Pass rate
73.0%
Below average — 0.8 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 141 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £28–£83
2004 Volkswagen Phaeton MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 118,802 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
23.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2014 87.1% pass
- Avoid 2004 73.0% pass · this year
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 14.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.0%
- Typical mileage
- 119k mi
The 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton MOT pass rate is 73.0% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volkswagen Phaeton does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.0× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 10.8% of everything recorded on the 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton, against 5.5% nationally — 5.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 23.5%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Based on a small sample. 141 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 Phaeton? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 0.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.0%. The median 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton in this dataset had covered 118,802 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 62% of tests, with a 71.6% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.9% of the time, April–September 73.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction", noted on 5.67% of tests.
- 141 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.0% overall pass rate, 67.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen Phaeton, the average is 82.0% — best year 2014 (87.1%), worst 2004 (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
- 141
- Typical mileage (median)
- 118,802 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Phaeton
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Indicator Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Phaeton MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (62% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Phaeton
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| London | 27 | 81.5% |
| South East | 18 | 77.8% |
| North West | 18 | 72.2% |
| East of England | 17 | 82.4% |
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 Phaeton
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 Phaeton
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 lights 5.7% of tests
“malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction”
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 suspension joints 5.7% 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 windscreen 2.8% 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.
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 Phaeton through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £28–£83 — and 47% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £28–£83
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: door condition cannot be opened from outside…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 47%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 141 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 Phaeton, side by side
12 model years on record, from 2003 to 2014. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.0% to 87.1% — a spread of 14.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 77.4% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2004 73.0%malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2005 79.2% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 81.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 82.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 82.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 81.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 81.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 83.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 84.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 82.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 87.1% headlamp not working on dipped…
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 Phaeton 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
- Audi Tt 73.1%
- Mercedes-Benz Ml 72.9%
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class 73.1%
- BMW 316 73.1%
- Suzuki Wagon-R+ 73.2%
- SEAT Arosa 72.8%
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 Phaeton 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 347 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 | 83 | 23.50% | 20.89% | +2.61 |
| Suspension | 67 | 19.00% | 20.98% | −1.98 |
| Tyres | 59 | 16.70% | 19.76% | −3.06 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 45 | 12.70% | 12.21% | +0.49 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 38 | 10.80% | 5.52% | +5.28 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 21 | 5.90% | 5.57% | +0.33 |
| Visibility | 14 | 4.00% | 4.97% | −0.97 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 10 | 2.80% | 1.76% | +1.04 |
| Non-component advisories | 5 | 1.40% | 4.18% | −2.78 |
| Steering | 5 | 1.40% | 2.57% | −1.17 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 5.7% | £3–12 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.7% | £40–150 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.7% | £5–20 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.3% | £45–110 |
| Side repeaters with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.3% | £3–15 |
| Door condition cannot be opened from outside the vehicle Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.8% | £80–250 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 2.8% | £45–95 |
| Side repeaters lens defective which has no effect on emitted light Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.8% | £3–15 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.8% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.1% | £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 | 22.7% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 18.4% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 12.8% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.6% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.6% | £45–95 |
| Linkage pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 8.5% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1 | 100.0% | 5,174 mi |
| 30-60k | 6 | 100.0% | 55,336 mi |
| 60-90k | 24 | 75.0% | 78,132 mi |
| 90-120k | 44 | 72.7% | 105,544 mi |
| 120k+ | 66 | 69.7% | 148,905 mi |
Source: 141 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 Phaeton MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton?
73.0% of the 141 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 67.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton?
The three most recorded items are malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (5.67%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (5.67%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.67%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 69.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton in this dataset had covered 118,802 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton?
Petrol: 71.6% pass rate across 88 tests. Diesel: 75.5% pass rate across 53 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2004 Volkswagen Phaeton MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 73.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.