Citroën C4 MOT pass rate and common problems

The Citroën C4 passed 60.5% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 11.9 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt.

Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.

How the C4 compares

Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.

60.5%

Citroën C4

63.5%

Citroën average

72.3%

UK average, all cars

The C4 runs 3.1 points behind the Citroën average. It is 13th of the 21 Citroën models in the data. The average C4 arrived at its test 10.7 years old with 81,947 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.

C4 MOT pass rate by age

The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.

Citroën C4 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 79.6% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 52.4%, a drop of 27.3 percentage points.

Age at testTestsPass ratevs UK average
3 to 5 years 10,124 79.6% 7.3 pts above
6 to 10 years 60,401 62.1% 10.2 pts below
11 years and over 53,358 52.4% 19.9 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 C4 failures cluster

Every failure item recorded on Citroën C4 cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment27.2%
  • Suspension20.1%
  • Brakes13.5%
  • Tyres10.5%
  • Body, chassis, structure10.4%
  • Visibility7%

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension together account for 47.3% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.

The 10 most common C4 MOT failures

Specific items recorded on Citroën C4 cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.

  1. 1Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirtBody, chassis, structure 7.4%
  2. 2Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mmTyres 4.5%
  3. 3Stop lamp not workingLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4%
  4. 4Coil spring fractured or brokenSuspension 4%
  5. 5Ball joint excessively wornSuspension 3.9%
  6. 6Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lampsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.8%
  7. 7Track rod end ball joint has excessive playSteering 3.4%
  8. 8Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirtSuspension 3.4%
  9. 9Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thickBrakes 3.4%
  10. 10Position lamp not workingLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.3%

Together these 10 items make up 41.2% of everything testers recorded against failed Citroën C4 cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.

What to look at on a C4

The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.

1

Suspension

Recorded most often: coil spring fractured or broken, ball joint excessively worn and linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 11.4% of failure items.

2

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

Recorded most often: stop lamp not working, registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps and position lamp not working. 11.1% of failure items.

3

Body, chassis, structure

Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 7.4% of failure items.

4

Tyres

Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. 4.5% of failure items.

The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific C4 has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Citroën C4 buying guide.

Already found one?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

Citroën C4 MOT FAQs

What is the Citroën C4 MOT pass rate?

60.5% of Citroën C4 cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 129,752 tests. That is 11.9 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 488th of 575 models.

What does a Citroën C4 most commonly fail its MOT on?

The item testers recorded most often on Citroën C4 cars failing their 2025 MOT was joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, on 7.4% of failure items. Next were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (4.5%) and stop lamp not working (4%).

Which area causes the most Citroën C4 MOT failures?

Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 27.2%, followed by suspension at 20.1%.

Do older Citroën C4 cars fail their MOT more often?

Citroën C4 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 79.6% of MOT tests in 2025, against 52.4% for cars aged 11 years and over.

Does this mean every Citroën C4 has these problems?

No. These are the items testers recorded across every Citroën C4 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 C4'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.