TÜV Report: These Cars Fail Technical Inspections Most Often, Including an Expensive Brand at the Bottom

Germany’s latest TÜV Report has put the Tesla Model Y at the bottom of its age group, while also showing a broader decline in vehicle inspection results.

The report covered 9.5 million technical inspections carried out between July 2024 and the end of June 2025. Serious or dangerous defects appeared in 21.5% of inspected cars, up 0.9 percentage points from the previous report. Minor defects also increased, reaching 12.3% compared with 11.5% a year earlier. Only 66.1% of vehicles passed without any defects, the lowest share in nine years.

Germany requires every vehicle to undergo a Hauptuntersuchung, or HU inspection. New cars receive their first inspection after three years, followed by inspections every two years. Vehicles with serious or dangerous defects cannot receive a new TÜV sticker until the problems are repaired.

TÜV-Verband pointed to the increasing average age of cars as one reason for the weaker results. Cars on German roads now average 10.6 years, compared with nine years a decade ago. About 10% of five-year-old vehicles fail because of serious defects, while the figure rises to 32.9% among 15-year-old cars. Around 90% of vehicles found to have defects dangerous to traffic were more than 10 years old.

The report included 18 electric models in significant numbers for the first time. Mini Cooper SE, Audi Q4 e-tron and Fiat 500e ranked among the top 10 models. Tesla Model Y, however, finished last among cars aged two to three years. Inspectors found serious or dangerous defects in 17.3% of the vehicles examined, mainly involving suspension and axle components, brake discs and lighting. TÜV also cited possible maintenance and servicing problems alongside potential design defects.