2012 Audi A6: MOT pass rate and reliability
81.8% of 2012 Audi A6s pass the MOT first time, measured across 8,069 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 126,035 miles.
How the 2012 compares
- Against all Audi A6s (82.3%, 119,486 tests): -0.5 points
- Against all 2012 cars (70.8%): +11 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 2012 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 2012 A6
The 2012 sits close to the Audi A6 average, so there is no strong model-year signal either way. Judge the individual car on its own history. 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 14-year-old car fails on
A 2012 car is 14 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 high mileage, so timing belts, clutches, suspension bushes and corrosion are the items worth budgeting for rather than the MOT itself. On a 2012 Audi A6 the average at test was 126,035 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 2012 car against a newer one tells you very little.
Nearby model years
- 2009 Audi A6 - 75.7%
- 2010 Audi A6 - 75.9%
- 2011 Audi A6 - 77.1%
- 2013 Audi A6 - 82.8%
- 2014 Audi A6 - 83.1%
- 2015 Audi A6 - 85.3%