1998 Volkswagen Lt: MOT pass rate and reliability

60.6% of 1998 Volkswagen Lts pass the MOT first time, measured across 236 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 153,710 miles.

How the 1998 compares

  • Against all Volkswagen Lts (60.6%, 6,838 tests): +0 points
  • Against all 1998 cars (70%): -9.4 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Volkswagen Lt model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 1998 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Volkswagen Lt:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
1998 60.6% 236 153,710
1999 60.6% 282 161,942
2000 55.3% 273 150,852
2001 56.7% 367 151,429
2002 59.3% 639 169,613
2003 65.4% 781 171,370
2004 62% 1,054 169,295
2005 59.7% 1,182 166,836
2006 60% 1,024 165,283

What this means if you are buying a 1998 Lt

The 1998 sits close to the Volkswagen Lt 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 28-year-old car fails on

A 1998 car is 28 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 1998 Volkswagen Lt the average at test was 153,710 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 2003 at 65.4%, and the weakest in our data is 2000 at 55.3%. That 10.1 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 1998 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Volkswagen Lt MOT data · Every model