Pass rate
73.9%
Below average — 0.6 pts ahead of the 73.3% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 3,331 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £41–£126
2001 Audi A3 MOT pass rate
- 2001
- typical 128,513 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
22.1% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
7.7 pts down across model years — 8.2% in 2000, 0.5% in 2016.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 94.4% pass
- Avoid 2004 70.7% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 23.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.2%
- Typical mileage
- 129k mi
The 2001 Audi A3 MOT pass rate is 73.9% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 9.3% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 35% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Audi A3? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2001 Audi A3 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.3%, so this figure is 0.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.2%. The median 2001 Audi A3 in this dataset had covered 128,513 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 83% of tests, with a 74.6% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.9% of the time, April–September 75.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 7.48% of tests.
- 3,331 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.9% overall pass rate, 67.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Audi A3, the average is 82.6% — best year 2023 (94.4%), worst 2004 (70.7%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 3,331
- Typical mileage (median)
- 128,513 mi
- Make and model
- Audi A3
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the A3 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (83% of tests).
Where the Audi A3 is most common
Across all A3 model years on record (2000–2023): 652,736 Audi A3 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 1,454,203 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 24,294 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 24,294 | 87.5% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 14,479 | 85.5% |
| 3 | Leicester (LE) | 12,653 | 83.8% |
| 4 | Manchester (M) | 12,549 | 84.1% |
| 5 | Peterborough (PE) | 12,547 | 83.4% |
| 6 | Nottingham (NG) | 11,493 | 81.3% |
| 7 | Glasgow (G) | 11,096 | 83.6% |
| 8 | Bradford (BD) | 10,939 | 85.6% |
| 9 | Bristol (BS) | 10,541 | 78.3% |
| 10 | Reading (RG) | 10,346 | 82.7% |
| 11 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 10,001 | 84.4% |
| 12 | Cardiff (CF) | 9,873 | 80.3% |
| 13 | Coventry (CV) | 9,845 | 84.0% |
| 14 | Leeds (LS) | 9,493 | 81.9% |
| 15 | Derby (DE) | 9,447 | 83.8% |
| 16 | Guildford (GU) | 8,987 | 80.8% |
| 17 | Northampton (NN) | 8,733 | 80.9% |
| 18 | Doncaster (DN) | 8,333 | 82.1% |
| 19 | Wakefield (WF) | 8,118 | 83.7% |
| 20 | Blackburn (BB) | 7,901 | 85.7% |
The twenty areas with the most Audi A3 cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the A3
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 920 | 75.8% |
| South West | 484 | 66.5% |
| East of England | 439 | 74.7% |
| West Midlands | 263 | 76.8% |
| London | 239 | 81.2% |
| North West | 227 | 76.2% |
| Yorkshire | 221 | 73.3% |
| East Midlands | 183 | 76.0% |
| Scotland | 150 | 72.7% |
| Wales | 142 | 63.4% |
| North East | 63 | 69.8% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2001 A3
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2001 A3
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the lights 7.5% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the windscreen 6.4% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the coil springs 3.6% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2001 A3 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£126 — and 35% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £41–£126
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 35%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,331 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the A3, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.7% to 94.4% — a spread of 23.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 73.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2001 73.9%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 72.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 72.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 70.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 72.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 72.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 73.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 74.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 75.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 75.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 76.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 78.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 82.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 84.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 86.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 88.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 89.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 90.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 90.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 91.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 91.1% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 91.1% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2023 94.4% windscreen damaged but not…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2001 Audi A3 with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2001 cars with a similar record
- Toyota MR2 74.2%
- Toyota Celica 74.3%
- Vauxhall Agila 73.4%
- Nissan Almera 74.7%
- Land Rover Discovery 74.8%
- Rover 25 74.8%
Closest pass rates among 2001 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2001 Audi A3 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 11,042 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 2,469 | 22.10% | 20.98% | +1.12 |
| Brakes | 2,365 | 21.20% | 20.89% | +0.31 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,745 | 15.60% | 12.21% | +3.39 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,074 | 9.60% | 5.52% | +4.08 |
| Tyres | 1,044 | 9.30% | 19.76% | −10.46 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 835 | 7.50% | 5.57% | +1.93 |
| Visibility | 485 | 4.30% | 4.97% | −0.67 |
| Steering | 403 | 3.60% | 2.57% | +1.03 |
| Non-component advisories | 327 | 2.90% | 4.18% | −1.28 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 295 | 2.60% | 1.76% | +0.84 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.5% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 6.4% | £80–200 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 5.5% | £80–250 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.5% | £5–25 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £25–65 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £40–150 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.5% | £30–80 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.5% | £60–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.4% | £80–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £5–25 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 19.3% | £80–180 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 18.6% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 17.0% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.9% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.2% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 11.5% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 18 | 88.9% | 22,322 mi |
| 30-60k | 181 | 81.2% | 48,499 mi |
| 60-90k | 478 | 73.2% | 77,987 mi |
| 90-120k | 706 | 76.5% | 105,984 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,938 | 72.1% | 159,414 mi |
Source: 3,331 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2001 A3 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2001 Audi A3?
73.9% of the 3,331 2001 Audi A3 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.3% for cars first used in 2001. First-attempt pass rate: 67.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2001 Audi A3?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.48%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (6.36%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (5.46%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2001 Audi A3 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.9% of the time, falling to 72.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2001 Audi A3 in this dataset had covered 128,513 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2001 Audi A3?
Petrol: 74.6% pass rate across 2,766 tests. Diesel: 70.2% pass rate across 563 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2001 Audi A3 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 75.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.