1997 Audi A4: MOT pass rate and reliability
67.9% of 1997 Audi A4s pass the MOT first time, measured across 265 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 163,253 miles.
How the 1997 compares
- Against all Audi A4s (76.8%, 244,401 tests): -8.9 points
- Against all 1997 cars (70.4%): -2.5 points
- National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%
Every Audi A4 model year
Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 1997 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Audi A4:
| Year | Pass rate | Tests | Avg mileage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 67.9% | 265 | 163,253 |
| 1998 | 73.1% | 475 | 153,346 |
| 1999 | 70.6% | 700 | 160,712 |
| 2000 | 69.4% | 919 | 149,807 |
| 2001 | 66.9% | 903 | 150,673 |
| 2002 | 65.3% | 1,976 | 154,632 |
| 2003 | 66.5% | 3,710 | 148,539 |
| 2004 | 66.6% | 6,424 | 146,363 |
| 2005 | 68.9% | 7,505 | 138,956 |
| 2006 | 68.8% | 12,837 | 137,279 |
| 2007 | 69.8% | 15,046 | 136,394 |
| 2008 | 70.3% | 15,234 | 137,679 |
| 2009 | 71.5% | 12,793 | 138,931 |
| 2010 | 73% | 12,946 | 136,234 |
| 2011 | 74.7% | 13,674 | 130,851 |
| 2012 | 76.3% | 13,436 | 121,334 |
| 2013 | 77.6% | 16,024 | 111,147 |
| 2014 | 78.4% | 16,837 | 103,684 |
| 2015 | 79.6% | 16,435 | 93,622 |
| 2016 | 81.4% | 22,106 | 82,599 |
| 2017 | 83.4% | 21,236 | 71,248 |
| 2018 | 85.3% | 13,631 | 57,824 |
| 2019 | 87.9% | 12,912 | 48,638 |
| 2020 | 90% | 5,966 | 39,471 |
What this means if you are buying a 1997 A4
The 1997 is a weaker year for this model, passing 8.9 points less often than the Audi A4 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 1997 figure for all cars above rather than against newer examples. 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 29-year-old car fails on
A 1997 car is 29 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 very high mileage. Clutches, dual-mass flywheels and head gaskets have usually been through at least one repair by this point, so ask for evidence rather than assume the car is original everywhere. On a 1997 Audi A4 the average at test was 163,253 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 2020 at 90%, and the weakest in our data is 2002 at 65.3%. That 24.7 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 1997 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 1998 Audi A4 - 73.1%
- 1999 Audi A4 - 70.6%
- 2000 Audi A4 - 69.4%