Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 78,497 tests

Pass rate climbs 11.2 points across the cohorts — newer Touareg examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 66,292

Pass

80.3%

Fail

15.8%

PRS

3.3%

Avg mileage at test

103,771 mi

2018–2020 cohort 11,454

Pass

89.8%

Fail

8.9%

PRS

1.0%

Avg mileage at test

50,339 mi

2021+ cohort 751

Pass

91.5%

Fail

6.7%

PRS

1.5%

Avg mileage at test

35,038 mi

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

Generations on file · 3

Volkswagen Touareg · UK market

Volkswagen Touareg 2002-2010 — 2002–2010

Volkswagen Touareg 2010-2018 — 2010–2018

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

The picture

Volkswagen Touareg: mixed MOT record across 42,941 tests

The Volkswagen Touareg is a diesel-powered car sold in the UK market across multiple generations, covering a broad date range in the test population.

MOT data from 42,941 tests puts this car on a 78.7% first-time pass rate, roughly in line with the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 92,115 miles. The most common fail item is fractured or weakened suspension spring, followed by cracked or discoloured windscreen.

Debuting with V6 turbocharged engines the Touareg comes with an eight-speed automatic Tiptronic gearbox and 4MOTION all-wheel drive.

Buyers weighing up a used Touareg 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 36–46

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 →

36–46

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

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

01

A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

3,602 occurrences · 4.6% of tests
02

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

1,836 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
03

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

1,383 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
04

An obligatory rear fog lamp missing, or a front or rear fog lamp inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

1,221 occurrences · 1.6% of tests
05

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

1,168 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
06

A tyre seriously damaged

790 occurrences · 1.0% of tests
07

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

637 occurrences · 0.8% of tests
08

Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

609 occurrences · 0.8% of tests
09

A tyre cords visible or damaged

549 occurrences · 0.7% of tests
10

A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated

504 occurrences · 0.6% 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 Touareg'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 11.2-point gap between bands means the year you buy Volkswagen Touareg has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

91.5%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 91.5% — a 11.2-point improvement. Tests in this band average 35,038 miles — roughly 69K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: has a cut in excess of the…, 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

80.3%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 80.3% pass rate against a fleet average of 91.5% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: fractured or broken, damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. Average mileage on test for this band is 103,771 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: 2021+ (91.5% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (80.3% pass). That's a 11.2-point spread across 66,292 older tests and 751 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.

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£6.59

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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Volkswagen Black 12.5ml

£6.59

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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Volkswagen Mars Red 12.5ml

£6.59

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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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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.

Where it falls short

SEL 3.0 V6 TDI SCR 286 PS 8-spd auto tiptronic 4MOTION£51,595.00

Buying or keeping a Touareg?

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 Touareg 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.