Skip to content

Volkswagen B eetle vs Volkswagen Passat: reliability comparison

MOT pass rates, common faults and mileage compared from real UK MOT data.

Volkswagen B eetle
67%
MOT pass rate · 1 vehicles
Volkswagen Passat
74%
MOT pass rate · 601,376 vehicles
Verdict: On MOT pass rate the Volkswagen B eetle (67%) and Volkswagen Passat (74%) are very close — weigh the individual measures below, and remember condition depends on age, mileage and upkeep.

Head to head

Measure Volkswagen B eetle Volkswagen Passat
MOT pass rate 67% 74% ✓
MOT failure rate 33% 26% ✓
Faults & advisories per test 3.7 2.0 ✓
Dangerous-fault share 0% ✓ 2%
Average mileage 60,795 mi 147,486 mi
Sample size (vehicles) 1 601,376

Most common faults

Volkswagen B eetle

  1. Dipswitch operation does not extinguish all main beam headlamps leaving at least one pair of dipped beam headlamps (1.7.4b)
  2. Direction indicators not working (1.4.A.2c)
  3. Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)
  4. Horn not working (1.6.2a)
  5. Indicator switch faulty (1.4.A.1)
  6. Nearside Front Front position lamp(s) not working (1.1.A.3b)

Volkswagen Passat

  1. Nearside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
  2. Offside Front Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
  3. Nearside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
  4. Offside Rear Tyre worn close to the legal limit (4.1.E.1)
  5. Under-trays fitted obscuring some underside components
  6. Offside Front Tyre worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (5.2.3 (e))

Reliability FAQ

On MOT pass rate the Volkswagen B eetle (67%) and Volkswagen Passat (74%) are very close — weigh the individual measures below, and remember condition depends on age, mileage and upkeep.

Full Volkswagen B eetle report Full Volkswagen Passat report Most reliable cars

Pass rates are computed over completed (pass/fail) MOT tests. Reliability also depends on age, mileage and upkeep — see each model's page for the full picture.