Audi A1: which years to avoid

Based on 204,352 real MOT tests from DVSA records. Each year is compared against every other car first registered the same year — otherwise the numbers would only tell you that older cars fail more, which you knew.

The short answer

No model year stands out as one to avoid. Every year sits within 15% of the failure rate for cars of the same age.

Found a Audi A1 you like?

Averages tell you what to expect. Its registration tells you what actually happened — every MOT, every advisory, and whether the mileage adds up.

Every A1 model year

Shaded rows are the years that differ most from other cars of the same age — worse, better.

MOT failure rate by registration year for the Audi A1
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2010	1,441	29.6%	about average
2011	16,537	29.0%	about average
2012	18,603	26.1%	about average
2013	22,284	24.4%	about average
2014	23,025	21.6%	about average
2015	23,910	18.3%	about average
2016	25,590	18.0%	about average
2017	23,069	15.9%	about average
2018	19,965	11.8%	about average
2019	20,070	8.9%	about average
2020	9,858	8.2%	about average

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Audi A1, grouped by the year the car was first registered. Retests are excluded, so a car that failed and was fixed still counts as a failure. Each year's rate is then divided by the rate for all cars first registered that year — so 120 means 20% more failures than its contemporaries, not 20% more than a brand new car.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.