Audi A8 MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on an Audi A8 in Great Britain in 2025 — 11,122 tests. Figures cover every A8 first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the A8 ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
87.2%
14.9 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
11,122
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
4.1%
of A8 first tests; national 7.3%
Typical mileage at 10 years
91,250
middle half: 66,250–113,750 miles (2,500-mile-band midpoints)

How many Audi A8 cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 13,009 Audi A8 cars that were taxed or on SORN: 9,740 taxed and 3,269 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper). The MOT figures above count tests; these count cars, across the whole United Kingdom, cars only. Audi A8 vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
9,740
74.9% of the 13,009 A8 cars taxed or on SORN; 107 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
3,269
declared off the road by their keepers — 25.1% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed A8 cars peaked at 13,228 at the end of 2016 and has since fallen by 3,488 (26.4%) to 9,740 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 813 at the end of 2014 to 3,269 at the end of 2025, up 302.1%. A car leaves the taxed count when it is scrapped, exported or declared off the road; the year-end counts do not say which.

Taxed A8 cars, year by year

Cars of this model taxed and on the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025.

05k10k15k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed A8 cars, year 2014: 13kTaxed A8 cars, year 2015: 13kTaxed A8 cars, year 2016: 13kTaxed A8 cars, year 2017: 13kTaxed A8 cars, year 2018: 13kTaxed A8 cars, year 2019: 13kTaxed A8 cars, year 2020: 12kTaxed A8 cars, year 2021: 12kTaxed A8 cars, year 2022: 12kTaxed A8 cars, year 2023: 11kTaxed A8 cars, year 2024: 10kTaxed A8 cars, year 2025: 10k10k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed A8 cars
201412,771
201513,066
201613,228
201713,024
201813,041
201912,822
202012,452
202112,178
202211,755
202311,173
202410,341
20259,740

A8 cars on SORN, year by year

Cars of this model declared off the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025. Its own scale — SORN counts are a fraction of the taxed count.

01k2k3k4k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)A8 cars on SORN, year 2014: 813A8 cars on SORN, year 2015: 991A8 cars on SORN, year 2016: 1kA8 cars on SORN, year 2017: 1kA8 cars on SORN, year 2018: 2kA8 cars on SORN, year 2019: 2kA8 cars on SORN, year 2020: 2kA8 cars on SORN, year 2021: 2kA8 cars on SORN, year 2022: 3kA8 cars on SORN, year 2023: 3kA8 cars on SORN, year 2024: 3kA8 cars on SORN, year 2025: 3k3k
View this chart as a table
YearA8 cars on SORN
2014813
2015991
20161,233
20171,440
20181,707
20192,130
20202,277
20212,370
20222,562
20232,904
20243,117
20253,269

Which model years survive

Taxed A8 cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 9,740 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. A build year's count depends on how many were sold that year as well as how many have lasted.

Year of manufacture Taxed, end of 2025Share of taxed A8 cars
20251391.4%
20241021.0%
20233363.4%
20222302.4%
20212542.6%
20203553.6%
20196696.9%
20188859.1%
20175675.8%
20166476.6%
20157247.4%
20147227.4%
20136256.4%
20125896.0%
20115765.9%
20103633.7%
20092722.8%
20084774.9%
20073393.5%
20062262.3%
20052272.3%
20041411.4%
All other build years (ten years, each under 1%)2752.8%

Population source: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026; counts of the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, United Kingdom, cars only, excluding cars recorded with no model name. SortedCars groups DVLA's model name A8 under this model. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, DVLA or the Department for Transport.

How the A8 ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, A8 vs all cars, 2025.

Audi A8All cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Audi A8, vehicle age 6: 92.3%Audi A8, vehicle age 7: 91.3%Audi A8, vehicle age 8: 92.3%Audi A8, vehicle age 9: 89.8%Audi A8, vehicle age 10: 91.7%Audi A8, vehicle age 11: 90.4%Audi A8, vehicle age 12: 89.9%Audi A8, vehicle age 13: 85.3%Audi A8, vehicle age 14: 85%Audi A8, vehicle age 17: 81%All cars, vehicle age 3: 88.5%All cars, vehicle age 4: 87.2%All cars, vehicle age 5: 86%All cars, vehicle age 6: 83.5%All cars, vehicle age 7: 80.9%All cars, vehicle age 8: 78.2%All cars, vehicle age 9: 74.9%All cars, vehicle age 10: 71.9%All cars, vehicle age 11: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 12: 65.8%All cars, vehicle age 13: 63.5%All cars, vehicle age 14: 61.2%All cars, vehicle age 15: 59.3%All cars, vehicle age 16: 58.3%All cars, vehicle age 17: 57.2%All cars, vehicle age 18: 57.4%All cars, vehicle age 19: 57%All cars, vehicle age 20: 57.6%Audi A8 81%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)A8 testsA8 pass rateAll cars
672792.3%83.5%
795791.3%80.9%
866092.3%78.2%
988189.8%74.9%
1092091.7%71.9%
1184290.4%68.6%
1269289.9%65.8%
1367285.3%63.5%
1466785.0%61.2%
1757981.0%57.2%

Better or worse than the average car?

The A8's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the A8 beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

A8 ahead
-26-13+0+13+26Age 6: +8.8 points vs the average carAge 7: +10.4 points vs the average car7Age 8: +14.1 points vs the average carAge 9: +14.9 points vs the average car9Age 10: +19.8 points vs the average carAge 11: +21.8 points vs the average car11Age 12: +24.1 points vs the average carAge 13: +21.8 points vs the average car13Age 14: +23.8 points vs the average carAge 17: +23.8 points vs the average car17Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
6+8.8
7+10.4
8+14.1
9+14.9
10+19.8
11+21.8
12+24.1
13+21.8
14+23.8
17+23.8

The A8 fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the A8 fleet still in use.

