Volkswagen
2,278 MOT tests analysed. sits above the UK fleet average — here's where Polo United Tsis pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.
That's 12.0 points above the UK fleet average across our 1,984 tracked models — a confident result.
Pass
89.5%
Pass-after-fix
2.7%
Fail
7.3%
Avg miles
24,788
Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%
Petrol cars first registered from January 2006 meet Euro 4 — compliant in London ULEZ, Birmingham CAZ, Bristol CAZ, and Glasgow LEZ.
Performance by cohort
2 year bands · 2,278 tests
Pass rate is broadly flat across the cohorts — new and old Polo United Tsi examples track each other at the test bay.
Pass
89.2%
Fail
7.8%
PRS
2.9%
Avg mileage at test
27,087 mi
Pass
90.0%
Fail
6.5%
PRS
2.4%
Avg mileage at test
21,381 mi
Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.
The picture
Across 934 MOT tests, the Polo United Tsi returns 93.4% first-time pass — comfortably ahead of the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is wipers that don't clear the screen. Windscreen damage and a seriously damaged tyre round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 20,619, which is the lens to read those failure rankings through. If you own one and the next test is close, the ranked list below is a sensible pre-test checklist.
ABI Insurance Group
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 →
5–21
out of 50
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Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
58 occurrences · 2.5% of tests
Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated
58 occurrences · 2.5% of tests
Wiper blade defective
28 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
27 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
A tyre seriously damaged
24 occurrences · 1.1% of tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
11 occurrences · 0.5% of tests
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
9 occurrences · 0.4% of tests
Seat belt buckle missing, damaged or not functioning as intended
6 occurrences · 0.3% of tests
A wheel bearing excessively rough
6 occurrences · 0.3% of tests
Excessive fluctuation in brake effort through each wheel revolution.
6 occurrences · 0.3% 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
£120–£330
If every one of this Polo United Tsi'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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Build your own retest budget.
Year-band analysis
First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. Pass rates barely move across bands here, so the year you buy Volkswagen Polo United Tsi makes little measurable difference to MOT outcomes.
Best band to buy
90.0%
2021+ registration
the 2021-on band climbs to 90.0% — a 0.9-point improvement. Tests in this band average 21,381 miles — roughly 6K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: does not clear the windscreen effectively, ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt — 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
89.2%
2018–2020 registration
On the 2018–2020 band, the data shows a 89.2% pass rate against a fleet average of 90.0% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt, does not clear the windscreen effectively, and damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view. Average mileage on test for this band is 27,087 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.
Best band to buy: 2021+ (90.0% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: 2018-2020 (89.2% pass). That's a 0.9-point spread across 1,355 older tests and 923 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.
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Owner reports · Honest John
Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.
Where it falls short
Owner reports (49 entries) flag recurring issues with DSG/gearbox, brake discs/pads, DPF.
Report of EPC light coming on in 2010 Polo 1.2 TSI and engine becoming sluggish. EPC = Electronic Power Control, which is the drive by wire system between the accelerator pedal and the engine. Local garage tried various remedies all of which failed but when the light comes on the reason is usually a duff brake light switch that VW uses to shut down the throttle when the brakes are on and is the reason why DSGs are often sluggish off the mark.
Window winding cables snapped inside the doors of a 2010 Polo, within days of the same thing happening to another reader in a similar age SEAT Ibiza.
Report of 2014 Polo 1.2 TSI DSG changing down three gears at a time on an incline.
Report of premature failure of front brake discs and pads on 2 year old Polo at 14,500 miles. Replacement cost was £259.
Report of repeated failure of satnav in 2014 Polo and dealer unable to fix.
'Official' CO2 and fuel economy figures of 2016MY Polo 1.0l TSI BlueMotion 70kW EU6 Seven-speed (DSG) to be reviewed but true figures are only very slightly worse.
Complaint of juddering of brakes of January 2015 Polo, diagnosed by dealer as warping, but possibly caused by the old Polo problem of material from the pads adhering to the discs.
Timing chain failure reported on 2010 Polo 1.2 (3-cylinder or 4-cylinder not mentioned, but assumed to be 1.2 TSI) at 40,000 miles. Bought independently and has non-VW service history.
Failure reported of 1.4 16v engine of 2009 VW Polo at 26,000 miles. Dealer said cost £1943 to fix, involving 12 hours labour work, replacing the engines valves, stripping the engine for proper clean, then rebuilding the engine.
Complaint of noisy wiper motor on new Polo 1.2. Three others in the showroom also noisy. Could be a bad batch of wiper motors.
Reliability issues with 2012 Polo bought 2nd-hand (that might have been inherited from the previous use of the car): Needed brake pads, had faulty lights (although they all work), engine management system keeps going faulty and the catalytic converter is about to go.
Switch on heater/aircon fan of 2010 Polo failed. New fan motor prescribed at £340.
Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 30 reports indexed, top 12 shown
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 Polo United Tsi 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.
