Pass rate
71.4%
Below average — 0.8 pts behind the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,372 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £40–£102
2004 Volkswagen Lt MOT pass rate
- 2004
- 2 trims combined
- typical 156,138 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
26.8% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 83.0% pass
- Avoid 2001 67.1% pass
Across the 11 years on record, a spread of 15.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 63.3%
- Typical mileage
- 156k mi
The 2004 Volkswagen Lt MOT pass rate is 71.4% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volkswagen Lt does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 26.8% of everything recorded on the 2004 Volkswagen Lt, against 20.9% nationally — 5.9 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
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 Lt? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Volkswagen Lt first registered in 2004 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2004 Volkswagen Lt compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 0.8 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 63.3%. The median 2004 Volkswagen Lt in this dataset had covered 156,138 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.9% of the time, April–September 71.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 7.58% of tests.
- 1,372 recorded tests behind this page.
- 71.4% overall pass rate, 63.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen Lt, the average is 70.9% — best year 2012 (83.0%), worst 2001 (67.1%).
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
- 1,372
- Typical mileage (median)
- 156,138 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Lt
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Lt MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Lt
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 356 | 66.0% |
| South East | 183 | 73.8% |
| Scotland | 147 | 68.7% |
| West Midlands | 145 | 73.1% |
| North West | 138 | 73.9% |
| East of England | 128 | 74.2% |
| Wales | 92 | 69.6% |
| Yorkshire | 80 | 76.3% |
| East Midlands | 57 | 73.7% |
| North East | 27 | 81.5% |
| London | 19 | 84.2% |
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 2004 Lt
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 2004 Lt
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 7.6% 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 5.0% 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 brake pipes 4.4% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
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 2004 Lt through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £40–£102 — and 36% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £40–£102
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 36%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,372 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 Lt, side by side
11 model years on record, from 2000 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 67.1% to 83.0% — a spread of 15.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 69.0% battery(ies) insecure but not…
- 2001 67.1% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2002 71.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 72.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 71.4%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 70.6% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 69.9% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2007 76.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 73.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 80.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 83.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
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 2004 Volkswagen Lt 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Volvo XC70 71.5%
- Nissan Navara 71.3%
- Vauxhall Astra 71.6%
- Suzuki Grand Vitara 71.6%
- Peugeot 206 71.2%
- Suzuki Carry 71.2%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Volkswagen Lt 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 4,967 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 | 1,348 | 26.80% | 20.89% | +5.91 |
| Suspension | 966 | 19.20% | 20.98% | −1.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 789 | 15.70% | 12.21% | +3.49 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 465 | 9.20% | 5.52% | +3.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 375 | 7.40% | 5.57% | +1.83 |
| Tyres | 355 | 7.00% | 19.76% | −12.76 |
| Visibility | 229 | 4.50% | 4.97% | −0.47 |
| Steering | 188 | 3.70% | 2.57% | +1.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 178 | 3.50% | 4.18% | −0.68 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 74 | 1.50% | 1.76% | −0.26 |
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 | 7.6% | £80–200 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 7.4% | £45–110 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.0% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp not working on main beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.5% | £5–25 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 4.4% | £80–180 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.7% | £5–25 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.5% | £60–140 |
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.4% | £60–150 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 27.3% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 21.1% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.2% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 13.6% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 10.9% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 10.7% | £120–300 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 8 | 75.0% | 23,840 mi |
| 30-60k | 39 | 66.7% | 51,261 mi |
| 60-90k | 94 | 74.5% | 75,101 mi |
| 90-120k | 176 | 73.3% | 105,988 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,034 | 70.9% | 176,841 mi |
Source: 1,372 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.
2004 Lt MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Volkswagen Lt?
71.4% of the 1,372 2004 Volkswagen Lt tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 63.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Volkswagen Lt?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (7.58%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (7.43%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.96%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Volkswagen Lt MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 75.0% of the time, falling to 70.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Volkswagen Lt in this dataset had covered 156,138 mi.
Does the season affect the 2004 Volkswagen Lt MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.