MOT comparison

Honda Civic Mk9 vs Volkswagen Golf Mk7

How the Honda Civic Mk9 (2011–2017) 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.

Honda Civic Mk9

850,729

MOT tests compared · built 2011–2017

Passes more often in 1 of 15 mileage bands

Volkswagen Golf Mk7

3,651,227

MOT tests compared · built 2012–2019

Passes more often in 11 of 15 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Honda Civic Mk9 Volkswagen Golf Mk7

Under 10,000 miles 94.2% vs 93.4%

12,563 and 49,856 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 92.3% vs 90.5%

63,086 and 249,307 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 89.3% vs 88.7%

105,986 and 450,072 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 87.3% vs 87.9%

115,107 and 510,712 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 85.5% vs 86.6%

108,615 and 486,768 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 83.5% vs 85.0%

95,514 and 430,018 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 81.0% vs 83.2%

81,362 and 362,339 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 77.8% vs 81.4%

66,612 and 293,529 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 75.3% vs 80.0%

53,443 and 230,229 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 72.9% vs 78.5%

41,416 and 175,030 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 70.2% vs 77.0%

62,875 and 254,468 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 67.2% vs 75.7%

27,400 and 104,393 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 64.6% vs 74.3%

10,768 and 37,212 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 64.1% vs 73.8%

3,959 and 12,156 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 62.9% vs 71.0%

2,023 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

Honda Civic Mk9 fails more often on

Windscreen washer

Fails about twice as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk7: 1.7% of MOTs against 0.95%.

In 12 of 15 mileage bands · Driver's View
Front position lamp

Fails over 20 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk7: 5.0% of MOTs against 0.19%.

In 11 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals
Front brake pad

Fails about 3 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk7: 1.7% of MOTs against 0.59%.

In 11 of 15 mileage bands · Braking System

Volkswagen Golf Mk7 fails more often on

Shock absorbers

Fails about 8 times as often as the Honda Civic Mk9: 2.1% of MOTs against 0.34%.

In 12 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks
Rear coil spring

Fails over 20 times as often as the Honda Civic Mk9: 1.3% of MOTs against 0.08%.

In 10 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Honda Civic Mk9 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.