Volkswagen Vanagon MOT reliability

Volkswagen Vanagons passed their MOT first time 62% of the time across 37 tests in 2025.

These figures come from 37 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

First-time pass rate

62%

MOTs analysed

37

Still licensed (GB)

–

Body type

Hatchback

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

1990 diesel

10 MOTs

These figures come from only 10 MOT tests. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 40%. Typical mileage 197,862 (most between 167,303 and 260,401).

2006: 83% → 2007: 71% → 2008: 22% → 2009: 43% → 2010: 30% → 2011: 82% → 2012: 85% → 2013: 46% → 2014: 64% → 2015: 58% → 2016: 39% → 2017: 64% → 2018: 46% → 2019: 50% → 2020: 80% → 2021: 100% → 2022: 75% → 2023: 67% → 2024: 58% → 2025: 40%

Most common failures

Rear fog lamp: not working (30.0%)
Washers: not working (20.0%)
Rear fog lamp tell-tale: missing (10.0%)
Service brake performance: excessively binding (10.0%)
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (10.0%)

1990 petrol

2 MOTs

These figures come from only 2 MOT tests. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 100%. Typical mileage 183,250 (most between 177,183 and 189,316).

2005: 100% → 2006: 80% → 2007: 60% → 2008: 100% → 2009: 50% → 2010: 50% → 2011: 50% → 2012: 75% → 2013: 50% → 2014: 44% → 2015: 67% → 2016: 43% → 2017: 83% → 2018: 83% → 2019: 100% → 2020: 100% → 2021: 0% → 2022: 0% → 2023: 100% → 2024: 100% → 2025: 100%

Most common failures

Where 1990 Vanagons fail

Lights & electrics

40.0%

Suspension & axles

40.0%

Visibility & wipers

20.0%

Body, structure & corrosion

10.0%

Brakes

10.0%

Steering

10.0%

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.