Pass rate
75.1%
Around average — 1.1 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 23,468 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£84
2009 Volkswagen Tiguan MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 120,522 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
39.6% 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 →
8.0 pts down across model years — 8.8% in 2008, 0.8% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 94.8% pass
- Avoid 2009 75.1% pass · this year
Across the 16 years on record, a spread of 19.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.7%
- Typical mileage
- 121k mi
The 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan MOT pass rate is 75.1% of its MOT tests — 1.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 39.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volkswagen Tiguan does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.9× the national share
Suspension accounts for 39.6% of everything recorded on the 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan, against 21.0% nationally — 18.6 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 26% 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 Tiguan? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 1.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.7%. The median 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan in this dataset had covered 120,522 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 94% of tests, with a 74.9% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.3% of the time, April–September 74.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 7.73% of tests.
- 23,468 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.1% overall pass rate, 67.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen Tiguan, the average is 86.4% — best year 2023 (94.8%), worst 2009 (75.1%).
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
- 23,468
- Typical mileage (median)
- 120,522 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Tiguan
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Tiguan 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 (94% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Tiguan
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 4,323 | 76.2% |
| South West | 3,829 | 70.1% |
| East of England | 2,627 | 76.0% |
| Yorkshire | 2,397 | 76.9% |
| North West | 2,242 | 76.8% |
| West Midlands | 2,199 | 77.7% |
| East Midlands | 1,531 | 74.2% |
| Wales | 1,463 | 74.7% |
| Scotland | 1,292 | 71.5% |
| North East | 1,044 | 75.1% |
| London | 521 | 83.7% |
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 2009 Tiguan
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 2009 Tiguan
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 7.7% 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 coil springs 5.7% 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 suspension joints 5.2% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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.
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 2009 Tiguan through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£84 — and 26% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£84
- 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
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 26%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 23,468 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 Tiguan, side by side
16 model years on record, from 2008 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.1% to 94.8% — a spread of 19.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2008 75.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 75.1%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 75.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 76.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 78.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 80.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 81.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 83.9% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2016 87.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 89.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 89.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 90.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 91.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 91.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 92.1% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2023 94.8% windscreen damaged but not…
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 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class 75.1%
- Skoda Yeti 75.1%
- SEAT Leon 75.0%
- Ford Kuga 74.9%
- Mercedes-Benz Vito 74.9%
- Audi A3 75.3%
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan 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 58,842 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 | 23,518 | 39.60% | 20.98% | +18.62 |
| Tyres | 8,995 | 15.20% | 19.76% | −4.56 |
| Brakes | 8,158 | 13.70% | 20.89% | −7.19 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 5,483 | 9.20% | 12.21% | −3.01 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 3,701 | 6.20% | 5.57% | +0.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3,195 | 5.40% | 5.52% | −0.12 |
| Visibility | 1,846 | 3.10% | 4.97% | −1.87 |
| Non-component advisories | 1,795 | 3.00% | 4.18% | −1.18 |
| Steering | 1,499 | 2.50% | 2.57% | −0.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 652 | 1.10% | 1.76% | −0.66 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.7% | £5–20 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 5.7% | £25–65 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 5.2% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.3% | £80–250 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.1% | £40–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.1% | £80–200 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.9% | £3–12 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 3.7% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.5% | £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 | 22.9% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 21.4% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.1% | £45–110 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.4% | £180–450 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.1% | £18–45 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 8.8% | £30–75 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 49 | 87.8% | 24,315 mi |
| 30-60k | 632 | 82.3% | 49,478 mi |
| 60-90k | 3,386 | 77.5% | 77,971 mi |
| 90-120k | 7,489 | 74.9% | 106,245 mi |
| 120k+ | 11,891 | 74.1% | 147,627 mi |
Source: 23,468 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.
2009 Tiguan MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan?
75.1% of the 23,468 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 67.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.73%), coil spring fractured or broken (5.65%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.23%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.8% of the time, falling to 74.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan in this dataset had covered 120,522 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan?
Diesel: 74.9% pass rate across 22,087 tests. Petrol: 77.1% pass rate across 1,381 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 74.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.