Pass rate
75.4%
Around average — 3.2 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 3,989 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £42–£128
2004 Audi A6 MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 152,612 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
24.8% 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 →
12.0 pts down across model years — 12.7% in 2002, 0.7% in 2019.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 97.6% pass
- Avoid 2002 72.4% pass
Across the 25 years on record, a spread of 25.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 69.5%
- Typical mileage
- 153k mi
The 2004 Audi A6 MOT pass rate is 75.4% of its MOT tests — 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.8% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 11.4% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 72.2% and this one manages 75.4% — 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 30% 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 A6? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Audi A6 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 3.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 69.5%. The median 2004 Audi A6 in this dataset had covered 152,612 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 74% of tests, with a 74.1% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 74.8% of the time, April–September 76.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 6.92% of tests.
- 3,989 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.4% overall pass rate, 69.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Audi A6, the average is 85.3% — best year 2023 (97.6%), worst 2002 (72.4%).
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
- 3,989
- Typical mileage (median)
- 152,612 mi
- Make and model
- Audi A6
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the A6 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (74% of tests).
Where the Audi A6 is most common
Across all A6 model years on record (2000–2024): 198,194 Audi A6 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 428,091 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 8,282 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) | 8,282 | 90.1% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 5,224 | 86.0% |
| 3 | Leicester (LE) | 4,389 | 85.9% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 3,970 | 87.5% |
| 5 | Glasgow (G) | 3,664 | 85.4% |
| 6 | Nottingham (NG) | 3,623 | 83.7% |
| 7 | Coventry (CV) | 3,567 | 87.4% |
| 8 | Manchester (M) | 3,552 | 87.3% |
| 9 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 3,464 | 85.6% |
| 10 | Northampton (NN) | 3,415 | 86.2% |
| 11 | Reading (RG) | 3,350 | 84.4% |
| 12 | Doncaster (DN) | 3,132 | 85.4% |
| 13 | Derby (DE) | 2,869 | 85.8% |
| 14 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 2,737 | 85.7% |
| 15 | Guildford (GU) | 2,701 | 83.0% |
| 16 | Bristol (BS) | 2,676 | 80.1% |
| 17 | Blackburn (BB) | 2,490 | 89.8% |
| 18 | Bradford (BD) | 2,441 | 89.4% |
| 19 | Leeds (LS) | 2,422 | 83.3% |
| 20 | Ipswich (IP) | 2,421 | 83.4% |
The twenty areas with the most Audi A6 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 A6
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 923 | 76.3% |
| South West | 629 | 67.2% |
| East of England | 467 | 78.2% |
| West Midlands | 404 | 80.9% |
| North West | 302 | 76.8% |
| Yorkshire | 287 | 75.6% |
| Scotland | 253 | 69.2% |
| East Midlands | 244 | 80.3% |
| London | 193 | 81.3% |
| Wales | 168 | 73.2% |
| North East | 119 | 73.1% |
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 2004 A6
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 2004 A6
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 5.7% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 5.6% 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 suspension joints 3.9% 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 2004 A6 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £42–£128 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £42–£128
- 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
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,989 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 A6, side by side
25 model years on record, from 2000 to 2024. Across them the pass rate runs from 72.4% to 97.6% — a spread of 25.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 74.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 76.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2002 72.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 74.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2004 75.4%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 76.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 78.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 78.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 78.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 80.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 80.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 81.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 84.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 85.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 85.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 87.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 88.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 89.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 90.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 91.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 92.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 92.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 92.3% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2023 97.6% headlamp aim too high
- 2024 97.2% headlamp aim too low
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 2004 Audi A6 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Discovery 75.5%
- Toyota Hiace 75.6%
- SEAT Leon 75.2%
- Subaru Forester 75.2%
- BMW 525 75.7%
- Nissan Elgrand 75.7%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Audi A6 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 11,367 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 | 2,866 | 24.80% | 20.98% | +3.82 |
| Brakes | 2,285 | 19.80% | 20.89% | −1.09 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,755 | 15.20% | 12.21% | +2.99 |
| Tyres | 1,313 | 11.40% | 19.76% | −8.36 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,026 | 8.90% | 5.52% | +3.38 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 902 | 7.80% | 5.57% | +2.23 |
| Visibility | 457 | 4.00% | 4.97% | −0.97 |
| Steering | 309 | 2.70% | 2.57% | +0.13 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 254 | 2.20% | 1.76% | +0.44 |
| Non-component advisories | 200 | 1.70% | 4.18% | −2.48 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 6.9% | £80–250 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.7% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.6% | £80–200 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 5.1% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.5% | £5–20 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.9% | £40–150 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.2% | £30–80 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.8% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.6% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.9% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 18.9% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 16.0% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.6% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 9.2% | £80–180 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 6.4% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 7 | 85.7% | 24,766 mi |
| 30-60k | 99 | 77.8% | 49,808 mi |
| 60-90k | 275 | 83.6% | 77,727 mi |
| 90-120k | 665 | 76.1% | 106,919 mi |
| 120k+ | 2,922 | 74.4% | 175,128 mi |
Source: 3,989 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.
2004 A6 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Audi A6?
75.4% of the 3,989 2004 Audi A6 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 69.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Audi A6?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (6.92%), headlamp lens slightly defective (5.69%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (5.57%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Audi A6 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.7% of the time, falling to 74.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Audi A6 in this dataset had covered 152,612 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 Audi A6?
Diesel: 74.1% pass rate across 2,937 tests. Petrol: 79.4% pass rate across 1,037 tests. LPG: 53.3% pass rate across 15 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2004 Audi A6 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 74.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.