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Ford vs Volkswagen

Ford or Volkswagen — what we actually found

Side by side from 563 Fords and 131 Volkswagens buyers asked us to inspect before purchase. The average car we check scores 61/100.

vs
Head to head
FordVolkswagen
Cars inspected563131
Average condition58/10059/100
In good shape (60+/100)51%51%
Holds up to (avg dips below decent)~126k mi~120k mi
Repainted or replaced panel70%76%
Structural repair found4%3%
Fault codes recently cleared24%24%

Green = the better number of the pair. Condition reflects the mix of cars that came to us — age, price, model — so treat small gaps as a tie.

How they score
Excellent 23% Good 28% Mediocre 24% Poor 25%
Excellent 17% Good 34% Mediocre 32% Poor 18%
How long do they stay good?
Good cars by mileage
▬ Ford▬ Volkswagen▬ all cars
0 25 50 75 100 Ford, 0–20k mi: 88% in good shape (24 cars)Ford, 20–40k mi: 87% in good shape (45 cars)Ford, 40–60k mi: 83% in good shape (65 cars)Ford, 60–80k mi: 66% in good shape (59 cars)Ford, 80–100k mi: 59% in good shape (69 cars)Ford, 100–120k mi: 41% in good shape (80 cars)Ford, 120–140k mi: 45% in good shape (56 cars)Ford, 140–160k mi: 21% in good shape (48 cars)Ford, 160–180k mi: 38% in good shape (34 cars)Ford, 180–200k mi: 19% in good shape (26 cars)Ford, 200–220k mi: 13% in good shape (23 cars) Volkswagen, 20–40k mi: 78%, drawn from the nearby bands (11 cars in this band)Volkswagen, 40–60k mi: 65%, drawn from the nearby bands (11 cars in this band)Volkswagen, 60–80k mi: 48% in good shape (23 cars)Volkswagen, 80–100k mi: 36% in good shape (36 cars)Volkswagen, 100–120k mi: 43%, drawn from the nearby bands (19 cars in this band)Volkswagen, 120–140k mi: 47%, drawn from the nearby bands (12 cars in this band)Volkswagen, 140–160k mi: 37%, drawn from the nearby bands (8 cars in this band) 40k 80k 120k 160k 200k mileage when we inspected it
Good cars by age
▬ Ford▬ Volkswagen▬ all cars
0 25 50 75 100 Ford, 1 years old: 95%, drawn from the nearby bands (18 cars this age)Ford, 2 years old: 96% in good shape (23 cars)Ford, 3 years old: 93% in good shape (30 cars)Ford, 4 years old: 78% in good shape (45 cars)Ford, 5 years old: 71% in good shape (38 cars)Ford, 6 years old: 62% in good shape (45 cars)Ford, 7 years old: 62% in good shape (45 cars)Ford, 8 years old: 37% in good shape (49 cars)Ford, 9 years old: 37% in good shape (46 cars)Ford, 10 years old: 58% in good shape (33 cars)Ford, 11 years old: 52% in good shape (23 cars)Ford, 12 years old: 40% in good shape (30 cars)Ford, 13 years old: 29%, drawn from the nearby bands (15 cars this age)Ford, 14 years old: 32%, drawn from the nearby bands (19 cars this age)Ford, 15 years old: 31%, drawn from the nearby bands (17 cars this age)Ford, 16 years old: 24%, drawn from the nearby bands (12 cars this age) Volkswagen, 2 years old: 94%, drawn from the nearby bands (5 cars this age)Volkswagen, 3 years old: 95%, drawn from the nearby bands (5 cars this age)Volkswagen, 4 years old: 82%, drawn from the nearby bands (8 cars this age)Volkswagen, 6 years old: 69%, drawn from the nearby bands (10 cars this age)Volkswagen, 7 years old: 57%, drawn from the nearby bands (15 cars this age)Volkswagen, 8 years old: 54%, drawn from the nearby bands (11 cars this age)Volkswagen, 9 years old: 43%, drawn from the nearby bands (17 cars this age)Volkswagen, 10 years old: 43%, drawn from the nearby bands (12 cars this age)Volkswagen, 11 years old: 44%, drawn from the nearby bands (12 cars this age)Volkswagen, 13 years old: 24%, drawn from the nearby bands (7 cars this age)Volkswagen, 14 years old: 53%, drawn from the nearby bands (8 cars this age) 2y 4y 6y 8y 10y 12y 14y 16y vehicle age when we inspected it

Share in good shape (scoring 60+/100) by mileage and by age when we inspected them (each dot ≥5 cars; a band under 20 cars follows the nearby bands, so a run above the all-cars line stays above it, and a band of 20 or more uses the rate we measured; where a band has too few cars, the line follows the trend between the bands on either side; rolled-back odometers excluded from the mileage curve). Dashed grey = all cars we check.

Most common faults
Oil leaks · Engine
57%
Tires condition & wear · Brakes and tires
38%
Active error codes · Electronic equipment
30%
Fuel trim out of range · Engine
30%
Oil leaks · Drivetrain
20%
Oil leaks · Engine
76%
Active error codes · Electronic equipment
50%
Tires condition & wear · Brakes and tires
41%
Fuel trim out of range · Engine
27%
Electronic components issues · Engine
18%
Trajectory by generation
Ford ▲ Newer Fords are holding up better 40% 60% 80% 2012–14: 41% in good shape (age-adjusted; 37 cars, raw 38%) 41 2015–17: 53% in good shape (age-adjusted; 99 cars, raw 49%) 53 2018–20: 58% in good shape (age-adjusted; 93 cars, raw 63%) 58 2009–11 2012–14 2015–17 2018–20 2021+
Volkswagen ▲ Newer Volkswagens are holding up better 40% 60% 80% 2012–14: 40% in good shape (age-adjusted; 19 cars, raw 37%) 40 2015–17: 56% in good shape (age-adjusted; 25 cars, raw 52%) 56 2018–20: 69% in good shape (age-adjusted; 15 cars, raw 73%) 69 2009–11 2012–14 2015–17 2018–20 2021+

Share in good shape when inspected at the same age (5–10 years, age-adjusted), by model-year generation; dashed = all-brand average. All brands →

Whichever badge wins on paper, the car in front of you is its own story. Get it inspected before you pay.
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Based on 694 inspections · updated Oct 22, 2026