MOT comparison

Volkswagen Golf Mk5 vs Honda Civic Mk8

How the Volkswagen Golf Mk5 (2003–2008) and the Honda Civic Mk8 (Space-age) (2005–2011) 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

4,688,377

MOT tests compared · built 2003–2008

Passes more often in 11 of 16 mileage bands

Honda Civic Mk8 (Space-age)

2,275,758

MOT tests compared · built 2005–2011

Passes more often in 1 of 16 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Volkswagen Golf Mk5 Honda Civic Mk8

Under 10,000 miles 89.3% vs 91.5%

19,083 and 14,178 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 90.1% vs 90.4%

107,296 and 82,014 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 87.0% vs 86.8%

241,748 and 158,977 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 83.8% vs 83.1%

330,671 and 191,482 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 80.0% vs 79.1%

366,296 and 200,661 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 76.1% vs 74.3%

380,755 and 203,072 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 72.4% vs 69.9%

386,592 and 201,560 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 68.8% vs 65.2%

386,399 and 196,702 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 65.4% vs 61.9%

377,517 and 186,265 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 62.5% vs 58.6%

361,891 and 171,310 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 58.7% vs 55.9%

764,188 and 334,229 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 55.5% vs 53.3%

514,216 and 195,118 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 53.8% vs 51.7%

274,680 and 89,710 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 52.6% vs 50.2%

117,032 and 33,936 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 52.6% vs 48.7%

53,880 and 14,935 MOTs

250,000–300,000 miles 53.1% vs 50.7%

6,133 and 1,609 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

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
Rear coil spring

Fails about 7 times as often as the Honda Civic Mk8: 1.4% of MOTs against 0.31%.

In 11 of 16 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

Honda Civic Mk8 fails more often on

Front position lamp

Fails about 2 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 6 times as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk5: 3.4% of MOTs against 0.88%.

In 10 of 16 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

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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.