Audi Q5: no years to avoid

Based on 97,751 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 2013 is the strongest, failing 40% less often than average.

Found a Audi Q5 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 Q5 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 Q5
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2009	3,914	26.5%	21% better
2010	3,776	23.5%	27% better
2011	5,566	22.6%	25% better
2012	4,626	19.0%	32% better
2013	6,212	15.3%	40% better
2014	8,727	14.8%	35% better
2015	10,659	14.2%	28% better
2016	11,375	12.2%	28% better
2017	10,210	15.6%	about average
2018	13,364	9.5%	21% better
2019	12,070	7.4%	28% better
2020	7,252	6.9%	25% better

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Audi Q5, 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.