2020 Audi A3: MOT pass rate and reliability
90.4% of 2020 Audi A3s pass the MOT first time, measured across 4,581 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 34,532 miles.
How the 2020 compares
- Against all Audi A3s (78.6%, 390,222 tests): +11.8 points
- Against all 2020 cars (89.4%): +1 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every Audi A3 model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2020 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Audi A3:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 61% | 246 | 122,849 |
| 1999 | 69.2% | 305 | 129,947 |
| 2000 | 65.6% | 550 | 129,651 |
| 2001 | 66.9% | 888 | 128,600 |
| 2002 | 64.8% | 1,219 | 139,414 |
| 2003 | 66.4% | 1,588 | 135,739 |
| 2004 | 62.4% | 3,426 | 135,238 |
| 2005 | 63.7% | 7,940 | 138,705 |
| 2006 | 63.7% | 11,790 | 136,941 |
| 2007 | 66.4% | 14,658 | 134,983 |
| 2008 | 66.8% | 18,949 | 128,430 |
| 2009 | 67.9% | 22,330 | 122,827 |
| 2010 | 68.8% | 24,765 | 116,494 |
| 2011 | 70.5% | 21,562 | 116,883 |
| 2012 | 72.2% | 25,744 | 108,999 |
| 2013 | 78.1% | 27,391 | 99,641 |
| 2014 | 81.8% | 39,051 | 88,964 |
| 2015 | 84.9% | 41,841 | 78,976 |
| 2016 | 87.4% | 39,116 | 68,677 |
| 2017 | 88.1% | 34,036 | 59,872 |
| 2018 | 89.2% | 27,197 | 49,745 |
| 2019 | 89.9% | 20,705 | 42,222 |
| 2020 | 90.4% | 4,581 | 34,532 |
| 2021 | 91.5% | 213 | 29,151 |
What this means if you are buying a 2020 A3
The 2020 is one of the stronger years for this model, passing 11.8 points more often than the Audi A3 average. That is a point in its favour, though condition and service history still matter more than the model year. Check the exact car with the free MOT history checker before you buy, and run its VIN and mileage through our free VIN decoder and clocking check.
What a 6-year-old car fails on
A 2020 car is 6 years old now, and age drives the failure mix more than the badge does. Across all cars tested, these are the categories that actually cause failures:
- Lights and electrical: 10.36% of all cars tested
- Suspension: 8.65% of all cars tested
- Tyres: 6.23% of all cars tested
- Brakes: 6.1% of all cars tested
- Visibility: wipers, washers, glass: 4.65% of all cars tested
- Body, chassis and structure: 3.18% of all cars tested
That is below average for a car this age, worth a mileage-consistency check since an unusually low reading is sometimes clocking rather than luck. On a 2020 Audi A3 the average at test was 34,532 miles, so treat anything far above that as a car that has worked harder than its peers, and anything far below as one worth checking for the faults that come from standing still.
The strongest year for this model is 2021 at 91.5%, and the weakest in our data is 1998 at 61%. That 30.5 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2020 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 2017 Audi A3 - 88.1%
- 2018 Audi A3 - 89.2%
- 2019 Audi A3 - 89.9%
- 2021 Audi A3 - 91.5%