Audi A3: which years to avoid

Based on 408,853 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. The 2016 is the strongest, failing 30% less often than average.

Found a Audi A3 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 A3 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 A3
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2001	1,055	35.0%	about average
2002	1,539	36.3%	about average
2003	2,056	37.7%	about average
2004	4,559	39.6%	about average
2005	10,039	36.0%	about average
2006	14,449	35.6%	about average
2007	17,232	33.9%	about average
2008	21,304	33.6%	about average
2009	24,424	31.4%	about average
2010	26,531	31.4%	about average
2011	22,459	28.7%	about average
2012	26,456	25.9%	about average
2013	27,932	20.9%	18% better
2014	39,538	16.9%	26% better
2015	42,138	14.0%	29% better
2016	39,475	11.9%	30% better
2017	34,284	10.9%	24% better
2018	27,350	9.6%	20% better
2019	21,342	9.5%	about average
2020	4,691	9.8%	about average

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Audi A3, 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.