02505007501kAge 6: 7276Age 7: 957Age 8: 6608Age 9: 881Age 10: 92010Age 11: 842Age 12: 69212Age 13: 672Age 14: 66714Age 17: 57917Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
6727
7957
8660
9881
10920
11842
12692
13672
14667
17579

What an A8 fails on

Where the failure items land when an A8 fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Tyres21.1%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment18.0%
Suspension16.2%
Brakes14.2%
Visibility10.2%
Noise, emissions and leaks8.6%
Body, chassis, structure4.7%
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems1.9%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (95.0% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a A8, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Tyres: 35.0% of advisories35.0%Brakes: 24.5% of advisories24.5%Suspension: 24.3% of advisories24.3%Noise, emissions and leaks: 5.1% of advisoriesNon-component advisories: 4.3% of advisoriesIdentification of the vehicle: 2.4% of advisories
TyresBrakesSuspensionNoise, emissions and leaksNon-component advisoriesIdentification of the vehicle
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Tyres35.0%
Brakes24.5%
Suspension24.3%
Noise, emissions and leaks5.1%
Non-component advisories4.3%
Identification of the vehicle2.4%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid A8?

First-time pass rate for the two most-tested A8 fuel types, 2025, against the all-cars average. Fleet ages differ by fuel — newer fleets help the electrified bars.

50%60%70%80%90%100%all cars 72.3%Diesel: 87.9% of 8,678 tests87.9%Diesel8,678 testsPetrol: 83.4% of 2,174 tests83.4%Petrol2,174 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Diesel8,67887.9%
Petrol2,17483.4%

What mileage is normal for an A8?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) A8; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

Typical A8 (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k175k6810121417Vehicle age (years)Age 6: typical 53,750 miles (middle half 41,250–76,250)Age 7: typical 63,750 miles (middle half 46,250–83,750)Age 8: typical 71,250 miles (middle half 51,250–93,750)Age 9: typical 78,750 miles (middle half 58,750–103,750)Age 10: typical 91,250 miles (middle half 66,250–113,750)Age 11: typical 101,250 miles (middle half 78,750–128,750)Age 12: typical 103,750 miles (middle half 78,750–133,750)Age 13: typical 116,250 miles (middle half 88,750–146,250)Age 14: typical 123,750 miles (middle half 93,750–151,250)Age 17: typical 143,750 miles (middle half 116,250–173,750)143k mi

Mileage values are midpoints of 2,500-mile bands.

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
641,25053,75076,250
746,25063,75083,750
851,25071,25093,750
958,75078,750103,750
1066,25091,250113,750
1178,750101,250128,750
1278,750103,750133,750
1388,750116,250146,250
1493,750123,750151,250
17116,250143,750173,750

What fails at each age

The A8's failure mix by age band, 2025 — each band's top categories at their true share of that band's failure items; the pale remainder is everything else. How the mix shifts with age is the point of the chart.

TyresBrakesNoise, emissions and leaksIdentification of the vehicleVisibilityLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspensionEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsTyres57.7%
3-5 yrsBrakes15.5%
3-5 yrsNoise, emissions and leaks8.5%
3-5 yrsIdentification of the vehicle5.6%
3-5 yrsVisibility5.6%
3-5 yrsEverything else7.1%
6-9 yrsTyres44.2%
6-9 yrsBrakes15.6%
6-9 yrsNoise, emissions and leaks11.0%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment6.4%
6-9 yrsSuspension6.4%
6-9 yrsEverything else16.4%
10-13 yrsTyres33.7%
10-13 yrsSuspension17.9%
10-13 yrsBrakes11.7%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment10.4%
10-13 yrsNoise, emissions and leaks8.9%
10-13 yrsEverything else17.4%
14+ yrsSuspension22.7%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment17.5%
14+ yrsBrakes17.0%
14+ yrsTyres14.7%
14+ yrsVisibility9.1%
14+ yrsEverything else19.0%

More vehicles we've checked

How these figures are computed. Every number on this page is calculated by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (every MOT test in Great Britain — 2025 for single-year figures; trend figures state their span, currently 2023–2025). Where a figure comes from a sample or uses banded values (mileage is banded to 2,500 miles), the page says so beside the figure. Test class 4 only, first tests only — retests are excluded. Class 4 is the car MOT class and also covers car-derived vans, pickups and motorhomes tested to the same standard; where this page says "cars" it means class 4. Pass rate = passes ÷ (passes + failures + pass-after-rectification): a vehicle that failed and was fixed during the visit counts as a fail. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Alias spellings of a make in the DVSA file are counted under one make name, and all trims and variants of a model are grouped under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables. The taxed and SORN counts on this page are the one exception: they are not computed from MOT records but taken from the Department for Transport's vehicle licensing statistics (DfT/DVLA table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0), which count the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, UK-wide, cars only. They describe a model as a whole, grouped under SortedCars' model names, and say nothing about any one car. “Dangerous” is DVSA's statutory defect category (in force since May 2018): a defect posing an immediate risk to road safety — driving the vehicle before repair is an offence. What these figures are for. These statistics are general information about groups of vehicles. They are not advice, a valuation or a recommendation to buy, avoid or price any particular vehicle, and no decision about one car should rest on them alone — check the car itself and its own records. We take care over the calculations, but we cannot guarantee they are complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for loss arising from reliance on them. This does not limit any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — see our Terms & Conditions. If you believe any figure on this page is inaccurate, contact us. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DVSA or DVLA. DVSA publishes the raw test records; the statistics on this page are SortedCars' own calculations from them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.