Volkswagen California MOT reliability

Volkswagen Californias passed their MOT first time 82% of the time across 11,759 tests in 2025. 15,923 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

82%

MOTs analysed

11,759

Still licensed (GB)

15,923

Body type

Van

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

2020 diesel

680 MOTs

Passed first time 89%. Typical mileage 31,036 (most between 21,847 and 41,508).

2020: 100% → 2021: 100% → 2022: 100% → 2023: 92% → 2024: 90% → 2025: 89%

Most common failures

Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.5%)
Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak (1.9%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (1.5%)
Coil spring: fractured or broken (0.9%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (0.7%)

Where 2020 Californias fail

Wheels & tyres

5.4%

Suspension & axles

3.1%

Brakes

1.9%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

0.7%

Lights & electrics

0.6%

Body, structure & corrosion

0.3%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.3%

Steering

0.1%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB.