Pass rate
87.8%
Above average — 0.1 pts behind the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 115 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £41–£100
2018 Audi S3 MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 46,772 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
34.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£40 for Brake pads under 1.5 mm. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 98.1% pass
- Avoid 2006 73.8% pass
Across the 22 years on record, a spread of 24.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 86.4%
- Typical mileage
- 47k mi
The 2018 Audi S3 MOT pass rate is 87.8% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 34.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.7× the national share
Brakes make up 34.9% of everything recorded on the 2018 Audi S3, against 20.9% nationally — 14.0 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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.
- Based on a small sample. 115 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 S3? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 Audi S3 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 0.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 86.4%. The median 2018 Audi S3 in this dataset had covered 46,772 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 90.2% of the time, April–September 85.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 6.09% of tests.
- 115 recorded tests behind this page.
- 87.8% overall pass rate, 86.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Audi S3, the average is 87.2% — best year 2023 (98.1%), worst 2006 (73.8%).
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
- 115
- Typical mileage (median)
- 46,772 mi
- Make and model
- Audi S3
- 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 S3 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 77% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Audi S3 is most common
Across all S3 model years on record (2000–2023): 10,310 Audi S3 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 18,147 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 390 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) | 390 | 91.9% |
| 2 | Aberdeen (AB) | 262 | 83.8% |
| 3 | Glasgow (G) | 243 | 88.7% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 188 | 89.2% |
| 5 | Bradford (BD) | 186 | 93.4% |
| 6 | Reading (RG) | 185 | 87.0% |
| 7 | Peterborough (PE) | 184 | 87.4% |
| 8 | Manchester (M) | 181 | 91.3% |
| 9 | Guildford (GU) | 176 | 84.4% |
| 10 | Derby (DE) | 167 | 85.8% |
| 11 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 166 | 88.1% |
| 12 | Leeds (LS) | 166 | 86.8% |
| 13 | Leicester (LE) | 165 | 88.4% |
| 14 | Bristol (BS) | 162 | 80.3% |
| 15 | Nottingham (NG) | 161 | 86.7% |
| 16 | Chelmsford (CM) | 146 | 84.8% |
| 17 | Edinburgh (EH) | 145 | 87.0% |
| 18 | High Wycombe (HP) | 141 | 91.3% |
| 19 | Crawley (RH) | 137 | 89.3% |
| 20 | Coventry (CV) | 130 | 91.9% |
The twenty areas with the most Audi S3 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 S3
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 30 | 80.0% |
| South East | 24 | 87.5% |
| North West | 15 | 93.3% |
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 2018 S3
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 2018 S3
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 windscreen 6.1% 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 lights 2.6% 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.
-
Check the wipers and washers 1.7% of tests
“washers provides insufficient washer liquid”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
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 2018 S3 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£100 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £41–£100
- 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
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 115 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 S3, side by side
22 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.8% to 98.1% — a spread of 24.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 77.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 80.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2002 80.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 76.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 73.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 81.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 82.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 82.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 82.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 81.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 84.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 87.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 88.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 91.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.5% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2017 92.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 87.8%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 92.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 92.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 93.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 92.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2023 98.1% 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 2018 Audi S3 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Mitsubishi L200 87.8%
- SEAT Alhambra 87.8%
- Kia Sportage 87.7%
- Skoda Superb 87.7%
- Volvo V90 87.7%
- Fiat 500X 87.7%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 Audi S3 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 9 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 86 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 30 | 34.90% | 20.89% | +14.01 |
| Tyres | 27 | 31.40% | 19.76% | +11.64 |
| Visibility | 11 | 12.80% | 4.97% | +7.83 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5 | 5.80% | 5.52% | +0.28 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 5 | 5.80% | 1.76% | +4.04 |
| Suspension | 3 | 3.50% | 20.98% | −17.48 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 3.50% | 4.18% | −0.68 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1 | 1.20% | 12.21% | −11.01 |
| Road Wheels | 1 | 1.20% | 0.75% | +0.45 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 6.1% | £80–200 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.6% | £3–12 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 1.7% | £45–95 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 1.7% | £5–15 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 0.87% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.87% | £18–45 |
| Fixing missing Road Wheels | Rectified | 0.87% | £20–55 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.87% | £45–95 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.87% | £45–95 |
| Individual direction indicators lens defective which has no effect on emitted light Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 0.87% | £3–12 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 13.0% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 6.1% | £45–110 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 6.1% | £45–110 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 4.3% | £20–80 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 3.5% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 20 | 85.0% | 22,500 mi |
| 30-60k | 65 | 89.2% | 44,698 mi |
| 60-90k | 28 | 85.7% | 71,939 mi |
| 90-120k | 2 | 100.0% | 108,437 mi |
Source: 115 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.
2018 S3 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Audi S3?
87.8% of the 115 2018 Audi S3 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 86.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Audi S3?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (6.09%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (2.61%), has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.74%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Audi S3 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Audi S3 in this dataset had covered 46,772 mi.
Does the season affect the 2018 Audi S3 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 90.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.