The picture

Volkswagen Jetta: mixed MOT record across 19,669 tests

The Volkswagen Jetta is a compact car/small family car manufactured and marketed by Volkswagen since 1979. Positioned to fill a sedan niche slightly above the firm's Golf hatchback, it has been marketed over seven generations, variously as the Atlantic, Vento, Bora, City Jetta, Jetta City, GLI, Jetta, Clasico, and Sagitar.

MOT data from 19,669 tests puts this car on a 71.5% first-time pass rate, below the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 110,436 miles. The most common fail item is transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated, followed by fractured or weakened suspension spring.

Bigger than previous Jetta with more rear passenger room. BlueMotion models deliver good economy. Easy to drive and comfortable.

The Jetta's pass rate warrants caution in the used market. Factor in likely first-test remedial work on the common failure items and get a pre-purchase inspection that covers the specific items this car trips on most.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 14–24

Below the fleet average — generally reasonable to insure. 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 →

14–24

out of 50

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Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

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

01

A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated

1,215 occurrences · 4.8% of tests
02

A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

901 occurrences · 3.6% of tests
03

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

846 occurrences · 3.4% of tests
04

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

764 occurrences · 3.0% of tests
05

Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

750 occurrences · 3.0% of tests
06

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

729 occurrences · 2.9% of tests
07

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

642 occurrences · 2.5% of tests
08

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

544 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
09

A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc

507 occurrences · 2.0% of tests
10

The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements

422 occurrences · 1.7% 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

£170–£560

If every one of this Jetta'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 →

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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

Headlight restoration kit

Yellowed lenses fail the light-output test. A restoration kit lifts the haze in an afternoon for £20.

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My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

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Book a mobile mechanic

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Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.

What's good

Bigger than previous Jetta with more rear passenger room. BlueMotion models deliver good economy. Easy to drive and comfortable.

Recent owner-reported faults

23 Jan 2012
Complaints from the USA and Canada of iced up Intercoolers on TDIs, even in Texas: You Tube film This can result in poor running, engine stalling/quitting, hard or no start conditions, and even 'hydrolocked' motors when a large amount of water and/or the foamy water-oil mixture is drawn into the TDi engine as a large slug. Once 'hydrolocked,' repeated attempts to turn the motor over can result in internal engine damage (such as bent connecting rods/water in the engine oil, etc.) and also potentially result in a fire as the starter motor wiring apparently overheats. Pictures of this 'foam' can be seen in selected posts within this thread: Another ICED UP INTERCOOLER See Post # 1988 (page 133) (many pictures) VW has sometimes provided owners an upgraded/updated intercooler system in an effort to combat this issue. The first redesign is apparently having mixed results and reportedly a second redesign is underway. [2012 TDI Jetta Engine fro

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 1 reports indexed

Buying or keeping a Jetta?

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 a Jetta 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.