Pass rate
80.5%
Around average — 3.3 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,362 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£82
2012 Volkswagen Eos MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 76,571 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
28.9% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2015 86.4% pass
- Avoid 2006 73.0% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 13.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 75.9%
- Typical mileage
- 77k mi
The 2012 Volkswagen Eos MOT pass rate is 80.5% of its MOT tests — 3.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.4× the national share
Tyres make up 28.1% of everything recorded on the 2012 Volkswagen Eos, against 19.8% nationally — 8.3 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 28.9%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. 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.
- 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 77.2% and this one manages 80.5% — 3.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 16% 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 Volkswagen Eos? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Volkswagen Eos compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 3.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 75.9%. The median 2012 Volkswagen Eos in this dataset had covered 76,571 mi.
77% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 79.7% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 79.8% of the time, April–September 81.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 4.99% of tests.
- 1,362 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.5% overall pass rate, 75.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen Eos, the average is 75.6% — best year 2015 (86.4%), worst 2006 (73.0%).
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
- 1,362
- Typical mileage (median)
- 76,571 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Eos
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Eos MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 69% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (77% of tests).
Where the Volkswagen Eos is most common
Across all Eos model years on record (2006–2015): 18,842 Volkswagen Eos cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 46,782 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 581 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) | 581 | 82.2% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 406 | 77.0% |
| 3 | Bristol (BS) | 387 | 73.1% |
| 4 | Portsmouth (PO) | 379 | 71.9% |
| 5 | Reading (RG) | 378 | 76.3% |
| 6 | Sheffield (S) | 378 | 78.7% |
| 7 | Nottingham (NG) | 365 | 73.4% |
| 8 | Leicester (LE) | 339 | 76.8% |
| 9 | Poole (BH) | 331 | 70.7% |
| 10 | Brighton (BN) | 325 | 72.7% |
| 11 | Northampton (NN) | 319 | 73.1% |
| 12 | Ashford (TN) | 318 | 75.7% |
| 13 | Coventry (CV) | 314 | 79.5% |
| 14 | Guildford (GU) | 312 | 74.1% |
| 15 | Ipswich (IP) | 276 | 75.2% |
| 16 | Derby (DE) | 273 | 76.3% |
| 17 | Gloucester (GL) | 271 | 71.8% |
| 18 | Norwich (NR) | 266 | 72.2% |
| 19 | Crawley (RH) | 262 | 74.3% |
| 20 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 260 | 73.7% |
The twenty areas with the most Volkswagen Eos 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 Eos
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 368 | 82.9% |
| South West | 191 | 78.5% |
| East of England | 145 | 77.2% |
| Yorkshire | 134 | 78.4% |
| West Midlands | 131 | 83.2% |
| North West | 95 | 83.2% |
| East Midlands | 88 | 85.2% |
| Wales | 61 | 68.9% |
| North East | 61 | 70.5% |
| Scotland | 46 | 89.1% |
| London | 42 | 83.3% |
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 2012 Eos
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 2012 Eos
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 coil springs 5.0% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the windscreen 3.1% 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 1.8% 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.
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 2012 Eos through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£82 — and 16% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£82
- 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
- 16%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,362 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 Eos, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2006 to 2015. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.0% to 86.4% — a spread of 13.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2006 73.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 73.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 75.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 75.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 75.0% position lamp with a multiple…
- 2011 77.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 80.5%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 82.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 84.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 86.4% coil spring fractured or broken
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 2012 Volkswagen Eos 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- BMW 520 80.5%
- London Taxis Int TX4 80.5%
- Toyota Verso 80.4%
- Volvo XC70 80.4%
- Mercedes-Benz Cls 80.4%
- BMW X3 80.8%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Volkswagen Eos 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 2,020 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 | 589 | 28.90% | 20.98% | +7.92 |
| Tyres | 573 | 28.10% | 19.76% | +8.34 |
| Brakes | 471 | 23.10% | 20.89% | +2.21 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 119 | 5.80% | 12.21% | −6.41 |
| Visibility | 70 | 3.40% | 4.97% | −1.57 |
| Non-component advisories | 46 | 2.30% | 4.18% | −1.88 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 42 | 2.10% | 5.52% | −3.42 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 41 | 2.00% | 1.76% | +0.24 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 36 | 1.80% | 5.57% | −3.77 |
| Road Wheels | 33 | 1.60% | 0.75% | +0.85 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.8% | £5–20 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.5% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.1% | £18–45 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.1% | £3–12 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.0% | £18–45 |
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 | 16.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.4% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.2% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 8.6% | £40–150 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.6% | £18–45 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 4.5% | £35–85 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 57 | 87.7% | 22,650 mi |
| 30-60k | 351 | 83.5% | 48,579 mi |
| 60-90k | 443 | 80.4% | 74,032 mi |
| 90-120k | 319 | 77.7% | 102,423 mi |
| 120k+ | 191 | 77.5% | 142,392 mi |
Source: 1,362 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.
2012 Eos MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Volkswagen Eos?
80.5% of the 1,362 2012 Volkswagen Eos tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 75.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Volkswagen Eos?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (4.99%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.08%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (1.84%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Volkswagen Eos MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.7% of the time, falling to 77.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Volkswagen Eos in this dataset had covered 76,571 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Volkswagen Eos?
Diesel: 79.7% pass rate across 1,049 tests. Petrol: 83.1% pass rate across 313 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Volkswagen Eos MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 79.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.