MOT comparison

Honda Civic Mk8 vs Volkswagen Golf Mk5

How the Honda Civic Mk8 (Space-age) (2005–2011) 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.

Honda Civic Mk8 (Space-age)

2,275,758

MOT tests compared · built 2005–2011

Passes more often in 1 of 16 mileage bands

Volkswagen Golf Mk5

4,688,377

MOT tests compared · built 2003–2008

Passes more often in 11 of 16 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Honda Civic Mk8 Volkswagen Golf Mk5

Under 10,000 miles 91.5% vs 89.3%

14,178 and 19,083 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 90.4% vs 90.1%

82,014 and 107,296 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 86.8% vs 87.0%

158,977 and 241,748 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 83.1% vs 83.8%

191,482 and 330,671 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 79.1% vs 80.0%

200,661 and 366,296 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 74.3% vs 76.1%

203,072 and 380,755 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 69.9% vs 72.4%

201,560 and 386,592 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 65.2% vs 68.8%

196,702 and 386,399 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 61.9% vs 65.4%

186,265 and 377,517 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 58.6% vs 62.5%

171,310 and 361,891 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 55.9% vs 58.7%

334,229 and 764,188 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 53.3% vs 55.5%

195,118 and 514,216 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 51.7% vs 53.8%

89,710 and 274,680 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 50.2% vs 52.6%

33,936 and 117,032 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 48.7% vs 52.6%

14,935 and 53,880 MOTs

250,000–300,000 miles 50.7% vs 53.1%

1,609 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

Honda Civic Mk8 fails more often on

Front position lamp

Fails about 3 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk5: 6.4% of MOTs against 2.5%.

In 12 of 16 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Shock absorbers

Fails about 8 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk5: 3.4% of MOTs against 0.88%.

In 10 of 16 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks
Registration plate

Fails about twice as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk5: 2.6% of MOTs against 1.1%.

In 10 of 16 mileage bands · Number Plates

Volkswagen Golf Mk5 fails more often on

Front constant velocity joint gaiter

Fails over 20 times as often as the Honda Civic Mk8: 1.9% of MOTs against 0.05%.

In 12 of 16 mileage bands · Suspension & Joints
Exhaust emissions

Fails about 3 times as often as the Honda Civic Mk8: 2.2% of MOTs against 0.63%.

In 11 of 16 mileage bands · Exhaust & Emissions

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Honda Civic Mk8 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.