Ford C MAX MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Ford C MAX took 117,815 MOT tests in Britain and passed 70% of them first time, close to 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: 117,815
First-time pass rate: 70%
All cars: 71%

What the C MAX fails on

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

Lights and electrics11.6% (all cars 11.3%)
Tyres8.0% (all cars 6.4%)
Suspension7.4% (all cars 9.0%)
Brakes6.2% (all cars 6.8%)
Visibility4.9% (all cars 4.8%)
Body and structure3.3% (all cars 3.5%)
Exhaust and emissions3.0% (all cars 3.1%)
Steering1.8% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick 3.3%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.9%
Stop lamp: not working 2.6%
Position lamp: not working 2.6%
Tyres, condition: has ply or cords exposed 2.4%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 2.3%
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 1.9%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn 1.7%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 23.4%
Brake pads: wearing thin 12.0%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 9.6%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 8.9%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 8.3%
Coil spring: corroded 3.8%
Non-component advisories: Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt 3.6%
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread 2.9%

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
2006	352	54%
2007	5,785	52%
2008	12,293	54%
2009	6,073	57%
2010	6,509	58%
2011	10,846	66%
2012	11,226	69%
2013	13,995	73%
2014	12,833	74%
2015	11,467	79%
2016	10,653	82%
2017	8,095	84%
2018	4,903	83%
2019	2,722	83%

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
4 years	21,981 miles
5 years	30,572 miles
6 years	41,138 miles
7 years	49,561 miles
8 years	59,097 miles
9 years	67,468 miles
10 years	76,368 miles
11 years	82,925 miles
12 years	89,811 miles
13 years	92,674 miles
14 years	97,220 miles
15 years	102,568 miles
16 years	106,176 miles
17 years	117,638 miles

Check a particular C MAX

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

Other Ford 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.