Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 238,671 tests

Pass rate climbs 10.0 points across the cohorts — newer A6 examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 207,259

Pass

82.1%

Fail

13.9%

PRS

3.5%

Avg mileage at test

116,566 mi

2018–2020 cohort 29,299

Pass

91.0%

Fail

7.3%

PRS

1.3%

Avg mileage at test

55,489 mi

2021+ cohort 2,113

Pass

92.1%

Fail

6.4%

PRS

1.4%

Avg mileage at test

36,152 mi

Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.

Generations on file · 5

Audi A6 · UK market

Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.

The picture

Audi A6: solid MOT record across 146,874 tests

The Audi A6 is an executive car manufactured by the German company Audi since 1994. Now in its sixth generation, the successor to the Audi 100 is manufactured in Neckarsulm, Germany, and is available in saloon and estate configurations, the latter marketed by Audi as the Avant.

MOT data from 146,874 tests puts this car on a 81.2% first-time pass rate, above the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 106,450 miles. The most common fail item is cracked or discoloured windscreen, followed by tyre tread below the legal limit.

Buyers weighing up a used A6 should treat the failure breakdown as a pre-purchase checklist. The pass rate is reasonable, but the gap between first attempt and a clean sheet narrows with age and mileage.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 32–46

A high-group car — insurance costs will be significantly above average. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.

Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →

32–46

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

Hide wear items to see the model's real defects.

01

Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

7,461 occurrences · 3.1% of tests
02

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

5,443 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
03

A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

4,793 occurrences · 2.0% of tests
04

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

3,696 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
05

A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated

2,880 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
06

A tyre cords visible or damaged

2,757 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
07

A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

2,408 occurrences · 1.0% of tests
08

A tyre seriously damaged

2,401 occurrences · 1.0% of tests
09

A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc

2,201 occurrences · 0.9% of tests
10

Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

2,181 occurrences · 0.9% of tests

Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.

Worst-case fix budget · top 3 failures

£148–£370

If every one of this A6's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →

Try the calculator

Build your own retest budget.

Year-band analysis

Best year to buy. Worst to avoid.

First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 10.0-point gap between bands means the year you buy Audi A6 has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

92.1%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 92.1% — a 10.0-point improvement. Tests in this band average 36,152 miles — roughly 80K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. Post-2020 examples are early in their MOT life and generally show the cleanest records.

Band to be cautious about

82.1%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 82.1% pass rate against a fleet average of 92.1% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. Average mileage on test for this band is 116,566 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: 2021+ (92.1% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (82.1% pass). That's a 10.0-point spread across 207,259 older tests and 2,113 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.

Year-spread leaderboard →

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.

Item 01 · Amazon UK

Digital tyre-tread depth gauge

Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Summit

Summit ADRG-215 Audi Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass RHS

£9.89

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ADRG-216 Audi Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass LHS

£14.29

View at My Motor World →

Draper Expert

Draper Expert Oil Filter Socket for Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and VW

£18.69

View at My Motor World →

Draper Expert

Draper Expert Audi/VW Drain Plug Key, 1/2" Sq. Dr.

£21.99

View at My Motor World →

Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Mobile mechanic · UK-wide

Book a mechanic at your door.

Fixed-price quotes upfront. No garage needed. Click Mechanic sends a vetted local mechanic to you — home, work, or roadside.

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Recall history

35 UK recalls on record.

The A6 has 35 official UK vehicle recalls covering defect details, remedies, and affected build dates.

See all recalls

Buying or keeping an A6?

Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.

If you own an A6 and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.