carpeep

Citroën DS3, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls

62,061 Citroën DS3s are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 51.8% of initial MOT tests, 20.5 points below the 72.3% UK average.

Looking at a specific DS3? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.

Citroën DS3 at the MOT

51.8% of 68,173 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the DS3 562nd of 575 models. Citroën DS3s aged 6 to 10 years passed 54.7% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 50.8%.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Citroën DS351.8%
  • All Citroën modelsThe DS3 is 11.7 pts behind63.5%
  • All cars72.3%

Pass rate by age at test

Citroën DS3 tests in 2025.

  • 6 to 10 years17,648 tests54.7%
  • 11 years and over50,512 tests50.8%

Where DS3s fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Citroën DS3 tests in 2025.

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment28.2%
  • Suspension19.2%
  • Body, chassis, structure14%
  • Brakes10.4%
  • Tyres9.1%

The items testers recorded most often were coil spring fractured or broken (10%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (8.9%) and position lamp not working (6.1%).

The MOT page lists every common DS3 MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.

Full Citroën DS3 MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The DS3's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks 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.28.2% of DS3 failure items

  2. Suspension

    Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.19.2% of DS3 failure items

  3. Body, chassis, structure

    Look underneath and along the sills for corrosion, and check for damaged or poorly repaired panels.14% of DS3 failure items

Citroën DS3s in the UK

62,061 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has fallen 11% since the end of 2014, and 21% from its peak of 78,409 at the end of 2016.

Change since 2014
−11%from 69,677 licensed
Typical year of first use
2013half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2013 or earlier
First registered in 2025
1against 9,178 in 2015
Declared off the road
4,1936.3% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Citroën DS3s since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 201469,677
End of 201578,351
End of 201678,409
End of 201778,045
End of 201878,300
End of 201977,888
End of 202076,412
End of 202175,871
End of 202274,396
End of 202372,256
End of 202469,202
End of 202564,717
End of June 202662,061

How old they are

Licensed Citroën DS3s by year of first use.

  • Licensed at the end of 2025
  • First registered that year

A further 1 were first used before 2010.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025First registered that year
20157,9259,178
201416,755
201316,307
201212,686
20117,731
20103,050

7,925 DS3s first used in 2015 were still licensed at the end of 2025, roughly 86% of the 9,178 first registered that year.

DS3 engines and fuel

1.6 litre engines made up 91% of Citroën DS3 MOT tests in 2025, followed by 1.2 litre at 8.2%. Diesel accounts for 52% of licensed DS3s and petrol for 48%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 68,169 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 1.6 litre90.7%
  • 1.2 litre8.2%
  • 1.4 litre1.1%

Fuel type, licensed DS3s

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol29,87448%
Diesel32,18752%

Citroën DS3 recalls

33 DVSA safety recalls launched from 2010 to July 2026 name the Citroën DS3. The 8 most recent are below. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every DS3 is affected.

  1. Mar 2025 R/2025/021

    Citroen C3 DS3 Driver and Passenger Airbag (Takata)

    DS3s built Dec 2008 to May 2019 · 154,690 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    On affected vehicles the chemicals in the Takata airbags may deteriorate over time which may cause the inflator to rupture and lead to serious injury.
    Remedy
    Owners of affected vehicles should immediately cease using their vehicle when safe to do so until the recall action has been completed. Affected vehicles will have the airbag modules replaced.

  2. Dec 2024 R/2025/022

    Citroen C3 DS3 Driver and Passenger Airbag (Takata)

    DS3s built Dec 2008 to May 2019 · 75 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    On affected vehicles the chemicals in the Takata airbags may deteriorate over time which may cause the inflator to rupture and lead to serious injury.
    Remedy
    Exchange affected airbag modules as a precautionary measure.

  3. Dec 2022 R/2023/046

    On the affected vehicles the operation of the brake vacuum pump may be affected by material detaching from the timing belt caused by the ageing of the engine oil

    DS3s built Mar 2017 to Apr 2017 · 652 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    To rectify this issue a software update will be downloaded which will improve the vacuum diagnosis (in order to warn earlier about the risk of loss or reduction of braking assistance). The timing belt will be checked and if needed replaced with other components of the braking assistance system and the vacuum pump.

  4. Dec 2022 R/2023/036

    On the affected vehicles the operation of the brake vacuum pump may be affected by material detaching from the timing belt caused by the ageing of the engine oil

    DS3s built Apr 2017 to Jul 2018 · 13,740 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    On the affected vehicles the operation of the brake vacuum pump may be affected by material detaching from the timing belt caused by the ageing of the engine oil.
    Remedy
    To rectify this issue a software update will be downloaded which will improve the vacuum diagnosis (in order to warn earlier about the risk of loss or reduction of braking assistance).

  5. Jun 2021 R/2021/238

    The operation of the brake vacumn pump may be affected due to material detaching from the timing belt

    DS3s built Mar 2016 to Mar 2017 · 3,101 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    The operation of the brake vacuum pump may be affected due to material detaching from the timing belt.
    Remedy
    Check and if necessary replace the timing belt and other components of the braking assistance system including the vacuum pump. Additionally alter servicing schedules depending on usage.

  6. Jan 2021 R/2020/327

    The brake vacuum pump may be affected by material detaching from the timing belt

    DS3s built Mar 2013 to Apr 2017 · 21,226 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    Update detection software inspect and if necessary replace vacuum pump and timing belt.

  7. Sep 2020 R/2019/339

    Front air bag igniters may not deploy correctly

    DS3s built Sep 2009 to Apr 2017 · 1,080 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    Check and if necessary replace the affected front airbags.

  8. Oct 2019 R/2019/357

    Posible seepage of fuel from fuel tank

    DS3s built May 2019 to Sep 2019 · 1,090 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Possible non-conformity in the fuel tank manufacturing process could result in fuel seepage
    Remedy
    Check and change fuel tank if necessary
How to check a specific DS3 for recalls

Other Citroën models

The most-tested Citroën models in 2025, against the DS3's 51.8% MOT pass rate.

All 21 Citroën models

Citroën DS3 FAQs

How many Citroën DS3s are there in the UK?

62,061 Citroën DS3s were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 4,193 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Citroën DS3 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 51.8% first-time pass rate for the Citroën DS3 across 68,173 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

Has the Citroën DS3 had any recalls?

33 DVSA safety recalls launched from 2010 to July 2026 name the Citroën DS3. The most recent was published in March 2025. A recall applies to vehicles built in a set period, so check a specific car on the GOV.UK vehicle recall checker.

What should I check before buying a used Citroën DS3?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, suspension and body, chassis, structure. Then check the individual car's own records. Outstanding finance, insurance write-offs and police stolen markers are not part of the MOT record, so they take a history check.

How do I check a Citroën DS3'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.

Already found a DS3?

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

Across the 1,390 vehicles of every make Carpeep has checked since November 2025, 19% had outstanding finance recorded and 13% an insurance write-off. More on the Citroën history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Citroen VIN check.

  • Outstanding finance
  • Write-off records
  • Stolen markers
  • Mileage history
  • Previous keepers

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), which also gives the engine sizes. Licensed, SORN, fuel and registration figures are from the Department for Transport vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0120, VEH0124, VEH0160). Recalls are from the DVSA vehicle recalls data, with recalls launched up to July 2026. Government data is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability. History-check findings are anonymous counts from reports bought on Carpeep, each vehicle counted once, and are published only where at least 100 vehicles returned an answer.