Pass rate
77.9%
Around average — 5.3 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 113 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £39–£131
2003 Audi S4 MOT pass rate
- 2003
- 2 trims combined
- typical 123,526 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
25.0% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2020 92.9% pass
- Avoid 2003 77.9% pass · this year
Across the 19 years on record, a spread of 15 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 74.0%
- Typical mileage
- 124k mi
The 2003 Audi S4 MOT pass rate is 77.9% of its MOT tests — 5.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.8× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 15.4% of everything recorded on the 2003 Audi S4, against 5.5% nationally — 9.9 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 25.0%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 72.6% and this one manages 77.9% — 5.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- 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 S4? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Audi S4 first registered in 2003 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2003 Audi S4 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 5.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 74.0%. The median 2003 Audi S4 in this dataset had covered 123,526 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.8% of the time, April–September 77.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 10.62% of tests.
- 113 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.9% overall pass rate, 74.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Audi S4, the average is 87.8% — best year 2020 (92.9%), worst 2003 (77.9%).
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
- 113
- Typical mileage (median)
- 123,526 mi
- Make and model
- Audi S4
- 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 S4 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Audi S4 is most common
Across all S4 model years on record (2000–2022): 4,207 Audi S4 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 7,745 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 135 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) | 135 | 92.4% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 94 | 88.6% |
| 3 | Reading (RG) | 86 | 81.5% |
| 4 | Nottingham (NG) | 78 | 84.8% |
| 5 | Aberdeen (AB) | 77 | 83.6% |
| 6 | High Wycombe (HP) | 76 | 90.9% |
| 7 | Bristol (BS) | 75 | 79.3% |
| 8 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 73 | 92.9% |
| 9 | Ashford (TN) | 70 | 87.3% |
| 10 | Leicester (LE) | 70 | 85.1% |
| 11 | Guildford (GU) | 69 | 84.4% |
| 12 | Bradford (BD) | 69 | 92.1% |
| 13 | Crawley (RH) | 66 | 85.5% |
| 14 | Leeds (LS) | 64 | 88.1% |
| 15 | Peterborough (PE) | 63 | 92.0% |
| 16 | Coventry (CV) | 60 | 92.7% |
| 17 | Manchester (M) | 60 | 89.4% |
| 18 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 59 | 91.5% |
| 19 | Glasgow (G) | 56 | 89.8% |
| 20 | Stockport (SK) | 55 | 94.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Audi S4 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 S4
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 30 | 73.3% |
| East of England | 16 | 87.5% |
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 2003 S4
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 2003 S4
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 8.8% 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 suspension joints 5.3% 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.
-
Check the wheel bearings 2.6% of tests
“wheel bearings rough when rotated”
Listen for a hum that rises and falls with speed and changes when you load one side in a bend. A noisy bearing is an easy pre-test diagnosis and an awkward surprise at the test station.
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 2003 S4 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £39–£131 — and 35% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £39–£131
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- 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
- 35%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 113 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 S4, side by side
19 model years on record, from 2000 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 77.9% to 92.9% — a spread of 15 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 86.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 77.9%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2004 80.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 83.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 81.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2007 81.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 84.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2009 87.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 84.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 84.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 85.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 89.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 87.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 92.9% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2017 89.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 91.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 92.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 92.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 92.4% has ply or cords exposed
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 2003 Audi S4 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Lexus IS200 78.0%
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 78.3%
- BMW Z4 77.5%
- BMW 530 77.1%
- Jaguar Xj 78.8%
- BMW 3 Series 76.9%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Audi S4 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 252 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 | 65 | 25.00% | 20.98% | +4.02 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 40 | 15.40% | 5.52% | +9.88 |
| Brakes | 34 | 13.10% | 20.89% | −7.79 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 34 | 13.10% | 5.57% | +7.53 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 26 | 10.00% | 12.21% | −2.21 |
| Tyres | 24 | 9.20% | 19.76% | −10.56 |
| Visibility | 9 | 3.50% | 4.97% | −1.47 |
| Non-component advisories | 7 | 2.70% | 4.18% | −1.48 |
| Steering | 7 | 2.70% | 2.57% | +0.13 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 6 | 2.30% | 1.76% | +0.54 |
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 | 10.6% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 8.8% | £5–20 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.3% | £40–150 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.5% | £3–12 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.6% | £80–250 |
| Wheel bearings rough when rotated Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £20–55 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.6% | £8–22 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.8% | £60–250 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content at idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.8% | £60–250 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 23.9% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 14.2% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.4% | £45–95 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.7% | £180–450 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 8.0% | £45–120 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 8.0% | £25–70 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60-90k | 11 | 90.9% | 74,487 mi |
| 90-120k | 40 | 82.5% | 109,671 mi |
| 120k+ | 62 | 72.6% | 147,924 mi |
Source: 113 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.
2003 S4 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Audi S4?
77.9% of the 113 2003 Audi S4 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 74.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Audi S4?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (10.62%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.85%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (5.31%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Audi S4 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.9% of the time, falling to 72.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Audi S4 in this dataset had covered 123,526 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Audi S4 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 77.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.