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2015 Audi A8 MOT pass rate

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Pass rate

92.7%

Above average — 10.6 pts ahead of the 82.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 3,023 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £43–£104

Which year to buy

  • Best 2021 95.0% pass
  • Avoid 2000 74.8% pass

Across the 23 years on record, a spread of 20.2 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
92.3%
Typical mileage
82k mi

The 2015 Audi A8 MOT pass rate is 92.7% of its MOT tests — 10.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 36.1% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2015 Audi A8 on the real record

92.7% of 2015 Audi A8 MOTs passed — 3,023 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

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

Expert verdict

Tyres: 1.8× the national share

Tyres make up 36.1% of everything recorded on the 2015 Audi A8, against 19.8% nationally — 16.3 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.

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 A8? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2015 Audi A8 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 82.1%, so this figure is 10.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 92.3%. The median 2015 Audi A8 in this dataset had covered 82,082 mi.

The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 81% of tests, with a 93.4% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 91.8% of the time, April–September 93.8%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 2.25% of tests.

  • 3,023 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 92.7% overall pass rate, 92.3% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Audi A8, the average is 90.2% — best year 2021 (95.0%), worst 2000 (74.8%).

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
3,023
Typical mileage (median)
82,082 mi
Make and model
Audi A8
Updated
2026-11-07

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.

Top part to budget for

Windscreen

Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.

Does mileage affect the A8 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 96.7%
30-60k 91.7%
60-90k 92.1%
90-120k 93.2%
120k+ 94.2%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 83% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Diesel 93.4%
Petrol 90.0%

Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (81% of tests).

Where the Audi A8 is most common

Across all A8 model years on record (2000–2022): 18,992 Audi A8 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 36,133 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 828 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 Share of all Tests Pass rate
1 Birmingham (B) 828 4.4% 1,525 93.5%
2 Peterborough (PE) 451 2.4% 883 90.7%
3 London (N) 430 2.3% 678 95.1%
4 London (E) 377 2% 572 97.6%
5 Coventry (CV) 373 2% 713 90.6%
6 Northampton (NN) 366 1.9% 744 89.2%
7 Romford (RM) 343 1.8% 570 95.6%
8 Leicester (LE) 338 1.8% 623 92.1%
9 Wembley (HA) 338 1.8% 546 95.4%
10 Sheffield (S) 327 1.7% 624 93.9%
11 Manchester (M) 322 1.7% 586 90.4%
12 Glasgow (G) 318 1.7% 694 88.0%
13 London (NW) 316 1.7% 508 94.9%
14 Nottingham (NG) 302 1.6% 589 88.1%
15 Luton (LU) 302 1.6% 498 94.8%
16 Reading (RG) 300 1.6% 608 88.7%
17 Milton Keynes (MK) 298 1.6% 562 92.3%
18 Doncaster (DN) 295 1.6% 579 90.8%
19 Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) 291 1.5% 623 92.1%
20 Enfield (EN) 272 1.4% 411 96.1%

The twenty areas with the most Audi A8 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 A8

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 662 94.7%
London 362 95.9%
North West 328 91.5%
East of England 300 93.0%
West Midlands 282 92.2%
East Midlands 262 89.7%
Yorkshire 252 94.0%
Scotland 234 91.5%
South West 165 86.7%
North East 110 89.1%
Wales 66 95.5%

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 2015 A8

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.

Tyres 36.1%
+16.3 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Brakes 25.4%
+4.5 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Suspension 12.6%
−8.4 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Visibility 6.4%
+1.4 pts vs national national 5.0% Order bulbs & wipers
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Advisories 4.9%
  • Emissions & leaks 4.7%
  • Identification 3.1%
  • Lamps & electrics 2.6%
  • Body & chassis 2.0%
  • Seat belts 1.0%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2015 Audi A8 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 2015 A8

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 windscreen 2.3% 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.

  2. Check the tyre tread 0.6% of tests

    “tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”

    Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.

  3. Check the lights 0.6% of tests

    “malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction”

    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.

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 2015 A8 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £43–£104 — and 22% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£43–£104
Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
£3–£12
Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
£80–£200
Common items a careful owner can do at home
90%
Repairs that still cost under £30
22%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 3,023 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 A8, side by side

23 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.8% to 95.0% — a spread of 20.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2000 74.8% windscreen damaged but not…
  2. 2001 81.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
  3. 2002 82.6% joints constant velocity boot…
  4. 2003 81.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
  5. 2004 82.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
  6. 2005 83.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
  7. 2006 84.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
  8. 2007 84.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
  9. 2008 87.0% windscreen damaged but not…
  10. 2009 87.1% windscreen damaged but not…
  11. 2010 88.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
  12. 2011 90.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
  13. 2012 90.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
  14. 2013 91.0% windscreen damaged but not…
  15. 2014 92.8% windscreen damaged but not…
  16. 2015 92.7%
    windscreen damaged but not…
  17. 2016 92.7% windscreen damaged but not…
  18. 2017 93.8% windscreen damaged but not…
  19. 2018 93.9% windscreen damaged but not…
  20. 2019 94.6% windscreen damaged but not…
  21. 2020 93.4% windscreen damaged but not…
  22. 2021 95.0% windscreen damaged but not…
  23. 2022 93.5% 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 2015 Audi A8 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 2015 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2015 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2015 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 2015 Audi A8 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 1,821 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
Tyres 666 36.10% 19.76% +16.34
Brakes 468 25.40% 20.89% +4.51
Suspension 232 12.60% 20.98% −8.38
Visibility 118 6.40% 4.97% +1.43
Non-component advisories 91 4.90% 4.18% +0.72
Noise, emissions and leaks 86 4.70% 5.52% −0.82
Identification of the vehicle 57 3.10% 1.76% +1.34
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 48 2.60% 12.21% −9.61
Body, chassis, structure 36 2.00% 5.57% −3.57
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems 19 1.00% 0.82% +0.18

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 3,023 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 2.3% £80–200 Windscreen →
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Major 0.69% £45–95 Tyres →
Has ply or cords exposed Tyres Major 0.63% £45–95 Tyres →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Major 0.63% £45–95 Tyres →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks Major 0.60% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Wipers blade defective Visibility Minor 0.50% £8–22 Wiper Blade →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks Rectified 0.40% £3–12 Indicator Bulb →
Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension Minor 0.36% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Major 0.36% £18–45 Brake Pads Set →
Brake pads worn down to wear indicator Brakes Major 0.36% £18–45 Brake Pads Set →

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
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 11.7% £45–95
Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension Advisory 5.2% £40–150
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 4.7% £45–110
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 4.6% £18–45
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 2.6% £45–95
Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres Advisory 2.6% £45–95

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 60 96.7% 21,530 mi
30-60k 677 91.7% 47,659 mi
60-90k 1,059 92.1% 75,296 mi
90-120k 724 93.2% 103,116 mi
120k+ 501 94.2% 146,226 mi

Source: 3,023 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.

2015 A8 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2015 Audi A8?

92.7% of the 3,023 2015 Audi A8 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 82.1% for cars first used in 2015. First-attempt pass rate: 92.3%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2015 Audi A8?

The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.25%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (0.69%), has ply or cords exposed (0.63%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2015 Audi A8 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 96.7% of the time, falling to 94.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2015 Audi A8 in this dataset had covered 82,082 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2015 Audi A8?

Diesel: 93.4% pass rate across 2,442 tests. Petrol: 90.0% pass rate across 581 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2015 Audi A8 MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 91.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 93.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.