MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Citroen C5 — MOT statistics 2024

The Citroen C5 failed 26.52% of 20,466 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 109.4 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 9% more often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 109.4, 95% CI 107.0–112.0 (100 = national average) 100 109.4 0 200
Index
109.4
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
26.52%
n = 20,466
Dangerous /100
14
national ≈11
Diesel − petrol
+12.8 pp
fail-rate gap
Rank
553 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Hyundai ix35 (index 109.3) — the two published results are 0.1 index points apart.

Citroen C5 common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment stand out at 29.4 per 100 tests, against 21.1 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Citroen C5 common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.

Component-group comparison table

Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Lamps & electrical29.433,11521.11.39×1.38–1.41
Suspension17.019,14918.20.93×0.92–0.95
Brakes15.116,97613.41.13×1.11–1.14
Body & structure13.214,8696.81.94×1.91–1.97
Tyres10.211,5379.21.11×1.10–1.14
Visibility8.29,2718.60.95×0.94–0.97
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 112,677 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot…A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc7.071.564.54×Ask the seller about: A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or
Suspension pin, bush or joint excessively wornA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn8.774.871.80×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test
Rear registration plate lamp or light source…A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources6.352.832.24×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot…A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated4.351.482.94×Ask the seller about: A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely d
Lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a…A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning4.742.092.27×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of…Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning3.051.502.03×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements4.753.591.32×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down…The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements3.362.571.31×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Windscreen washers not working or not providing…Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen2.391.621.47×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm2.892.151.34×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Citroen C5 MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Tyres are highest at 43.7 per 100 tests; Steering is lowest at 3.8 per 100 tests — the gap is 39.9 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Citroen C5 MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Tyres43.7
Brakes40.6
Suspension27.2
Emissions & leaks9.3
Non-component advisories7.9
Steering3.8

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Citroen C5 against cars of the same age

AgePartCitroen C5Same age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres5.794.171.62
3 yearsBrakes2.321.770.55
3 yearsSuspension0.170.63-0.46
4 yearsTyres5.054.540.51
4 yearsBrakes2.912.430.48
4 yearsSuspension0.381.21-0.83
5 yearsTyres5.65.060.54
5 yearsBrakes3.633.090.54
5 yearsSuspension0.722.19-1.47
6 yearsTyres4.495.54-1.05
6 yearsBrakes3.793.81-0.02
6 yearsSuspension4.793.721.07
7 yearsTyres6.15.950.15
7 yearsBrakes4.514.55-0.04
7 yearsSuspension5.895.680.21
8 yearsTyres5.976.31-0.34
8 yearsBrakes4.945.38-0.44
8 yearsSuspension6.317.78-1.47

Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.

If a car like this fails, does it fail again?

A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.

After this year's testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed37.2%8,580
It passed29.5%48,796

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 7.7 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is visibility — 36.3% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.

Adjusted for how much these are actually driven

The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 112,587 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.

Standardised forIndexReading
Age only110.3fails more often than expected
Age and annual mileage106.5fails more often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year4.2%a normal spread of use

Mileage changes little here (-3.8 points): this fleet is driven about as much as the vehicles it is compared with. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.

How the Citroen C5 compares with cars of its own age and size

Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.

AgeCitroen C5Same class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years14.45%11.68%+2.77 pp12,663
4 years15.65%13.28%+2.37 pp11,939
5 years19.05%15.06%+4 pp7,195
6 years23.83%17.33%+6.49 pp1,003
7 years26.77%20.15%+6.62 pp1,442
8 years30.52%23.21%+7.31 pp2,330
9 years36.37%26.72%+9.65 pp4,251
10 years41.96%30%+11.96 pp7,753
11 years42.62%33.41%+9.2 pp9,754
12 years44.23%36.43%+7.8 pp9,521
13 years45.05%38.86%+6.19 pp9,438
14 years45.8%40.81%+4.99 pp8,598
15 years46.44%42.29%+4.15 pp7,327
16 years46.24%43.12%+3.12 pp5,776
17 years46.89%43.5%+3.39 pp4,702
18 years45.82%43.62%+2.2 pp3,579
19 years45.92%43.18%+2.74 pp2,293
20 years43.76%42.42%+1.34 pp1,435

Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.

