All generations and engines together · 32,140 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 111k
Better than most people carriers for its age, and one of the best per mile driven. Watch suspension and emissions/leaks. A solid used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The heater in the AdBlue (SCR) tank fails and triggers a warning light or reduced-power/limp mode, usually once the car is a few years old and just past the 3-year warranty. Owners repeatedly report this from around 47,000 to 60,000 miles, with bills of roughly £600 to £1,000 depending on dealer versus independent pricing. No UK recall covers it; VW has sometimes offered a goodwill contribution but several owners report being turned down.
The 2.0 TDI was part of the VW Group NOx emissions recall, and a cluster of owners report the car getting worse, not better, afterwards: heavier AdBlue use, EGR valve replacements, DPF blocking or needing renewal (one case around £1,600), and in one report a turbo failure costing about £2,000. Because the fix itself is a manufacturer campaign it's free, but the knock-on component failures that follow are not.
Several owners report the NOx sensor in the exhaust failing, throwing an emissions warning light and sometimes limp mode, with dealer quotes ranging from around £439 up to £1,350 depending on which sensor and whether it's tied to a wider exhaust job. It tends to show up alongside the AdBlue and DPF issues above rather than on its own, and is not covered once the standard warranty has run out.
The DSG automatic uses a wet clutch pack that needs its own fluid and filter changed on a set interval, typically every 3-4 years or around 40,000 miles. Owners who buy a car with a patchy service history and skip that change report the box failing outright a bit later, one reported case at 55,000 miles. A full replacement runs into four figures, so proof of a DSG service is worth more than a general service stamp on an automatic Sharan.
A scatter of electrical faults keeps coming up: the steering wheel control unit failing (losing the horn and stalk-mounted controls, around £430 to replace), electric door mirrors packing up, and various warning lights for sensors that turn out to be wiring or connector related rather than a major part failing. None of it is common enough on its own to call a defined pattern, and owners disagree about how often it actually happens versus normal old-car electrical wear.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 14,839 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (MPVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.