60.4%
Mercedes-Benz Citan
Mercedes-Benz Citan MOT pass rate and common problems
The Mercedes-Benz Citan passed 60.4% 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 Citan compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
77.1%
Mercedes-Benz average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Citan runs 16.7 points behind the Mercedes-Benz average. It is 34th of the 35 Mercedes-Benz models in the data. The average Citan arrived at its test 8.1 years old with 105,208 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.
Citan MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Mercedes-Benz Citan cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 69.2% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 52.5%, a drop of 16.7 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 3,466 | 69.2% | 3.1 pts below |
| 6 to 10 years | 14,248 | 59.4% | 12.9 pts below |
| 11 years and over | 2,188 | 52.5% | 19.8 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 Citan failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Mercedes-Benz Citan cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and brakes together account for 50.9% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Citan MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Mercedes-Benz Citan cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 53.1% of everything testers recorded against failed Mercedes-Benz Citan cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Citan
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 and registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps. 19.3% of failure items.
2
Brakes
Recorded most often: brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick and rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. 8.7% of failure items.
3
Body, chassis, structure
Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. 8% of failure items.
4
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. 5.6% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Citan has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Mercedes-Benz Citan buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Mercedes-Benz Citan MOT FAQs
What is the Mercedes-Benz Citan MOT pass rate?
60.4% of Mercedes-Benz Citan cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 19,945 tests. That is 11.9 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 489th of 575 models.
What does a Mercedes-Benz Citan most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Mercedes-Benz Citan cars failing their 2025 MOT was joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, on 8% of failure items. Next were stop lamp not working (7.9%) and position lamp not working (6.2%).
Which area causes the most Mercedes-Benz Citan MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 33.1%, followed by brakes at 17.8%.
Do older Mercedes-Benz Citan cars fail their MOT more often?
Mercedes-Benz Citan cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 69.2% of MOT tests in 2025, against 52.5% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Mercedes-Benz Citan has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Mercedes-Benz Citan 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 Mercedes-Benz Citan'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.