How does the Citroen C5 perform as it gets older?

The C5 at age 8 stands out at 32.0%, against 23.3% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Citroen C5 perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–51%.

Takeaway: solid line: this family; dashed: all cars; from about age 14 it stays above the national age curve.

Data table
AgeCitroen C5All vehiclesGap
311.9%12.4%-0.5 pp
414.5%13.1%+1.4 pp
518.5%15.1%+3.4 pp
832.0%23.3%+8.7 pp
929.6%26.5%+3.0 pp
1033.2%30.1%+3.1 pp
1138.8%33.2%+5.6 pp
1233.6%35.7%-2.1 pp
1337.9%38.2%-0.2 pp
1443.4%40.4%+3.0 pp
1544.0%41.6%+2.4 pp
1645.3%43.1%+2.2 pp
1747.4%43.1%+4.3 pp
1843.8%43.9%-0.1 pp
1943.9%43.5%+0.4 pp
2043.6%41.0%+2.5 pp

Is a Citroen C5 ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Citroen C5 MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 63.3%.

Based on 20,449 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.

higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 0
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 12,454
6–7 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 25
8 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 103
9 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 186
10–14 years0.9%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 2,703
15–17 years6.3%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 3,290
18 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 419
19 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 294
20+ years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 975

Citroen C5 petrol vs diesel: which ages best

Diesel is highest at 31.4%; Petrol is lowest at 18.7% — the gap is 12.8 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Citroen C5 petrol vs diesel: which ages best — 2024 UK MOT data
Fuel split table
FuelTests% failingGap vs best
Diesel12,61931.4%+12.8 pp
Petrol7,79818.7%+0.0 pp

Chart sample sizes: n=13k · n=7,798.

How dangerous are Citroen C5 MOT failures?

Major defects stand out at 70.4 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Citroen C5 MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor19.2614.221.35×
Major70.4452.751.34×
Dangerous14.2411.151.28×

Chart values: Minor 19.3 · Major 70.4 · Dangerous 14.2.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of a Citroen C5 MOT matter?

Jan is highest at 37.2%; Dec is lowest at 33.3% — the gap is 4.0 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Citroen C5 MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 27%–39%.

bars: Citroen C5 · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthCitroen C5All vehiclesGap
Jan37.23%31.12%+6.1 pp
Feb37.17%29.99%+7.2 pp
Mar35.73%28.26%+7.5 pp
Apr36.9%29.78%+7.1 pp
May34.85%28.79%+6.1 pp
Jun35.24%28.15%+7.1 pp
Jul34.89%29.33%+5.6 pp
Aug34.23%29.2%+5.0 pp
Sep34%28.19%+5.8 pp
Oct35.38%30.34%+5.0 pp
Nov36.44%30.58%+5.9 pp
Dec33.26%29.33%+3.9 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 4.0 percentage points — noticeable seasonality. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.

Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.

Citroen C5 average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of C5s runs from 43,296 miles to 84,836 miles, against 63,687 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Bars: Citroen C5 · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–159k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Citroen C5 MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 3–5, 14.1% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 23.8% of those with 70,000–100,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

Does high mileage mean more Citroen C5 MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Citroen C5: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles14.1%13.4–14.9%8,844
3–540-70k miles21.9%20.5–23.4%3,279
3–570-100k miles23.8%19.2–29%286 (rough estimate)
6–9<40k miles23.1%14.5–34.6%65 (rough estimate)
6–940-70k miles30.6%22.7–39.8%108 (rough estimate)
6–970-100k miles30.1%21.3–40.7%83 (rough estimate)
10–14<40k miles20.3%12.9–30.4%79 (rough estimate)
10–1440-70k miles27.7%23.4–32.4%383 (rough estimate)
10–1470-100k miles36.2%32.7–39.8%705
10–14100-140k miles45%41.9–48.1%965
10–14140k+ miles44.6%40.6–48.7%567
15+<40k miles20.9%13.7–30.7%86 (rough estimate)
15+40-70k miles36%31.8–40.4%478 (rough estimate)
15+70-100k miles42.7%39.9–45.7%1,109
15+100-140k miles47.3%45.1–49.6%1,873
15+140k+ miles46.3%43.7–48.9%1,432

