Pass rate
67.0%
Below average — 5.9 pts behind the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 4,976 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £39–£107
2002 Volkswagen Beetle MOT pass rate
- 2002
- typical 105,817 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
21.1% 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 — 10.1% in 2000, 4.3% in 2018.
Which year to buy
- Best 2018 85.3% pass
- Avoid 2007 66.6% pass
Across the 19 years on record, a spread of 18.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 56.2%
- Typical mileage
- 106k mi
The 2002 Volkswagen Beetle MOT pass rate is 67.0% of its MOT tests — 5.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 9.5% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 72.9%; this one manages 67.0% — 5.9 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
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 Volkswagen Beetle? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2002 Volkswagen Beetle compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 5.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 56.2%. The median 2002 Volkswagen Beetle in this dataset had covered 105,817 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 86% of tests, with a 67.0% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 66.8% of the time, April–September 67.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 6.91% of tests.
- 4,976 recorded tests behind this page.
- 67.0% overall pass rate, 56.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen Beetle, the average is 72.2% — best year 2018 (85.3%), worst 2007 (66.6%).
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
- 4,976
- Typical mileage (median)
- 105,817 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Beetle
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Beetle MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 54% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (86% of tests).
Where the Volkswagen Beetle is most common
Across all Beetle model years on record (2000–2018): 63,521 Volkswagen Beetle cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 167,022 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 1,784 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) | 1,784 | 75.7% |
| 2 | Nottingham (NG) | 1,218 | 70.8% |
| 3 | Sheffield (S) | 1,183 | 74.7% |
| 4 | Peterborough (PE) | 1,175 | 71.1% |
| 5 | Leicester (LE) | 1,106 | 72.8% |
| 6 | Portsmouth (PO) | 1,071 | 69.5% |
| 7 | Ashford (TN) | 1,025 | 72.4% |
| 8 | Glasgow (G) | 996 | 71.0% |
| 9 | Bristol (BS) | 995 | 69.0% |
| 10 | Cardiff (CF) | 976 | 69.1% |
| 11 | Coventry (CV) | 971 | 74.5% |
| 12 | Norwich (NR) | 950 | 71.5% |
| 13 | Brighton (BN) | 942 | 69.4% |
| 14 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 937 | 72.3% |
| 15 | Guildford (GU) | 932 | 72.0% |
| 16 | Chelmsford (CM) | 925 | 74.8% |
| 17 | Swansea (SA) | 923 | 70.3% |
| 18 | Reading (RG) | 910 | 75.0% |
| 19 | Derby (DE) | 905 | 73.7% |
| 20 | Northampton (NN) | 897 | 71.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Volkswagen Beetle 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 Beetle
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,044 | 70.2% |
| South West | 761 | 64.0% |
| East of England | 654 | 68.7% |
| West Midlands | 495 | 67.1% |
| North West | 404 | 64.6% |
| East Midlands | 395 | 66.6% |
| Yorkshire | 341 | 65.4% |
| Scotland | 271 | 63.5% |
| Wales | 239 | 59.0% |
| London | 212 | 76.4% |
| North East | 160 | 68.1% |
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 2002 Beetle
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 2002 Beetle
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 6.9% 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 corrosion 5.0% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the windscreen 4.5% 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.
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 Beetle through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £39–£107 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £39–£107
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 44%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 4,976 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 Beetle, side by side
19 model years on record, from 2000 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 66.6% to 85.3% — a spread of 18.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 66.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2001 67.8% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2002 67.0%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 67.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2004 66.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 69.0% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2006 67.3% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2007 66.6% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2008 68.1% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2009 70.2% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2010 72.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 73.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 76.3% rear fog lamp not working
- 2013 76.2% rear fog lamp not working
- 2014 77.4% rear fog lamp not working
- 2015 78.4% rear fog lamp not working
- 2016 79.8% rear fog lamp not working
- 2017 81.9% rear fog lamp not working
- 2018 85.3% pins and bushes pin or bush…
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 Volkswagen Beetle 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 2002 cars with a similar record
- Ford Ka 67.2%
- Vauxhall Combo 66.5%
- Citroen C3 68.6%
- Honda Accord 68.7%
- Vauxhall Corsa 68.8%
- Peugeot 307 68.9%
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 Volkswagen Beetle 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 18,080 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 | 3,883 | 21.10% | 20.98% | +0.12 |
| Brakes | 3,740 | 20.30% | 20.89% | −0.59 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3,057 | 16.60% | 12.21% | +4.39 |
| Tyres | 1,749 | 9.50% | 19.76% | −10.26 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,743 | 9.50% | 5.52% | +3.98 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1,482 | 8.10% | 5.57% | +2.53 |
| Steering | 783 | 4.30% | 2.57% | +1.73 |
| Visibility | 686 | 3.70% | 4.97% | −1.27 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 500 | 2.70% | 1.76% | +0.94 |
| Non-component advisories | 457 | 2.50% | 4.18% | −1.68 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.9% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 6.2% | £30–80 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.7% | £5–20 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £180–450 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.9% | £3–12 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.5% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.3% | £40–150 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.3% | £3–12 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.0% | £25–65 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 19.1% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 17.5% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.4% | £80–180 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 15.8% | £25–65 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.4% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 15.0% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 58 | 79.3% | 24,191 mi |
| 30-60k | 401 | 76.8% | 48,619 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,132 | 69.8% | 76,049 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,637 | 67.0% | 104,834 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,737 | 62.3% | 150,293 mi |
Source: 4,976 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 Beetle MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle?
67.0% of the 4,976 2002 Volkswagen Beetle tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 56.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (6.91%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (6.15%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.69%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 Volkswagen Beetle MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 79.3% of the time, falling to 62.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Volkswagen Beetle in this dataset had covered 105,817 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2002 Volkswagen Beetle?
Petrol: 67.0% pass rate across 4,261 tests. Diesel: 66.9% pass rate across 711 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2002 Volkswagen Beetle MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 66.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 67.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.