Citroen C3 2005: MOT failure rate for its age

49.8% of 47,155 MOT tests of the Citroen C3 first registered in 2005 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 98.4 (95% CI 97.1–99.6; 100 = normal for this model at that age): close to other build years of the same model at the same age (within 5 points of normal).

Citroen C3 built in 2005 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	49.8	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	47155
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 97.1–99.6)	98.4	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	47155
Rank among this model's 19 build years	8	of 19	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	47155
Tested in 2024	4019	tests	median 79,702 miles	2024	4019

Built 2005 against Citroen C3 normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 14: 50.5% vs 52.4%; age 15: 49.5% vs 49.8%; age 16: 49.4% vs 50.7%; age 17: 49.4% vs 49.7%; age 18: 49.6% vs 49.9%; age 19: 50.1% vs 49.5%. Axis from 0% to 60%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2005 Citroen C3 by registration · All Citroen C3 MOT statistics · Download the build-year table (CSV)

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · full dataset (v5).

How does the 2005 Citroen C3 fail at each age?

Cars built in 2005 were tested at ages 14 to 19 between 2019 and 2024. Each row compares their first-time failure share with what this model normally shows at that age, after allowing for the overall failure level of each test year.

Citroen C3 built 2005: first-time MOT failure by age, against the model's normal rate at that age (2019–2024)
Age	Tests	Failed, %	95% interval	Normal for this model at that age, %	Index (100 = normal)
14	12,909	50.5	49.6–51.4	52.4	96.4
15	10,128	49.5	48.5–50.5	49.8	99.4
16	8,229	49.4	48.3–50.5	50.7	97.4
17	6,593	49.4	48.2–50.6	49.7	99.4
18	5,277	49.6	48.3–51	49.9	99.5
19	4,019	50.1	48.5–51.6	49.5	101.2

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 47,155 (initial tests) · Method: normal rate = this model's first-time failure share at that age across its build years (cells of 400+ tests), adjusted for each test year's overall level; cells of 30+ tests, under 500 marked rough · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

What fails most on the 2005 Citroen C3?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2005 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 58.2 items per 100 first tests, against 27.6 across all build years of the Citroen C3. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2005 were tested at ages 14 to 19.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Citroen C3 built 2005 against the Citroen C3 in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2005, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	58.2	27.6	27,444
Suspension	35	16.4	16,483
Brakes	16.7	10.3	7,856
Body, chassis, structure	14.5	9.9	6,833
Visibility	14.3	9	6,753

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 47,155 (initial tests of this build year) · Method: failure items grouped by DVSA's top-level defect groups, per 100 initial tests; groups with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How does 2005 compare with the years around it?

Among the 19 published build years of the Citroen C3, 2005 ranks 8 (1 = fails least for its age). 2004: index 101.5. 2006: index 92.9.

Citroen C3 build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
2002	102.6	100.2–104.9	worse	13,848
2003	103.3	101.9–104.7	worse	36,886
2004	101.5	100.1–102.8	worse	42,243
2005	98.4	97.1–99.6	better	47,155
2006	92.9	91.7–94.1	better	48,207
2007	96.2	95.0–97.4	better	50,033
2008	98.9	97.5–100.3	no different	41,448
2009	104.5	103.4–105.6	worse	69,092
2010	103.8	102.9–104.7	worse	124,139
2011	102.1	101.1–103.1	worse	100,717
2012	103.5	102.4–104.5	worse	95,223
2013	98.5	97.4–99.6	better	84,435
2014	97.7	96.5–98.9	better	85,716
2015	103.4	101.9–104.8	worse	75,131
2016	104.2	102.3–106.0	worse	54,179
2017	92.2	90.7–93.8	better	81,884
2018	89.3	87.5–91.2	better	63,173
2019	86.2	83.8–88.6	better	41,153
2020	85.4	81.2–89.6	better	16,003

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,170,665 (initial tests) · Method: observed failures against those expected for the same model at the same ages, test-year level adjusted; verdict follows the printed one-decimal bound · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How to cite this page

MOT Risk Index (2026). Citroen C3 2005 MOT statistics (data release dvsa-2024-v2; full dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22975051), updated 30 September 2026. motriskindex.co.uk/cars/citroen-c3/2005/

How every figure is calculated: methodology. Age, test year and build year are tied together (age = test year − build year), so the test-year level is taken as observed, not estimated.

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