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
316,24223,66432,599858
420,04128,38438,6554,985
525,61834,90345,3646,611
843,29663,68784,836103
947,76271,75195,094186
1056,70780,179105,604235
1165,91291,248117,998361
1275,248103,103132,411372
1382,090105,844137,573572
1492,363115,302139,9751,163
1593,756118,214143,3551,717
1694,234118,862143,3561,149
1785,213117,188141,937424
1888,470115,653142,040420
1988,978114,334146,173296
20+82,684112,375151,879975

A typical 8-year-old C5 has ~63,687 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Citroen C5 fails its MOT most

Llandrindod Wells area is highest at 55.1%; Southend-on-Sea area is lowest at 22.6% — the gap is 32.6 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Where in Britain the Citroen C5 fails its MOT most — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Llandrindod Wells (LD)55.14%+19.7 pp
Torquay (TQ)47.63%+12.2 pp
Kirkcaldy (KY)46.56%+11.1 pp
Truro (TR)45.73%+10.3 pp
Dundee (DD)45.48%+10.0 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Southend-on-Sea (SS)22.56%-12.9 pp
Bromley (BR)23.47%-12.0 pp
Dartford (DA)24.68%-10.8 pp
Sutton (SM)26.06%-9.4 pp
London NW (NW)28.02%-7.4 pp

Why do areas differ?

For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.

In areas with the highest urban share this model fails 5.4 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.40, n=59 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest mot centre density this model fails 5.6 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.39, n=59 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest income deprivation this model fails 2.3 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.21, n=53 areas with ≥800 tests).

Citroen C5 Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
Urban share37.3%31.9%-5.4 ppr=-0.40
MOT centre density32.1%37.6%+5.5 ppr=0.39
Income deprivation36.8%34.5%-2.3 ppr=-0.21

Factors that only mean something combined

Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.

Composite area indicators, each tested against a defect rate we measure
CompositeBuilt fromTested againstrVerdict
Underbody corrosionfrost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1)share of tests with a corrosion defect+0.42holds (116 areas)
Tyre wearrain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisoryshare of tests failing on tyres+0.45holds (116 areas)
Overnight corrosionterraced housing × cars per household × frost daysshare with a corrosion defect+0.41holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index
Deferred maintenancedeprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour ratecars repeating the same advisory−0.26fails (118 areas)
Powertrain stressengine capacity ÷ kerb weightsuspension, brake and emissions failures−0.16fails (22 models)

The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.

All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
Factorrn areasLow-Q fail %High-Q fail %Gap ppLow-Q factorHigh-Q factor
Urban share (0–1)-0.4015937.331.9-5.40.50.9
MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles)0.3875932.137.6+5.65.78.1
Income deprivation (score)-0.2085336.834.5-2.30.10.2
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)-0.1795935.634.4-1.3217.1517.5
Terrain gradient (% grade)0.1543736.939.0+2.10.43.2
Frost days (days/year)-0.1045935.834.7-1.110.529.6
Distance to coast (km)-0.0945937.535.5-2.05.985.6

Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.

Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 29%–43% failing.

Citroen C5 survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 19 is well below the reference at 34.2%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Citroen C5 survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
312,663100%14.45%
411,939100%15.65%
57,195100%19.05%
61,00314.9%23.83%
71,44221.5%26.77%
82,33034.7%30.52%
94,25163.3%36.37%
107,753100%41.96%
119,754100%42.62%
129,521100%44.23%
139,438100%45.05%
148,598100%45.8%
157,327100%46.44%
165,77686.1%46.24%
174,70270.1%46.89%
183,57953.3%45.82%
192,29334.2%45.92%

By age 19, only about 34% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈6,712); survivors still fail at 45.9% vs 15.7% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does a Citroen C5 last?

