2012 Volkswagen Tiguan: MOT pass rate and reliability

73.1% of 2012 Volkswagen Tiguans pass the MOT first time, measured across 9,016 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 104,351 miles.

How the 2012 compares

  • Against all Volkswagen Tiguans (82.8%, 185,902 tests): -9.7 points
  • Against all 2012 cars (70.8%): +2.3 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Volkswagen Tiguan 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 Volkswagen Tiguan:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2008 68.3% 4,206 129,528
2009 68.8% 6,073 121,814
2010 67.9% 6,680 117,707
2011 70% 6,787 112,504
2012 73.1% 9,016 104,351
2013 76.5% 12,318 93,173
2014 78.1% 15,362 84,490
2015 81.4% 19,921 77,034
2016 86.7% 18,652 69,783
2017 88.7% 26,509 62,949
2018 88.4% 29,438 53,143
2019 89.4% 15,641 43,572
2020 89.9% 9,342 35,938
2021 87.5% 5,823 31,319

What this means if you are buying a 2012 Tiguan

The 2012 is a weaker year for this model, passing 9.7 points less often than the Volkswagen Tiguan average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2012 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 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 above average and into the range where cambelts and water pumps are due if they have not already been done, so ask for the service history rather than take the mileage on trust. On a 2012 Volkswagen Tiguan the average at test was 104,351 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 89.9%, and the weakest in our data is 2010 at 67.9%. That 22.0 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2012 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Volkswagen Tiguan MOT data · Every model