MOT comparison

Volkswagen Golf Mk8 vs Ford Focus Mk4

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

Volkswagen Golf Mk8

318,623

MOT tests compared · built 2019–2026

Passes more often in 11 of 11 mileage bands

Ford Focus Mk4

531,471

MOT tests compared · built 2018–2026

Passes more often in 0 of 11 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

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

Volkswagen Golf Mk8 Ford Focus Mk4

Under 10,000 miles 96.2% vs 94.1%

12,211 and 24,041 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 93.8% vs 91.9%

55,437 and 90,359 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 91.9% vs 88.7%

79,726 and 119,646 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 90.5% vs 85.7%

67,409 and 102,452 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 89.1% vs 83.0%

45,266 and 75,628 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 87.3% vs 80.6%

27,022 and 49,748 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 85.5% vs 78.9%

15,128 and 30,352 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 83.6% vs 77.1%

8,088 and 17,849 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 83.4% vs 75.1%

4,247 and 10,122 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 82.2% vs 74.5%

2,214 and 5,716 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 82.2% vs 73.8%

1,875 and 5,558 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 Mk8 fails more often on

Shock absorbers

Fails about 5 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk4: 2.7% of MOTs against 0.57%.

In 8 of 11 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

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 twice as often as the Volkswagen Golf Mk8: 2.2% of MOTs against 0.94%.

In 8 of 11 mileage bands · Braking System

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Volkswagen Golf 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.