100,000+ miles is highest at 41.0%; 200,000+ miles is lowest at 2.2% — the gap is 38.8 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles46,15640.99%
150,000+ miles13,22311.74%
200,000+ miles2,4482.17%

Of 112,599 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 41.0% had reached 100k miles, 11.7% had reached 150k miles, 2.2% had reached 200k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is a Citroen C5 likely to last?

Bought at age 8 is highest at 26.6 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 2.9 years — the gap is 23.7 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—10.3
8—26.6
10—7.9
12—5.9
15—at least 2.9

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has about 7.9 expected years of further MOT-present life on the 2024 survival curve. Derived from how many cars of each age still appear for test, not from a longitudinal panel.

Citroen C5 faults that come together

Emissions & leaks + Seatbelts & SRS stand out at 4.65×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1054.65× (rough estimate)
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle1284.26× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSteering744.09× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels774.07× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks533.92× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSuspension2023.87× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleTyres883.65× (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1813.62× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering783.61× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering6073.55×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility1393.54× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleVisibility833.52× (rough estimate)
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension2163.47× (rough estimate)
SteeringSuspension1,6293.45×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems3483.42× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSuspension1283.42× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment2083.41× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension1,5993.24×
BrakesSuspension3,5193.22×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels2733.21× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks1,2623.19×
Road WheelsTyres1053.11× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSteering403.09× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels1613.08× (rough estimate)
BrakesSteering1,1623.07×
Road WheelsVisibility993.01× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks2,3802.96×
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility9162.95×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres1182.93× (rough estimate)
BrakesRoad Wheels1192.84× (rough estimate)
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4,9372.77×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering2,1212.76×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension6,0822.74×
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks1,3442.73×
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres8692.73×
Body, chassis, structureSteering1,2782.71×
SteeringVisibility8052.7×
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1662.66× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility3,6622.61×
BrakesTyres1,8472.61×
BrakesVisibility1,7982.61×
Body, chassis, structureSuspension3,5222.59×
SuspensionTyres2,2752.59×
SteeringTyres7852.58×
SuspensionVisibility2,2102.57×
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle942.51× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres3,5382.47×
TyresVisibility1,3132.37×
Body, chassis, structureBrakes2,4242.22×
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4,7412.13×
Body, chassis, structureVisibility1,7842.08×
Body, chassis, structureTyres1,6941.93×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSpeedometer and speed limiter17too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSpeedometer and speed limiter12too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterSuspension10too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSpeedometer and speed limiter10too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems9too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterTyres7too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterVisibility6too few (rough estimate)
Road WheelsSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems6too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleRoad Wheels5too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Noise, emissions and leaks» and «Steering» appear together 3.55× more often than chance (607 co-occurrences in the same test; lift≥1.3, n≥500).

Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).

Is low mileage better for a Citroen C5?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 23.0%, against 39.1% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year22.96%4,787
8–12k miles/year39.14%18,603
Gap (low − normal)-16.18 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
514.4144421.69913-7.27 pp
613.7713819.78273-6.01 pp
713.5118525.12430-11.6 pp
815.4825229.5739-14.02 pp
924.5735038.451,498-13.88 pp
1023.0443442.73,129-19.66 pp
1126.0557244.594,252-18.54 pp
1224.1463846.524,200-22.39 pp
1330.2971348.394,090-18.09 pp
1432.8576449.293,514-16.44 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
510.671,19023.91,134-13.23 pp
1012.123339.7478-27.62 pp
1120.837250.82122-29.99 pp
1232.057859100-26.95 pp
1326.9213046.67135-19.74 pp
1434.0518551.13133-17.07 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 23.0% vs 39.1% for 8–12k miles/year — 16.2 pp lower (n_low=4,787, n_normal=18,603). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 28.7% low-use vs 47.4% normal (-18.7 pp).

