Citroen C3 MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Citroen C3 took 197,768 MOT tests in Britain and passed 65% of them first time, below the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.

MOT tests in 2023: 197,768
First-time pass rate: 65%
All cars: 71%

What the C3 fails on

Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.

Lights and electrics16.9% (all cars 11.3%)
Suspension10.8% (all cars 9.0%)
Body and structure7.6% (all cars 3.5%)
Tyres6.6% (all cars 6.4%)
Brakes6.4% (all cars 6.8%)
Visibility6.0% (all cars 4.8%)
Exhaust and emissions3.6% (all cars 3.1%)
Steering2.9% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Stop lamp: not working 4.3%
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 3.7%
Coil spring: fractured or broken 3.7%
Position lamp: not working 3.6%
Headlamp: not working on dipped beam 3.1%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.8%
Suspension arms, ball joint: ball joint excessively worn 2.6%
Track rod end: ball joint has excessive play 2.4%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 18.1%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 13.8%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 11.2%
Exhaust system: mounting defective 7.4%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 6.7%
Brake pads: wearing thin 5.6%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 5.6%
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively 3.9%

Pass rate by year of registration

Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare a car with others of the same age.

First registered	Tests	Pass rate
2002	1,284	49%
2003	3,524	48%
2004	4,378	49%
2005	5,277	50%
2006	5,920	53%
2007	6,518	52%
2008	5,820	51%
2009	10,650	51%
2010	19,735	52%
2011	16,266	54%
2012	15,529	57%
2013	13,891	62%
2014	14,122	66%
2015	12,397	70%
2016	8,969	73%
2017	15,584	80%
2018	15,643	84%
2019	13,674	88%
2020	8,080	91%
2021	499	95%

Typical mileage by age

Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.

Age at test	Average mileage
3 years	21,215 miles
4 years	27,213 miles
5 years	34,766 miles
6 years	40,934 miles
7 years	42,543 miles
8 years	50,351 miles
9 years	56,446 miles
10 years	65,270 miles
11 years	72,076 miles
12 years	80,703 miles
13 years	86,470 miles
14 years	85,441 miles
15 years	79,145 miles
16 years	80,188 miles
17 years	80,101 miles
18 years	83,090 miles
19 years	83,448 miles
20 years	85,637 miles

Check a particular C3

Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.

Other Citroen models

Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.