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117,932 tests in 2025

Audi A5 reliability and MOT pass rate

80.5% passed first time. The 19.5% fail rate is 3.1 points better than the all-car average, on a median example 10 years old with 81,686 miles.

MOT pass rates / Audi

Pass rate

80.5%

22.6% of all cars failed; 19.5% of these did.

Fixed on the day

3.2%

Passed after a defect was put right during the visit.

Median at test

81,686 mi

10 years old.

Fail rate by age

Age at testTestsFail rate
3-5 years13,30410.6%
6-9 years40,03317.1%
10-13 years37,43221.1%
14+ years26,97325.4%

What the A5 fails on

Share of failed tests with at least one fail item in each DVSA inspection section. A test can fail in several sections at once.

  1. Tyres10,847 dangerous41.9%
  2. Suspension298 dangerous38%
  3. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment11 dangerous16.5%
  4. Brakes2,349 dangerous15.2%
  5. Body, chassis, structure110 dangerous12.9%
  6. Visibility8 dangerous10.6%
  7. Noise, emissions and leaks11 dangerous9.4%
  8. Road Wheels180 dangerous2.3%

Is the A5 getting worse?

The fail rate rose 3.3 points to 20% from 2022 to 2025, against a rising rate across all cars.

YearTestsMedian ageFail rate All cars
2022122,146816.7%22.5%
2023122,921—18.2%22.8%
2024107,885—19%23.2%
2025112,496—20%22.6%

Fail rate is first attempts at class 4 tests. Median age is the age of a typical A5 at its test that year, and it is the number to watch: across the whole fleet each extra year of age adds roughly 1.9 points to the fail rate, so a model whose age and fail rate rise together is simply getting older.

The exact defects that fail it

Every failure item DVSA recorded against a A5 in 2025, counted by how many tests each one appeared on.

  1. 1Coil spring: fractured or broken3,672 tests
  2. 2Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm3,502 tests
  3. 3Condition: has ply or cords exposed2,537 tests
  4. 4Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords2,123 tests
  5. 5Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn2,089 tests
  6. 6Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt2,038 tests
  7. 7Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick1,745 tests
  8. 8Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction1,639 tests

What wears out first

Advisories are the tester flagging wear that is still legal. A typical A5 collects 2.51 of them per test, and these are the ones that come up most. Treat it as the running-repairs list for the next year or two.

  1. 1Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm21,041 tests
  2. 2Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn14,269 tests
  3. 3Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick10,423 tests
  4. 4Brake discs: in such a condition that it is seriously weakened7,359 tests
  5. 5Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak6,967 tests
  6. 6Condition: has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure5,897 tests
  7. 7Sub-frame: corroded and seriously weakened4,186 tests
  8. 8Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords3,385 tests

Questions

What is the Audi A5 MOT pass rate?

80.5% of the 117,932 Audi A5 first-attempt MOTs in 2025 passed. The fail rate of 19.5% compares with 22.6% across all cars. A further 3.2% passed after a defect was fixed during the test visit.

What does a Audi A5 usually fail on?

The single most common failure is "Coil spring: fractured or broken", recorded on 3,672 failed tests, followed by "Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm" and "Condition: has ply or cords exposed". By section, tyres appears in 41.9% of failures, suspension appears in 38% of failures, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment appears in 16.5% of failures.

Does age change the odds?

Sharply. At 3 to 5 years old the fail rate was 10.6%; at 14+ years it was 25.4%. The median Audi A5 tested in 2025 was 10 years old with 81,686 miles.

Is the Audi A5 getting less reliable?

The fail rate rose 3.3 points to 20% from 2022 to 2025, against a rising rate across all cars.

First-attempt class 4 tests, 2025, from DVSA’s anonymised MOT data (OGL v3, retrieved 2026-09-12). DVSA records newer cars trim by trim; this page adds every A5 trim together. Year-on-year figures come from the same DVSA extracts for 2026 and earlier years. Full method on the pass rates hub.

DVSA has published 19 safety recalls naming the Audi A5: Audi A5 recalls.

Other Audi models

Checking a particular A5?

The odds above are the model. The car in front of you has its own record: every test, every advisory, the mileage at each one.

Due a test? Find an approved MOT station near you.