Which Citroen C5 engine is best?

diesel 1.5–1.8 is highest at 105.2; petrol over 2.0 is lowest at 79.2 — the gap is 26.0 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Engine bands against this model's own failure rate at the same ages
FuelCapacityvs own age normRaw fail %Tests
petrolover 2.0 litre79.236.17%459 (rough estimate)
dieselover 2.0 litre91.140.59%7,675
petrol1.8–2.0 litre97.744.2%2,955 (rough estimate)
petrol1.0–1.2 litre97.815.45%13,555
diesel1.8–2.0 litre99.641.9%50,112
diesel1.2–1.5 litre100.615.81%10,577
petrol1.5–1.8 litre10427.08%7,814
diesel1.5–1.8 litre105.243.62%19,347

Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel 1.5–1.8 runs at 105.2 against this model's own age norm while the diesel over 2.0 runs at 91.1 — a spread of 14.1 points between two cars that share a name.

Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.

Best year for a Citroen C5, and the years to avoid

Build year 2019 is highest at 105.4; Build year 2012 is lowest at 81.0 — the gap is 24.4 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Citroen C5 build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Citroen C5 by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
2020100.295.1–105.414.52%10,042no different
2019105.4101.8–10916.47%19,829worse
2016101.485–117.722.84%648no different
201589.779.2–100.223.67%1,183no different
201486.978.4–95.526.93%1,467better
201389.583–9631.44%2,319better
20128175.4–86.630.85%2,613better
201187.383–91.735.13%4,480better
20109895–100.942.02%10,125no different
2009101.299–103.545.26%17,260no different
200898.696–101.244.77%12,415no different
200710297.7–106.347.09%4,612no different
200699.895.9–103.746.52%5,325no different
200510297.5–106.548.11%4,128no different
200499.795.5–103.947.41%4,581no different
20039691.8–100.245.42%4,434no different
200296.992–101.846.18%3,209no different
2001104.795.6–113.849.9%1,020no different

The best build year here is 2011 and the weakest is 2019. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 2 of 18 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Citroen C5 MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £103.59 to £196.82, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£104–197
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment29.4 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£41.16
Suspension17.0 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£30.60
Brakes15.1 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£22.65
Tyres10.2 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£9.18

Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £104 to £197, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.

Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.

For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Citroen C5 running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 33.0%, against 19.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 5
19
vehicles needing work
At age 10
33
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024 (rough estimate: 235 tests)
Repairs per 100
£10,359
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 32.99% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
311.89%23,664858-6.6 pp
414.46%28,3844,985-4.1 pp
518.51%34,9036,611+0.0 pp
832.04%63,687103+13.5 pp
929.57%71,751186+11.1 pp
1033.19%80,179235+14.7 pp
1138.78%91,248361+20.3 pp
1233.6%103,103372+15.1 pp
1337.94%105,844572+19.4 pp
1443.42%115,3021,163+24.9 pp
1543.97%118,2141,717+25.5 pp
1645.26%118,8621,149+26.7 pp
1747.41%117,188424+28.9 pp
1843.81%115,653420+25.3 pp
1943.92%114,334296+25.4 pp

The number a fleet manager needs is not the failure rate, it is the year the car starts costing more. Between cars aged 4 and cars aged 5, both tested in 2024, the failure rate of this model is 4.05 percentage points higher — the steepest one-year step in this cross-section of different cars, and a natural planning point for replacement.

Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.

Citroen C5 rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is well below the reference at 0.54×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
0.54×
0.41% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
65th
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 59 postcode areas

This Citroen C5 fails on corrosion much less often than average once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are about typical for the models we publish. Both point the same way and reinforce each other: it resists corrosion even though its owners live in saltier areas than most.

Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.

Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.

Does a Citroen C5 advisory become a failure?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 32.6%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 32.6 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Citroen C5 chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Citroen C5, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Lamps & electrical 32.6% · Suspension 20.8% · Body & chassis 19.4% · Brakes 14% · Steering 13.4% · Tyres 10% · Noise, emissions, leaks 8.3% · Identification of the veh… 3.5%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment32.6%12 months4,8492,034
Suspension20.8%12 months5,74113,522
Body, chassis, structure19.4%12 months4,5171,221
Brakes14.0%12 months5,03117,764
Steering13.4%12 months5,6742,704
Tyres10.0%12 months5,98020,111
Noise, emissions and leaks8.3%12 months5,8626,462
Identification of the vehicle3.5%12 months4,1671,865
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems1.4%11.9 months5,463834
Non-component advisories0.0%——5,336

This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.

Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 33 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 4,849 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.

What will fail next on a Citroen C5?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 15-19 are highest at 30.9%; Brakes after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 2.1% — the gap is 28.8 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 6.6% · Tyres 3.9% · Brakes 2.1%5,720
<3advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 10.4% · Tyres 5.9% · Brakes 3.8%2,699
<3failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 9.7% · Tyres 7.3% · Brakes 3.4%1,399
3-5passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 10.2% · Tyres 4.4% · Body, chassis, structure 2.5%6,204
3-5advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.9% · Tyres 6.3% · Brakes 4.5%2,844
3-5failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.6% · Tyres 6.4% · Body, chassis, structure 4.7%1,869
6-8passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 9.6% · Body, chassis, structure 8.3% · Suspension 5.4%2,441
6-8advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.8% · Body, chassis, structure 9.9% · Suspension 8.7%1,725
6-8failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 19.4% · Body, chassis, structure 16.9% · Suspension 12.0%1,778
9-11passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 13.9% · Body, chassis, structure 13.7% · Suspension 10.1%6,447
9-11advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 19.3% · Body, chassis, structure 18.1% · Suspension 14.1%5,994
9-11failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 24.9% · Body, chassis, structure 21.7% · Suspension 17.4%8,845
12-14passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 16.3% · Body, chassis, structure 13.3% · Suspension 11.6%5,014
12-14advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.1% · Body, chassis, structure 17.0% · Suspension 16.7%5,640
12-14failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 27.7% · Suspension 20.0% · Body, chassis, structure 18.6%8,516
15-19passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 16.5% · Suspension 12.3% · Brakes 11.2%3,200
15-19advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.8% · Suspension 17.0% · Brakes 15.3%3,914
15-19failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 30.9% · Suspension 22.0% · Brakes 19.4%5,674
20+passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 18.2% · Suspension 15.2% · Brakes 12.6%198 (rough estimate)
20+advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 23.1% · Brakes 18.4% · Suspension 18.4%277 (rough estimate)
20+failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 29.3% · Brakes 20.5% · Suspension 18.2%341 (rough estimate)

The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.

The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.

Citroen C5 ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 62.0%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 5.1% — the gap is 56.9 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
32.99%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.55
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
24.74%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
1.268%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 26,923 failures followed through to their re-test, 32.99% were repaired and passed the same day and 61.95% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 75,459 defect items were cleared in the process.

Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.55 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 5,368 miles a year across 28,114 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.

Two populations hide inside one model. 24.74% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 27.85% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.

Odometer anomalies: 1.268% of 28,149 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 49,919 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.

