 and 330,671 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 77.9% vs 80.0%

871,984 and 366,296 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 73.1% vs 76.1%

883,929 and 380,755 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 68.6% vs 72.4%

869,408 and 386,592 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 64.4% vs 68.8%

837,313 and 386,399 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 60.8% vs 65.4%

778,187 and 377,517 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 58.0% vs 62.5%

695,066 and 361,891 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 54.8% vs 58.7%

1,251,550 and 764,188 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 51.8% vs 55.5%

615,907 and 514,216 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 50.3% vs 53.8%

235,817 and 274,680 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 49.6% vs 52.6%

76,351 and 117,032 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 49.9% vs 52.6%

30,556 and 53,880 MOTs

250,000–300,000 miles 51.8% vs 53.1%

4,345 and 6,133 MOTs

300,000–350,000 miles 55.8% vs 55.4%

1,124 and 1,149 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

Ford Focus Mk2 fails more often on

Rear direction indicator

Fails over 20 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk5: 1.5% of MOTs against 0.06%.

In 14 of 17 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Front position lamp

Fails about twice as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk5: 5.5% of MOTs against 2.6%.

In 11 of 17 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Front suspension arm

Fails about 3 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk5: 2.5% of MOTs against 1.2%.

In 10 of 17 mileage bands · Suspension & Joints

Volkswagen Golf Mk5 fails more often on

Side repeater

Fails about 3 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk2: 1.7% of MOTs against 0.56%.

In 16 of 17 mileage bands
Front constant velocity joint gaiter

Fails about 5 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk2: 2.0% of MOTs against 0.39%.

In 11 of 17 mileage bands · Suspension & Joints

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Ford Focus Mk2 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.