MOT comparison

Ford Focus Mk3 vs Volkswagen Golf Mk7

How the Ford Focus Mk3 (2011–2018) and the Volkswagen Golf Mk7 (2012–2019) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

Ford Focus Mk3

4,411,119

MOT tests compared · built 2011–2018

Passes more often in 2 of 15 mileage bands

Volkswagen Golf Mk7

3,651,227

MOT tests compared · built 2012–2019

Passes more often in 12 of 15 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Ford Focus Mk3 Volkswagen Golf Mk7

Under 10,000 miles 94.4% vs 93.4%

62,286 and 49,856 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 92.0% vs 90.5%

278,250 and 249,307 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 88.6% vs 88.7%

498,515 and 450,072 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 85.1% vs 87.9%

574,842 and 510,712 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 81.7% vs 86.6%

564,789 and 486,768 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 78.0% vs 85.0%

516,290 and 430,018 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 74.2% vs 83.2%

451,972 and 362,339 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 70.5% vs 81.4%

377,042 and 293,529 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 67.5% vs 80.0%

301,793 and 230,229 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 65.3% vs 78.5%

230,842 and 175,030 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 62.6% vs 77.0%

338,483 and 254,468 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 60.4% vs 75.7%

138,833 and 104,393 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 59.5% vs 74.3%

50,834 and 37,212 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 58.4% vs 73.8%

17,858 and 12,156 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 58.4% vs 71.0%

8,490 and 5,138 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 Mk3 fails more often on

Windscreen washer

Fails about twice as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk7: 1.6% of MOTs against 0.85%.

In 14 of 15 mileage bands · Driver's View
Front coil spring

Fails about 6 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk7: 3.8% of MOTs against 0.89%.

In 13 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks
Front brake pad

Fails about 3 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk7: 1.5% of MOTs against 0.60%.

In 13 of 15 mileage bands · Braking System

Volkswagen Golf Mk7 fails more often on

Shock absorbers

Fails about 8 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk3: 2.1% of MOTs against 0.45%.

In 11 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks
Rear coil spring

Fails over 20 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk3: 1.3% of MOTs against 0.07%.

In 10 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Ford Focus Mk3 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.