2002 Audi A4 MOT pass rate

Pass rate

73.6%

Below average — 0.7 pts ahead of the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 7,722 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £30–£89

Most common fault

Suspension

30.0% 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 →

5.8 pts down across model years — 8.7% in 2000, 2.9% in 2018.

Every failure, with what it costs →

Which year to buy

  • Best 2023 91.4% pass
  • Avoid 2000 73.5% pass

Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 17.9 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
66.6%
Typical mileage
151k mi

The 2002 Audi A4 MOT pass rate is 73.6% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.0% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2002 Audi A4 on the real record

73.6% of 2002 Audi A4 MOTs passed — 7,722 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Audi A4 does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Suspension: 1.4× the national share

Suspension accounts for 30.0% of everything recorded on the 2002 Audi A4, against 21.0% nationally — 9.0 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.

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 A4? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2002 Audi A4 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 0.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 66.6%. The median 2002 Audi A4 in this dataset had covered 150,668 mi.

The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 59% of tests, with a 72.4% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.1% of the time, April–September 74.3%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 12.55% of tests.

  • 7,722 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 73.6% overall pass rate, 66.6% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Audi A4, the average is 81.0% — best year 2023 (91.4%), worst 2000 (73.5%).

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
7,722
Typical mileage (median)
150,668 mi
Make and model
Audi A4
Updated
2026-11-05

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 A4 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 89.7%
30-60k 84.8%
60-90k 76.0%
90-120k 76.3%
120k+ 72.2%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Diesel 72.4%
Petrol 75.3%

Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (59% of tests).

Regional pass rates for the A4

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 1,692 74.9%
South West 1,284 67.1%
East of England 885 76.2%
West Midlands 768 77.6%
North West 704 73.7%
Yorkshire 524 77.7%
East Midlands 484 74.4%
Scotland 436 68.3%
Wales 418 68.7%
London 281 80.1%
North East 246 77.2%

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 2002 A4

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.

Suspension 30.0%
+9.0 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Brakes 18.4%
−2.5 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Lamps & electrics 14.2%
+2.0 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Tyres 11.2%
−8.6 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Emissions & leaks 8.2%
  • Body & chassis 4.7%
  • Visibility 4.7%
  • Identification 2.9%
  • Steering 2.5%
  • Advisories 2.1%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2002 Audi A4 tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2002 A4

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.

  1. Check the lights 12.6% 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.

  2. Check the windscreen 6.9% 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.

  3. Check the suspension joints 4.2% of tests

    “pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn”

    With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.

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 2002 A4 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £30–£89 — and 46% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£30–£89
Cheapest common item: anti-lock braking system warning lamp…
£3–£15
Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
£80–£250
Common items a careful owner can do at home
70%
Repairs that still cost under £30
46%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 7,722 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 A4, side by side

24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.5% to 91.4% — a spread of 17.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2000 73.5% joints constant velocity boot…
  2. 2001 74.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
  3. 2002 73.6%
    registration plate lamp(s)…
  4. 2003 74.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
  5. 2004 74.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
  6. 2005 75.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
  7. 2006 75.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
  8. 2007 76.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
  9. 2008 76.3% joints constant velocity boot…
  10. 2009 77.2% joints constant velocity boot…
  11. 2010 78.2% joints constant velocity boot…
  12. 2011 79.7% windscreen damaged but not…
  13. 2012 81.0% windscreen damaged but not…
  14. 2013 81.6% windscreen damaged but not…
  15. 2014 81.9% windscreen damaged but not…
  16. 2015 82.8% windscreen damaged but not…
  17. 2016 84.4% coil spring fractured or broken
  18. 2017 85.6% coil spring fractured or broken
  19. 2018 86.6% coil spring fractured or broken
  20. 2019 88.7% windscreen damaged but not…
  21. 2020 90.3% windscreen damaged but not…
  22. 2021 90.0% has a cut in excess of the…
  23. 2022 90.7% has ply or cords exposed
  24. 2023 91.4% has a cut in excess of the…

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 2002 Audi A4 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.

Compare 2002 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2002 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2002 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 2002 Audi A4 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 25,541 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 7,752 30.00% 20.98% +9.02
Brakes 4,748 18.40% 20.89% −2.49
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3,656 14.20% 12.21% +1.99
Tyres 2,886 11.20% 19.76% −8.56
Noise, emissions and leaks 2,111 8.20% 5.52% +2.68
Body, chassis, structure 1,224 4.70% 5.57% −0.87
Visibility 1,216 4.70% 4.97% −0.27
Identification of the vehicle 758 2.90% 1.76% +1.14
Steering 654 2.50% 2.57% −0.07
Non-component advisories 536 2.10% 4.18% −2.08

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 7,722 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 12.6% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 6.9% £80–200 Windscreen →
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Major 4.2% £40–150 Suspension Component →
Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure Minor 3.5% £80–250 Body Panel Repair →
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Major 3.2% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension Minor 2.8% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 2.7% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes Major 2.6% £45–110 Brake Discs and Pads Set →
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes Major 2.5% £3–15 Bulb →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 2.3% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 25.9% £40–150
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 21.6% £45–95
Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks Advisory 19.1% £200–700
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 13.4% £45–110
Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension Advisory 11.1% £180–450
Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes Advisory 9.2% £25–70

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 29 89.7% 24,640 mi
30-60k 217 84.8% 49,613 mi
60-90k 724 76.0% 77,783 mi
90-120k 1,324 76.3% 105,241 mi
120k+ 5,388 72.2% 180,256 mi

Source: 7,722 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.

2002 A4 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 Audi A4?

73.6% of the 7,722 2002 Audi A4 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 66.6%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 Audi A4?

The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (12.55%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (6.90%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (4.20%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2002 Audi A4 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.7% of the time, falling to 72.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Audi A4 in this dataset had covered 150,668 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2002 Audi A4?

Diesel: 72.4% pass rate across 4,548 tests. Petrol: 75.3% pass rate across 3,174 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2002 Audi A4 MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 74.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.