MOT comparison

Volkswagen Golf Mk5 vs Ford Focus Mk2

How the Volkswagen Golf Mk5 (2003–2008) and the Ford Focus Mk2 (2004–2011) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

Volkswagen Golf Mk5

4,689,526

MOT tests compared · built 2003–2008

Passes more often in 13 of 17 mileage bands

Ford Focus Mk2

9,004,243

MOT tests compared · built 2004–2011

Passes more often in 1 of 17 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Volkswagen Golf Mk5 Ford Focus Mk2

Under 10,000 miles 89.3% vs 90.9%

19,083 and 66,723 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 90.1% vs 89.9%

107,296 and 322,871 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 87.0% vs 86.8%

241,748 and 645,338 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 83.8% vs 82.5%

330,671 and 817,774 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 80.0% vs 77.9%

366,296 and 871,984 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 76.1% vs 73.1%

380,755 and 883,929 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 72.4% vs 68.6%

386,592 and 869,408 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 68.8% vs 64.4%

386,399 and 837,313 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 65.4% vs 60.8%

377,517 and 778,187 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 62.5% vs 58.0%

361,891 and 695,066 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 58.7% vs 54.8%

764,188 and 1,251,550 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 55.5% vs 51.8%

514,216 and 615,907 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 53.8% vs 50.3%

274,680 and 235,817 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 52.6% vs 49.6%

117,032 and 76,351 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 52.6% vs 49.9%

53,880 and 30,556 MOTs

250,000–300,000 miles 53.1% vs 51.8%

6,133 and 4,345 MOTs

300,000–350,000 miles 55.4% vs 55.8%

1,149 and 1,124 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

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
Rear brakes

Fails about 4 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk2: 1.5% of MOTs against 0.57%.

In 11 of 17 mileage bands · Braking System

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

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Volkswagen Golf Mk5 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.