Buying Report · £14.99
Tools

MOT fail rates

Citroen C3 MOT fail rate by age

How often the Citroen C3 fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 784,141 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 12 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 12 (n=65,399)44.5%
All cars at 12 years (n=7,303,151)36.0%
Median mileage at test76,134
All cars, median mileage87,673

262 of 299 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 12 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Citroen C3 fails 8.8% of MOTs (37,861 tests), 3.2 points below the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 22 years it fails 49.4% (2,868 tests), 8.5 points above the 41.0% average.
  • The gap is widest at 12 years: 8.5 points above all cars.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 12 years: Coil spring broken, at 7 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 22 years 55.6%

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Citroen C3: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
AgeMOT fail rateTests (n)All carsDifferenceMedian mileage
3 years8.8%37,86112.1%−3.2 pts19,055 miles
4 years11.6%45,84913.4%−1.8 pts25,439 miles
5 years15.8%52,92415.3%+0.5 pts31,867 miles
6 years20.2%54,33117.8%+2.4 pts37,715 miles
7 years25.5%52,82520.6%+4.9 pts43,409 miles
8 years29.7%51,44523.8%+5.9 pts48,191 miles
9 years33.7%49,49227.1%+6.5 pts53,371 miles
10 years37.4%56,05330.3%+7.1 pts60,629 miles
11 years41.4%59,72433.3%+8.2 pts68,338 miles
12 years44.5%65,39936.0%+8.5 pts76,134 miles
13 years46.7%61,13838.3%+8.4 pts81,272 miles
14 years47.6%50,27140.3%+7.3 pts84,490 miles
15 years48.2%39,91941.6%+6.6 pts84,574 miles
16 years47.9%26,94442.6%+5.4 pts80,143 miles
17 years48.2%22,06743.1%+5.1 pts78,383 miles
18 years48.8%20,09643.3%+5.5 pts78,877 miles
19 years49.7%16,84843.2%+6.5 pts79,865 miles
20 years50.5%11,71242.8%+7.7 pts81,355 miles
21 years50.2%6,37542.1%+8.1 pts80,989 miles
22 years49.4%2,86841.0%+8.5 pts82,057 miles

Most common fail items at 12 years

Split into structural or mechanical items and wear items. Wear items (tyres, brake pads, wipers, bulbs) say more about upkeep than about the design.

Structural and mechanical

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Coil spring broken Major7
Steering track rod end: ball joint play Major6.7
Driveshaft CV boot split Major5.9
Suspension ball joint worn Major4.6

Out of 65,399 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Side/position light not working Major7.4
Brake light not working Major7.1
Individual direction indicators: incorrect colour Major4.6
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous4.5
Dipped headlight not working Major3.9
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Major3.4

Out of 65,399 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 12 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Citroen C133.7%55,56836.0%
Citroen C445.9%35,99736.0%
Citroen Dispatch48.8%9,04436.0%

MOT fail rate by first-use year

Each year has its own page: the fail rate for cars first used that year at each MOT from 2022 to 2025 with at least 1,000 tests, the most common faults at that age, and the car tax and ULEZ rules for that year.

First-use year data updated .

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First usedAge at testMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
200221 years in 202351.0%1,29142.1%
200322 years in 202549.8%1,93841.0%
200421 years in 202549.0%2,45142.1%
200520 years in 202549.0%3,12142.8%
200619 years in 202546.9%3,69943.2%
200718 years in 202548.3%4,30043.3%
200817 years in 202548.5%4,08143.1%
200916 years in 202549.7%8,24742.6%
201015 years in 202548.2%16,70441.6%
201114 years in 202546.2%14,41940.3%
201213 years in 202544.3%14,24138.3%
201312 years in 202541.5%13,16736.0%
201411 years in 202538.4%13,68833.3%
201510 years in 202534.5%12,09430.3%
20169 years in 202532.7%8,83127.1%
20178 years in 202528.2%15,72223.8%
20187 years in 202523.6%15,49120.6%
20196 years in 202518.7%13,61617.8%
20205 years in 202513.3%7,86915.3%
20214 years in 202510.7%8,32213.4%
20223 years in 20258.2%7,30412.1%

More on the Citroen C3

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

Looking at one Citroen C3?

These are figures for the model, not for one car. The VetTheCar Buying Report looks at a single car: its MOT tests, defects, advisories and mileage readings.

See an example report Browse the car tools

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources