Pass rate
74.7%
Below average — 1.6 pts ahead of the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 36,213 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £47–£140
2008 Volkswagen Passat MOT pass rate
- 2008
- 2 trims combined
- typical 145,418 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
35.0% 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 →
7.1 pts down across model years — 7.7% in 2000, 0.6% in 2018.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 95.3% pass
- Avoid 2000 71.5% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 23.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.5%
- Typical mileage
- 145k mi
The 2008 Volkswagen Passat MOT pass rate is 74.7% of its MOT tests — 1.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 35.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volkswagen Passat does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.7× the national share
Suspension accounts for 35.0% of everything recorded on the 2008 Volkswagen Passat, against 21.0% nationally — 14.0 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 19% 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 Passat? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Volkswagen Passat first registered in 2008 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2008 Volkswagen Passat compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 1.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.5%. The median 2008 Volkswagen Passat in this dataset had covered 145,418 mi.
95% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 74.5% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 74.9% of the time, April–September 74.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 9.77% of tests.
- 36,213 recorded tests behind this page.
- 74.7% overall pass rate, 67.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen Passat, the average is 80.2% — best year 2023 (95.3%), worst 2000 (71.5%).
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
- 36,213
- Typical mileage (median)
- 145,418 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Passat
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Passat MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (95% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Passat
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 6,351 | 75.1% |
| South West | 5,173 | 67.9% |
| East of England | 4,268 | 78.2% |
| North West | 4,065 | 75.4% |
| West Midlands | 3,927 | 79.2% |
| Yorkshire | 3,409 | 76.2% |
| East Midlands | 2,757 | 75.8% |
| Scotland | 2,400 | 71.0% |
| Wales | 1,887 | 70.8% |
| North East | 1,362 | 75.9% |
| London | 613 | 82.9% |
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 2008 Passat
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 2008 Passat
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 5.1% 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 4.4% 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 4.0% 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.
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 2008 Passat through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £47–£140 — and 19% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £47–£140
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 19%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 36,213 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 Passat, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.5% to 95.3% — a spread of 23.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 71.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 72.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2002 73.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 73.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2004 74.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 74.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 72.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 73.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 74.7%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 75.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 75.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 76.8% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2012 77.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 78.7% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2014 80.0% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2015 84.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 85.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 86.9% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2018 88.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 89.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 90.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 90.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 90.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2023 95.3% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2008 Volkswagen Passat 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Freelander 74.7%
- Toyota RAV4 74.9%
- Suzuki Grand Vitara 74.5%
- Chrysler Jeep 300 74.5%
- Toyota Avensis 75.1%
- Toyota Rav-4 74.3%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Volkswagen Passat 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 98,344 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 | 34,853 | 35.00% | 20.98% | +14.02 |
| Tyres | 15,659 | 15.70% | 19.76% | −4.06 |
| Brakes | 13,939 | 14.00% | 20.89% | −6.89 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 9,590 | 9.60% | 5.57% | +4.03 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 7,479 | 7.50% | 12.21% | −4.71 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 6,087 | 6.10% | 5.52% | +0.58 |
| Visibility | 3,784 | 3.80% | 4.97% | −1.17 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,852 | 2.90% | 4.18% | −1.28 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2,356 | 2.40% | 1.76% | +0.64 |
| Steering | 1,745 | 1.80% | 2.57% | −0.77 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 9.8% | £80–250 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 5.1% | £25–65 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.7% | £80–250 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.4% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.0% | £5–20 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.4% | £3–12 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £40–150 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £18–45 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.8% | £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 | 25.0% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 23.8% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.5% | £45–110 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 12.1% | £180–450 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 10.2% | £25–65 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.8% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 42 | 88.1% | 23,418 mi |
| 30-60k | 536 | 81.5% | 50,015 mi |
| 60-90k | 2,556 | 78.1% | 77,916 mi |
| 90-120k | 6,487 | 75.0% | 106,852 mi |
| 120k+ | 26,543 | 74.2% | 166,085 mi |
Source: 36,213 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.
2008 Passat MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Volkswagen Passat?
74.7% of the 36,213 2008 Volkswagen Passat tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 67.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Volkswagen Passat?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (9.77%), coil spring fractured or broken (5.11%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.68%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Volkswagen Passat MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.1% of the time, falling to 74.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Volkswagen Passat in this dataset had covered 145,418 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 Volkswagen Passat?
Diesel: 74.5% pass rate across 34,259 tests. Petrol: 79.6% pass rate across 1,950 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2008 Volkswagen Passat MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 74.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 74.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.