2001 Audi A6: MOT pass rate and reliability

72.5% of 2001 Audi A6s pass the MOT first time, measured across 207 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 161,484 miles.

How the 2001 compares

  • Against all Audi A6s (82.3%, 119,486 tests): -9.8 points
  • Against all 2001 cars (66.2%): +6.3 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Audi A6 model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2001 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Audi A6:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2000 72.9% 214 150,494
2001 72.5% 207 161,484
2002 65.2% 422 162,271
2003 67.1% 705 156,604
2004 67% 1,055 154,265
2005 71.9% 1,796 163,902
2006 72.6% 3,249 165,796
2007 74.1% 5,539 161,746
2008 73.8% 5,650 156,141
2009 75.7% 4,320 151,759
2010 75.9% 6,658 144,752
2011 77.1% 6,932 136,543
2012 81.8% 8,069 126,035
2013 82.8% 10,452 116,326
2014 83.1% 10,698 107,565
2015 85.3% 11,289 98,712
2016 86.4% 13,254 87,034
2017 87.7% 9,436 76,829
2018 89.1% 8,253 63,530
2019 90.5% 8,159 54,552
2020 92.4% 1,698 42,827
2021 91.1% 1,002 36,855

What this means if you are buying a 2001 A6

The 2001 is a weaker year for this model, passing 9.8 points less often than the Audi A6 average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2001 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 25-year-old car fails on

A 2001 car is 25 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 2001 Audi A6 the average at test was 161,484 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 92.4%, and the weakest in our data is 2002 at 65.2%. That 27.2 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2001 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Audi A6 MOT data · Every model