65.2%
Citroën C3
Citroën C3 MOT pass rate and common problems
The Citroën C3 passed 65.2% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 7.1 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was stop lamp not working.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the C3 compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
63.5%
Citroën average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The C3 runs 1.6 points ahead of the Citroën average. It is 10th of the 21 Citroën models in the data. The average C3 arrived at its test 10.9 years old with 64,412 miles recorded.
A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.
C3 MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Citroën C3 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 86.6% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 53.6%, a drop of 33 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 26,262 | 86.6% | 14.3 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 64,708 | 70.5% | 1.8 pts below |
| 11 years and over | 92,336 | 53.6% | 18.7 pts below |
That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where C3 failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Citroën C3 cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 49.9% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common C3 MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Citroën C3 cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 39.3% of everything testers recorded against failed Citroën C3 cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a C3
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: stop lamp not working, position lamp not working, headlamp not working on dipped beam, registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps and individual direction indicators incorrect colour. 19.8% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: coil spring fractured or broken and ball joint excessively worn. 8.1% of failure items.
3
Body, chassis, structure
Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 4.7% of failure items.
4
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. 3.5% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific C3 has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Citroën C3 buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Citroën C3 MOT FAQs
What is the Citroën C3 MOT pass rate?
65.2% of Citroën C3 cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 189,353 tests. That is 7.1 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 427th of 575 models.
What does a Citroën C3 most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Citroën C3 cars failing their 2025 MOT was stop lamp not working, on 5.4% of failure items. Next were position lamp not working (5.4%) and joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.7%).
Which area causes the most Citroën C3 MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 32.1%, followed by suspension at 17.7%.
Do older Citroën C3 cars fail their MOT more often?
Citroën C3 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 86.6% of MOT tests in 2025, against 53.6% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Citroën C3 has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Citroën C3 that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.
How do I see a specific Citroën C3's MOT history?
Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.