Pass rate
82.4%
Around average — 5.5 pts behind the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 68 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £37–£105
2018 Volkswagen Jetta MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 45,344 mi
Only 68 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Tyres
32.8% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
1.3 pts down across model years — 7.9% in 2006, 6.6% in 2017.
Which year to buy
- Best 2017 82.4% pass
- Avoid 2005 68.4% pass
Across the 14 years on record, a spread of 14 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 78.9%
- Typical mileage
- 45k mi
The 2018 Volkswagen Jetta MOT pass rate is 82.4% of its MOT tests — 5.5 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volkswagen Jetta does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.7× the national share
Tyres make up 32.8% of everything recorded on the 2018 Volkswagen Jetta, against 19.8% nationally — 13.0 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.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 87.9%; this one manages 82.4% — 5.5 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 7% 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 Jetta? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 Volkswagen Jetta compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 5.5 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.9%. The median 2018 Volkswagen Jetta in this dataset had covered 45,344 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 57% of tests, with a 82.1% pass rate.
The single most recorded failure item is "Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn", noted on 4.41% of tests.
- 68 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.4% overall pass rate, 78.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen Jetta, the average is 76.4% — best year 2017 (82.4%), worst 2005 (68.4%).
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
- 68
- Typical mileage (median)
- 45,344 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Jetta
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Suspension Component
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Jetta MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 52% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (57% of tests).
What fails a 2018 Jetta
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 Jetta
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 suspension joints 4.4% 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 coil springs 2.9% 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 lights 2.9% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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 2018 Jetta through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £37–£105 — and 7% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £37–£105
- Cheapest common item: headlamp insecure
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: bumpers insecure
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 7%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 68 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 Jetta, side by side
14 model years on record, from 2005 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.4% to 82.4% — a spread of 14 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 68.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2006 73.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 73.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 74.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 76.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2010 76.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 76.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 76.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 76.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 78.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 80.2% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2016 81.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 82.4% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2018 82.4%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 2018 Volkswagen Jetta 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
- Citroen C4 Grand Picasso 82.4%
- Ford B-Max 82.4%
- SsangYong Tivoli 82.5%
- Nissan Micra 82.6%
- Isuzu D-Max 82.6%
- Mercedes-Benz Vito 82.7%
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 Volkswagen Jetta 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 67 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 | 22 | 32.80% | 19.76% | +13.04 |
| Brakes | 14 | 20.90% | 20.89% | +0.01 |
| Suspension | 12 | 17.90% | 20.98% | −3.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 9 | 13.40% | 12.21% | +1.19 |
| Non-component advisories | 4 | 6.00% | 4.18% | +1.82 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2 | 3.00% | 5.52% | −2.52 |
| Visibility | 2 | 3.00% | 4.97% | −1.97 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1 | 1.50% | 5.57% | −4.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 1.50% | 1.76% | −0.26 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.4% | £40–150 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £25–65 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £30–80 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 2.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 1.5% | £45–110 |
| Bumpers insecure Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.5% | £80–250 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.5% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp insecure Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.5% | £5–25 |
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 discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.8% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.8% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.8% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 8.8% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 7.3% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 5.9% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 7 | 85.7% | 18,917 mi |
| 30-60k | 43 | 81.4% | 43,311 mi |
| 60-90k | 11 | 90.9% | 65,792 mi |
| 90-120k | 1 | 100.0% | 91,359 mi |
| 120k+ | 5 | 60.0% | 205,040 mi |
Source: 68 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 Jetta MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Volkswagen Jetta?
82.4% of the 68 2018 Volkswagen Jetta tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 78.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Volkswagen Jetta?
The three most recorded items are pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (4.41%), coil spring fractured or broken (2.94%), headlamp aim too low (2.94%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Volkswagen Jetta MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.7% of the time, falling to 60.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Volkswagen Jetta in this dataset had covered 45,344 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 Volkswagen Jetta?
Petrol: 82.1% pass rate across 39 tests. Diesel: 82.8% pass rate across 29 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.