Volkswagen Caddy MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Caddy is 0.2 percentage points below the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is about average. The unadjusted figure is 68.1%; the difference is what the age and mileage of this model’s fleet was hiding.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Volkswagen Caddy tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn20.7%

   7,814 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

2. 2.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn13.2%

   4,980 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

3. 3.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements12.7%

   4,809 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

4. 4.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened11.4%

   4,301 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained

5. 5.A tyre cords visible or damaged9.6%

   3,643 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

6. 6.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm9.1%

   3,454 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

7. 7.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc7.7%

   2,910 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

8. 8.A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc7.3%

   2,775 occurrencesDriveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing explained

9. 9.A tyre seriously damaged6.9%

   2,606 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

10. 10.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen6.6%

    2,486 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Volkswagen Caddy tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1. 1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements28.2%

   40,904 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured17.0%

   24,650 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

3. 3.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn10.3%

   14,903 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

4. 4.A tyre seriously damaged9.9%

   14,341 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

5. 5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm9.5%

   13,714 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

6. 6.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users8.8%

   12,686 tests

7. 7.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn8.1%

   11,733 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

8. 8.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage3.7%

   5,338 testsShock absorber defective explained

How wear changes the picture

Pass rate by vehicle age

Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Caddy fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

114,457

Across examples of every age, so this is a description of the fleet rather than an annual figure.

Fuel mix of tested cars

Diesel97.7%

Petrol2.3%

Compare within the range

Other Volkswagen models

• Volkswagen Golf — 78.3% adjusted
• Volkswagen Polo — 67.5% adjusted
• Volkswagen Transporter — 73.7% adjusted
• Volkswagen Tiguan — 77.3% adjusted
• Volkswagen Passat — 77.9% adjusted
• Volkswagen UP — 76.8% adjusted
• All Volkswagen models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Peugeot 2008 — 69.0% adjusted, ranked 179
• Peugeot 3008 — 65.6% adjusted, ranked 216
• Land Rover Discovery — 80.1% adjusted, ranked 54
• Nissan Note — 65.9% adjusted, ranked 212

Common questions

Is the Volkswagen Caddy reliable?

On MOT evidence the Volkswagen Caddy is about average. It passes 72.1% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 148 of 262 models with enough data for a fair comparison. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Volkswagen Caddy?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn", which appears in 20.7% of failed Volkswagen Caddy tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Volkswagen Caddy?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 28.2% of all Volkswagen Caddy tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Volkswagen Caddy usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 114,457 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Does a Volkswagen Caddy get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 82.4% of Volkswagen Caddy tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 59.3%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Volkswagen Caddy models petrol or diesel?

Of the Volkswagen Caddy cars tested, 98% are diesel, 2% are petrol. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. The adjusted rate is directly standardised across twenty-five age and mileage bands and reweighted onto the national distribution, so this model is compared against cars that have lived a similar life rather than against a younger or lighter-used fleet.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.

Further reading

Make sense of the numbers

• How to judge reliability from evidence rather than reputation
• What counts as high or low mileage for a car’s age
• The most common MOT failures and how to avoid them
• What to check before buying a used Volkswagen