MOT cost .
Volkswagen Tiguan
MOT 2023
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Volkswagen

Tiguan

211,907 MOT tests analysed. sits above the UK fleet average — here's where Tiguans pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 7.4 points above the UK fleet average across our 1,988 tracked models — a confident result.

Pass

83.1%

Pass-after-fix

2.4%

Fail

14.0%

Avg miles

67,800

Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%

The picture

Tiguan Passes 83% — Tyres and Springs Most Common

At 83.12% across 211,907 tests, the Tiguan is one of the more reliable family SUVs by MOT record. Tyre tread depth and suspension bush wear are the leading failure reasons at an average of 67,800 miles — typical for a heavier vehicle doing mixed urban and motorway use. Gearbox control unit failure has been documented on 2017 models, with one owner quoted £1,100 for repair. DSG7-equipped 1.5 TSI Allspace owners have also reported ACC and cruise control misbehaviour. Pre-purchase, check all four tyres against legal depth and confirm the DSG service history — a poorly maintained dual-clutch gearbox on a higher-mileage Tiguan is a significant cost risk.

Top ten reasons for rejection.

  1. 01

    Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

    6,860 occurrences · 3.2% of tests

  2. 02

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    6,555 occurrences · 3.1% of tests

  3. 03

    A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

    5,967 occurrences · 2.8% of tests

  4. 04

    Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

    5,176 occurrences · 2.4% of tests

  5. 05

    a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

    3,136 occurrences · 1.5% of tests

  6. 06

    A tyre seriously damaged

    2,821 occurrences · 1.3% of tests

  7. 07

    A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

    2,647 occurrences · 1.2% of tests

  8. 08

    A tyre cords visible or damaged

    2,520 occurrences · 1.2% of tests

  9. 09

    A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated

    2,286 occurrences · 1.1% of tests

  10. 10

    Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

    2,042 occurrences · 1.0% of tests

Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.

Worst-case fix budget · top 4 failures

£300–£735

If every one of this Tiguan's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →

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Tools that pre-empt a retest.

Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.

Item 01 · Amazon UK

Digital tyre-tread depth gauge

Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

Brake pad measurement gauge

Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.

Search Amazon UK

Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.

What's good

The 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan is an upmarket alternative to SUVs like the Nissan Qashqai and Ford Kuga. It boasts a classy and spacious interior, and is comfortable and easy to drive.

Where it falls short

Looks expensive alongside the very similar SEAT Ateca or Skoda Karoq. Not the most exciting SUV to look at. Other than the R version, not particularly thrilling to drive.

Recent owner-reported faults

  1. 30 Mar 2023

    Reader reported several software faults with their Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace. On start up the main dash display changes configuration from previous layout. The set speed of the cruise control jumps 2 or 3mph, up or down, without driver intervention. Sometimes the volume control will work but at other times volume cannot be changed. Although both hands are on the steering wheel a message a message appears reminding the driver to put both hands on the steering wheel.

  2. 11 Oct 2021

    Gearbox control unit failure reported on 2017 Tiguan. Owner quoted £1100 for repair.

  3. 11 May 2021

    Problems with 2021 Tiguan 1.5TSI 150 Elegance DSG7. Within a week the owner noticed that when driving along with the adaptive cruise control and associated driver assistance systems engaged (lane keeping assist, road sign recognition etc) the display and nav switched to a European speed limit of 110kph.

  4. 25 Aug 2020

    Infotainment system failure on 2016 Tiguan. Car was four months outside of its warranty and the dealer is willing to pay just 10% towards the £1950 repair cost.

  5. 7 Feb 2020

    Report of failure of touchscreen function of media infotainment system of contract hired 2016 VW Tiguan at 37,000 miles and three and a half years old. User couldn’t input a destination to the sat nav or change the radio station. Sometimes it would freeze entirely or randomly switch between functions.

  6. 1 Dec 2019

    Report of 2018 VW Tiguan TDI in for a service and dealer phoning owner to tell him they needed to "drop the gearbox" because he had detected an oil leak due to a loose bolt. Being fixed under warranty, but taking a week.

  7. 8 Nov 2019

    Report of hesitation and kangarooing from June 2019 VW Tiguan 1.5TSI with DQ381 7-speed wet clutch DSG, now at 1,800 miles.

  8. 9 Sep 2019

    Report of auto braking of 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan being spuriously triggered.

  9. 1 Sep 2019

    Report of 2018 VW Tiguan 2.0 TDi BMT 150 4Motion SEL 5dr DSG failing to start on a couple of occasions. Turns over, but does not start. Suspect glowplugs. Suggested owner turns key to first stop, counts to ten to give the glowplugs time tyo heat up, then turns the key to engage the starter.

  10. 30 Aug 2019

    Report that new VW Tiguan (awaiting details of engine, transmission, drivetrain) could not be registered on a 69 because VW UK has not received the derogation codes from the the VCA so cannot register any cars that are non RDE compliant for 69 plate. This car was built before 31-5-2019 but cannot be registered on a 19 plate either because apparently the period for registering on a 19 had passed already, one day early.

  11. 24 Aug 2019

    Regarding problems with 1.5TSI engines, owner of Tiguan 1.5TSI wrote, "if you turn off the auto hold and the stop start you will not get the kangarooing or the car switching on and off if you coast the last few yards to a stop with the clutch depressed."

  12. 30 Jul 2019

    Report of July 2019 VW Tiguan 1.5TSI pulling unevenly (kangarooing) from a cold start. Dealer applied a software update on 26th July but it does not seem to have resolved the issue. We recommended trying running it in superunleaded that the engine is optimised for. See 'Good' 27-7-2019.

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 30 reports indexed, top 12 shown

Buying or keeping a Tiguan?

Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.

If you own a Tiguan and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.