Common problems

Ford C-Max exhaust and emissions problems

How often MOT testers find exhaust, emissions and leaks faults on the Ford C-Max at each age, against all cars of the same age, and which items come up most. From 527,219 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 10 years, the most tested age

Exhaust, emissions and leaks fails per 100 MOTs (n=49,589)2.9

All cars at 10 years (n=9,049,507)2.8

Exhaust, emissions and leaks advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=49,589)2.0

All cars, same age (n=9,049,507)4.0

What stands out

At 10 years, 2.9 of every 100 MOTs of the Ford C-Max found a exhaust, emissions and leaks fail (n=49,589), against 2.8 for all cars of that age (n=9,049,507).
It is above the all-car rate at 13 of the 19 ages with at least 1,000 tests.
The gap is widest at 21 years: 9.1 per 100 MOTs against 7.1 for all cars.
The exhaust, emissions and leaks fail item recorded most often at 10 years: on or after 01/01/2014: emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit, on 0.9 per 100 MOTs.
The most common exhaust, emissions and leaks advisory or minor defect: engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive, on 1.6 per 100 MOTs.

Exhaust, emissions and leaks fails by age

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

Ford C-Max: exhaust, emissions and leaks fails and advisories per 100 MOTs, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
3 years	3,049	1.6	0.5	0.2	0.4
4 years	7,707	2.0	0.7	0.3	0.5
5 years	15,771	1.5	1.0	0.6	0.8
6 years	26,348	1.6	1.3	0.7	1.2
7 years	35,148	2.2	1.7	0.8	1.7
8 years	43,027	2.5	2.1	1.3	2.3
9 years	49,213	2.7	2.4	1.5	3.1
10 years	49,589	2.9	2.8	2.0	4.0
11 years	48,885	2.9	3.2	2.7	5.3
12 years	42,418	2.8	3.7	3.9	6.9
13 years	34,901	3.2	4.3	5.5	8.2
14 years	37,270	4.1	5.1	7.0	9.7
15 years	35,320	5.3	5.7	8.9	11.0
16 years	32,880	6.2	6.2	10.3	12.0
17 years	28,661	6.8	6.5	12.1	13.2
18 years	20,039	7.7	6.8	13.9	14.1
19 years	10,500	7.6	7.0	14.8	14.7
20 years	4,806	7.7	7.0	15.8	15.6
21 years	1,687	9.1	7.1	14.3	16.4

Exhaust, emissions and leaks fail items at 10 years

Exhaust, emissions and leaks fail items on the Ford C-Max at 10 years (n=49,589), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,049,507).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars
On or after 01/01/2014: emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit	0.9	0.1
On or after 01/07/2008: emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit	0.5	0.1

Exhaust, emissions and leaks advisories and minor defects at 10 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Exhaust, emissions and leaks advisories and minor defects on the Ford C-Max at 10 years (n=49,589), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,049,507).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	1.6	3.4

What to check on a viewing

On the Ford C-Max, the exhaust, emissions and leaks items testers fail most are on or after 01/01/2014: emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit; on or after 01/07/2008: emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit.

Start the engine from cold if you can and watch the exhaust for blue or black smoke.
Check that the engine warning light goes out after starting and stays out on the test drive.
Look under the car and around the engine for oil or fluid leaks, and listen for a blowing exhaust.

Ask for the car's MOT history: a exhaust, emissions and leaks advisory that repeats from year to year has not been fixed. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the common exhaust and emissions problems on the Ford C-Max?

At 10 years (49,589 MOTs), the exhaust, emissions and leaks fail items testers record most often are on or after 01/01/2014: emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit (0.9 per 100 MOTs), on or after 01/07/2008: emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit (0.5 per 100 MOTs). The most common exhaust, emissions and leaks advisories or minor defects are engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive (1.6).

Does the Ford C-Max have more exhaust and emissions problems than other cars?

At 10 years it has 2.9 exhaust, emissions and leaks fails per 100 MOTs against 2.8 for all cars of the same age (about the same). It is above the all-car rate at 13 of the 19 ages with enough tests.

Exhaust and emissions problems on other Ford models

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.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Ford C-Max?

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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 28 September 2026.

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