2017 Volkswagen California: MOT pass rate and reliability

86.3% of 2017 Volkswagen Californias pass the MOT first time, measured across 1,304 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 48,780 miles.

How the 2017 compares

  • Against all Volkswagen Californias (83%, 8,433 tests): +3.3 points
  • Against all 2017 cars (83.5%): +2.8 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Volkswagen California model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2017 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Volkswagen California:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2010 76.1% 330 78,305
2011 75.6% 390 77,092
2012 77.7% 593 74,692
2013 81.6% 588 72,384
2014 79.7% 743 67,432
2015 81.7% 926 59,300
2016 82.1% 848 54,189
2017 86.3% 1,304 48,780
2018 88.2% 1,156 39,709
2019 88.6% 1,118 32,639

What this means if you are buying a 2017 California

The 2017 is one of the stronger years for this model, passing 3.3 points more often than the Volkswagen California 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 9-year-old car fails on

A 2017 car is 9 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 2017 Volkswagen California the average at test was 48,780 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 2019 at 88.6%, and the weakest in our data is 2011 at 75.6%. That 13.0 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2017 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Volkswagen California MOT data · Every model