Pass rate
95.8%
Above average — 1.0 pts ahead of the 94.8% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 71 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £41–£109
2023 Volkswagen Up MOT pass rate
- 2023
- typical 17,986 mi
Only 71 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Suspension
22.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 95.8% pass · this year
- Avoid 2012 83.8% pass
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 12 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 95.5%
- Typical mileage
- 18k mi
The 2023 Volkswagen Up MOT pass rate is 95.8% of its MOT tests — 1.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Volkswagen Up does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Advisories: 4.0× the national share
Advisories make up 16.7% of everything recorded on the 2023 Volkswagen Up, against 4.2% nationally — 12.5 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 22.2%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Most of what testers record here is advisory — worth reading, not worth walking away from on its own.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 0% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 71 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 Up? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2023 Volkswagen Up compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 94.8%, so this figure is 1.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 95.5%. The median 2023 Volkswagen Up in this dataset had covered 17,986 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt", noted on 2.82% of tests.
- 71 recorded tests behind this page.
- 95.8% overall pass rate, 95.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Volkswagen Up, the average is 87.0% — best year 2023 (95.8%), worst 2012 (83.8%).
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
- 71
- Typical mileage (median)
- 17,986 mi
- Make and model
- Volkswagen Up
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Up MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2023 Up
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 2023 Up
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 suspension joints 2.8% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
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 lights 1.4% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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 windscreen 1.4% 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.
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 2023 Up through its MOT
Across the 6 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £41–£109 — and 0% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 6 common items
- £41–£109
- Cheapest common item: linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust…
- £18–£45
- Dearest common item: fuel cap/sealing device ineffective
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 0%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 71 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 Up, side by side
12 model years on record, from 2012 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 83.8% to 95.8% — a spread of 12 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2012 83.8% service brake performance…
- 2013 85.1% service brake performance…
- 2014 85.9% service brake performance…
- 2015 86.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 85.9% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2017 88.3% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2018 90.1% wipers does not clear the…
- 2019 93.0% headlamp aim too low
- 2020 93.6% has a bulge, caused by separation…
- 2021 92.9% has a bulge, caused by separation…
- 2022 93.2% has a bulge, caused by separation…
- 2023 95.8%linkage ball joint dust cover…
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 2023 Volkswagen Up 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 2023 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Corolla 95.7%
- Kia Niro 95.5%
- Mercedes-Benz Eqe 96.5%
- Ford Puma 96.5%
- Levc Tx 97.0%
- Polestar Polestar 94.6%
Closest pass rates among 2023 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 2023 Volkswagen Up 6 failure items · 6 advisories · 8 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 18 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 | 4 | 22.20% | 20.98% | +1.22 |
| Tyres | 4 | 22.20% | 19.76% | +2.44 |
| Brakes | 3 | 16.70% | 20.89% | −4.19 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 16.70% | 4.18% | +12.52 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1 | 5.60% | 12.21% | −6.61 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1 | 5.60% | 5.57% | +0.03 |
| Visibility | 1 | 5.60% | 4.97% | +0.63 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 5.60% | 1.76% | +3.84 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.8% | £18–45 |
| Fuel cap/sealing device ineffective Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.4% | £80–250 |
| Has a lump, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.4% | £30–80 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.4% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £80–200 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 4.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 2.8% | £18–45 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.8% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 1.4% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Vehicles internal headlight adjuster altered to recheck lights Non-component advisories | Advisory | 1.4% | £3–15 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 1.4% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 52 | 98.1% | 14,389 mi |
| 30-60k | 14 | 92.9% | 45,847 mi |
| 60-90k | 4 | 75.0% | 67,710 mi |
| 90-120k | 1 | 100.0% | 102,570 mi |
Source: 71 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.
2023 Up MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2023 Volkswagen Up?
95.8% of the 71 2023 Volkswagen Up tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 94.8% for cars first used in 2023. First-attempt pass rate: 95.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2023 Volkswagen Up?
The three most recorded items are linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.82%), fuel cap/sealing device ineffective (1.41%), has a lump, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (1.41%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2023 Volkswagen Up MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 98.1% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2023 Volkswagen Up in this dataset had covered 17,986 mi.