78%
Citroën C5 pass rate
Used Citroën C5 buying guide
In 2025, Citroën C5 cars passed 78% of 26,607 initial MOT tests, 5.7 points above the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific C5? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Citroën C5 MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
+5.7
percentage points above average
Ranked on pass rate the C5 sits 226th of 575 models in the data. Citroën as a brand averaged 63.5%, so this model runs 14.4 points ahead of its own brand. Citroën C5 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 83.6% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 56.9%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Citroën C5 MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the C5 compares with similar cars.
C5 fuel types
Diesel made up 49.6% of Citroën C5 MOT tests in 2025, against 39.3% across all models in this data. The rest ran on other fuels, so tested examples were a genuine mix.
Where the C5 fails its MOT
Where Citroën C5 cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (7.6%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps (6.6%) and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (6.6%). See every common C5 MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Citroën C5 that failed, not a claim that every C5 has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used C5?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting. 27.5% of C5 failure items.
2
Tyres
Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear. 17.5% of C5 failure items.
3
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 16% of C5 failure items.
4
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 14.1% of C5 failure items.
5
Body, chassis, structure
Look underneath and along the sills for corrosion, and check for damaged or poorly repaired panels. 9.1% of C5 failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Citroën C5 failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and tyres tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact C5 you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Citroën history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Citroën models
The most-tested Citroën models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the C5.
Used Citroën C5 FAQs
Is the Citroën C5 reliable?
MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 78% first-time pass rate for the Citroën C5 across 26,607 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Citroën C5 cars fail their MOT more often?
Citroën C5 cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 83.6% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 56.9%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Citroën C5?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, tyres and brakes. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a Citroën C5's history?
Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.