Pass rate
80.9%
Around average — 3.7 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 152 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £30–£80
2012 Volkswagen motorhome MOT pass rate
- 2012
- Motorhome
- 3 trims combined
- typical 45,365 mi
This is a generic motorhome filing record rather than a named converter, so there is no manufacturer to compare against. The test figures are real and included in our totals.
Most common fault
Brakes
21.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2002 83.3% pass
- Avoid 2015 71.2% pass
Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 12.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 77.2%
- Typical mileage
- 45k mi
The 2012 Volkswagen motorhome MOT pass rate is 80.9% of its MOT tests — 3.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volkswagen motorhome does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Steering: 4.0× the national share
Steering accounts for 10.3% of everything recorded on the 2012 Volkswagen Motorhome, against 2.6% nationally — 7.7 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 21.9%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these motorhomes have been driven, the expected pass rate is 77.2% and this one manages 80.9% — 3.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 152 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 Motorhome? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Volkswagen motorhome first registered in 2012 is combined here — 3 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2012 Volkswagen motorhome compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 3.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 77.2%. The median 2012 Volkswagen motorhome in this dataset had covered 45,365 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 93% of tests, with a 81.6% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 81.8% of the time, April–September 80.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements", noted on 3.95% of tests.
- 152 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.9% overall pass rate, 77.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen motorhome, the average is 78.1% — best year 2002 (83.3%), worst 2015 (71.2%).
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
- 152
- Typical mileage (median)
- 45,365 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Motorhome
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Discs and Pads Set
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Motorhome MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 42% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (93% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Motorhome
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 38 | 84.2% |
| South East | 29 | 89.7% |
| South West | 20 | 65.0% |
| Wales | 17 | 82.4% |
| Yorkshire | 15 | 86.7% |
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 Motorhome
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 Motorhome
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 horn 3.3% of tests
“horn not working”
Press it. That is the whole check, and a surprising number of cars fail on it.
-
Check the lights 2.6% of tests
“rear fog lamp not working”
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 wipers and washers 2.6% of tests
“washers not working”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the 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 2012 Motorhome through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £30–£80 — and 48% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £30–£80
- Cheapest common item: rear fog lamp not working
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: steering box has excessive free play detected…
- £60–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 48%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 152 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 Motorhome, side by side
16 model years on record, from 2000 to 2015. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.2% to 83.3% — a spread of 12.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 83.3% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 79.6% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2002 83.3% switch faulty
- 2003 80.0% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 73.5% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2005 74.3% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2006 72.3% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2007 80.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2008 79.7% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2009 79.4% rear fog lamp not working
- 2010 80.0% exhaust system has a major leak…
- 2011 79.8% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2012 80.9%rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2013 77.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2014 78.2% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2015 71.2% rear fog lamp not working
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 Motorhome 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 motorhomes with a similar record
- Suzuki Motorhome 81.2%
- Ford Motorhome 84.7%
- Chrysler Jeep Motorhome 73.8%
- Fiat Motorhome 88.7%
- Jeep Motorhome 72.4%
- Peugeot Motorhome 90.4%
Closest pass rates among 2012 motorhomes with at least 150 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. Full rankings: best motorhomes and worst motorhomes for MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2012 Volkswagen Motorhome 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 242 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 | 53 | 21.90% | 20.89% | +1.01 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 48 | 19.80% | 12.21% | +7.59 |
| Suspension | 33 | 13.60% | 20.98% | −7.38 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 32 | 13.20% | 5.52% | +7.68 |
| Steering | 25 | 10.30% | 2.57% | +7.73 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 18 | 7.40% | 5.57% | +1.83 |
| Visibility | 15 | 6.20% | 4.97% | +1.23 |
| Tyres | 14 | 5.80% | 19.76% | −13.96 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 3 | 1.20% | 0.82% | +0.38 |
| Non-component advisories | 1 | 0.40% | 4.18% | −3.78 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.0% | £45–110 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 4.0% | £45–110 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £8–25 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 2.6% | £60–150 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.6% | £3–15 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.6% | £5–20 |
| Washers not working Visibility | Major | 2.6% | £5–15 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £5–25 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 2.0% | £60–150 |
| Steering box has excessive free play detected at the steering wheel to the extent that safe steering is affected… Steering | Major | 2.0% | £60–200 |
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 | 10.5% | £200–700 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Advisory | 6.6% | £20–55 |
| Transmission oil leaks leaking excessively from transmission Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 5.9% | £200–700 |
| Integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 4.6% | £180–450 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.0% | £40–150 |
| Steering box has excessive free play detected at the steering wheel (steering box fitted) Steering | Advisory | 4.0% | £60–200 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 54 | 88.9% | 16,896 mi |
| 30-60k | 45 | 80.0% | 45,685 mi |
| 60-90k | 36 | 75.0% | 73,637 mi |
| 90-120k | 9 | 88.9% | 104,900 mi |
| 120k+ | 8 | 50.0% | 154,234 mi |
Source: 152 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 Motorhome MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Volkswagen motorhome?
80.9% of the 152 2012 Volkswagen motorhome tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 77.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Volkswagen motorhome?
The three most recorded items are rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (3.95%), service brake imbalance across an axle (3.95%), horn not working (3.29%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Volkswagen motorhome MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.9% of the time, falling to 50.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Volkswagen motorhome in this dataset had covered 45,365 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Volkswagen motorhome?
Petrol: 81.6% pass rate across 141 tests. Diesel: 72.7% pass rate across 11 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Volkswagen motorhome MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 81.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.