Audi A6: no years to avoid

Based on 123,751 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 2012 is the strongest, failing 35% less often than average.

Found a Audi A6 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 A6 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 A6
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2004	1,401	29.6%	19% better
2005	2,391	28.4%	22% better
2006	4,109	26.4%	27% better
2007	6,786	25.2%	29% better
2008	6,636	25.6%	27% better
2009	4,638	23.2%	31% better
2010	7,114	23.5%	27% better
2011	7,355	22.6%	25% better
2012	8,407	18.1%	35% better
2013	10,653	16.7%	35% better
2014	10,915	15.8%	31% better
2015	11,469	12.8%	35% better
2016	13,517	12.2%	28% better
2017	9,535	10.4%	28% better
2018	8,366	9.4%	22% better
2019	8,554	9.1%	about average
2020	1,905	8.8%	about average

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Audi A6, 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.