MOT comparison

Ford Focus Mk4 vs Volkswagen Golf Mk8

How the Ford Focus Mk4 (2018–2026) and the Volkswagen Golf Mk8 (2019–2026) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

Ford Focus Mk4

531,471

MOT tests compared · built 2018–2026

Passes more often in 0 of 11 mileage bands

Volkswagen Golf Mk8

318,623

MOT tests compared · built 2019–2026

Passes more often in 11 of 11 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Ford Focus Mk4 Volkswagen Golf Mk8

Under 10,000 miles 94.1% vs 96.2%

24,041 and 12,211 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 91.9% vs 93.8%

90,359 and 55,437 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 88.7% vs 91.9%

119,646 and 79,726 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 85.7% vs 90.5%

102,452 and 67,409 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 83.0% vs 89.1%

75,628 and 45,266 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 80.6% vs 87.3%

49,748 and 27,022 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 78.9% vs 85.5%

30,352 and 15,128 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 77.1% vs 83.6%

17,849 and 8,088 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 75.1% vs 83.4%

10,122 and 4,247 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 74.5% vs 82.2%

5,716 and 2,214 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 73.8% vs 82.2%

5,558 and 1,875 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 Mk4 fails more often on

Headlamp

Fails about 3 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk8: 2.4% of MOTs against 0.71%.

In 11 of 11 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Rear brake pad

Fails about 3 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk8: 2.2% of MOTs against 0.94%.

In 8 of 11 mileage bands · Braking System
Exhaust emissions

Fails over 20 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk8: 1.2% of MOTs against 0.01%.

In 8 of 11 mileage bands · Exhaust & Emissions

Volkswagen Golf Mk8 fails more often on

Shock absorbers

Fails about 4 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk4: 2.7% of MOTs against 0.57%.

In 8 of 11 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Ford Focus Mk4 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.