Citroen C5 safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 24.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Citroen C5 recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Citroen C5. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2004: 1 · 2005: 1 · 2006: 1 · 2007: 0 · 2008: 5 · 2009: 3 · 2010: 2 · 2011: 2 · 2012: 0 · 2013: 1 · 2014: 0 · 2015: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2018: 1.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Citroen C5
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2018/04913/02/20182,098ENGINE MAY OVERHEAT
R/2017/20806/07/20172,014STARTER SUPPLY WIRE MAY CHAFE
R/2016/17120/07/2016967AIRBAG MAY INCORRECTLY DEPLOY
R/2015/24308/12/20159,483FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2013/10827/09/201330FUEL MAY LEAK ONTO ENGINE
All 24 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2018/04913/02/201801/12/2014 – 08/04/20152,098ENGINE MAY OVERHEAT
R/2017/20806/07/201715/05/2013 – 02/04/20172,014STARTER SUPPLY WIRE MAY CHAFE
R/2016/17120/07/201626/04/2016 – 02/05/2016967AIRBAG MAY INCORRECTLY DEPLOY
R/2015/24308/12/201501/09/2012 – 02/01/20149,483FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2013/10827/09/201313/06/2012 – 22/05/201330FUEL MAY LEAK ONTO ENGINE
R/2011/08005/07/201122/04/2009 – 05/04/2011157ENGINE MAY STALL
R/2011/03231/03/201110/03/2009 – 19/06/20094,271WINDSCREEN WIPER MOTOR MAY FAIL
R/2010/22317/12/201021/12/2006 – 27/03/200920,089BRAKING ASSISTANCE MAY NOT PERFORM CORRECTLY
R/2010/18905/11/201018/12/2009 – 17/03/2010957PARKING BRAKE MAY FAIL
R/2009/13801/12/200903/06/2009 – 12/10/20091,012REAR SCREEN MAY NOT REMAIN IN OPEN POSITION.
R/2009/12913/11/200901/01/2008 – 30/06/20095,142WINDSCREEN TRIM MAY DETACH
R/2009/02125/02/200927FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2008/19924/12/200801/02/2008 – 14/06/20086,031WIPERS / LIGHTS/ BATTERY CHARGING MAY BE AFFECTED.
R/2008/11528/07/200802/03/2006 – 30/01/20081,611POSSIBLE LEAKAGE FROM THE DIESEL RETURN PIPE FIXED TO THE INTAKE MANIFOLD.
R/2008/07315/05/200813/02/2007 – 28/01/20081,427ENGINE MAY STALL
R/2008/05106/05/200831/03/2006 – 03/01/20072,557THE BRAKE PEDAL COULD BECOME STIFF THEREBY REDUCING BRAKING ASSISTANCE
R/2008/01705/02/200806/07/2005 – 07/07/2005520POSSIBILITY OF REDUCED BRAKING PERFORMANCE
R/2006/03023/02/200627/07/2004 – 25/02/2005257FUEL LEAKING INTO ENGINE
R/2005/05725/04/200501/07/2004 – 30/10/20041,286DIESEL FUEL RETURN PIPE MAY LEAK
R/2004/09607/06/200401/02/2003 – 31/03/20043,562ENGINE MAY REVERT TO BACK UP MODE.BRAKE ASSISTANCE MAY REDUCE
R/2003/15103/10/200301/01/2001 – 31/05/200314,110POSSIBLE CRACKING OF ROAD WHEEL
R/2002/09016/08/200201/01/2001 – 04/07/2002878ABS CONTROL UNIT MAY OVERHEAT
R/2002/08416/08/2002 – 30/11/200116,061REPLACEMENT OF HANDBRAKE LEVER
R/2002/00923/01/200201/01/2000 – 28/02/20002,373ANTILOCK BRAKE SYSTEM CONCERN

DVSA lists 24 safety recall campaigns for the Citroen C5, covering roughly 96,920 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.

Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.

Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.

Citroen C5 inspection results in other countries

Netherlands APK stands out at 63.8%, against 50.8% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)26.52%26.01%+0.5 pp20,466
NetherlandsAPK63.8%50.8%+13 pp8,016
FinlandKatsastus38.4%26.3%+12.1 pp6,921
NorwayPKK43.3%33.7%+9.6 pp1,871

The verdict is consistent across every regime where the difference is clear, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.

What Finland fails it for — share of recorded faults
Fault areaShare
Axles, wheels and suspension40.8%
Brake systems31.1%
Steering equipment11.4%
Environmental hazards10.6%
Chassis and body1.7%

Useful as a cross-check on the UK defect table above: the categories are named differently, but a component that dominates in both regimes is a genuine weak point of the model rather than an artefact of one country's testing style.

The exact faults Netherlands records — APK defect codes, 2024
CodeFaultRecordedType
210Tyre pressure not at the correct value1,437failure
205Tyre with insufficient tread1,210failure
RA2Excessive leak of other fluids1,057advisory
584Sidelight not working properly782failure
497Number-plate light not working or missing704failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread650advisory
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed517failure
178Driveshaft gaiter split, no longer sealing418failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 1.627 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.

Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Citroen C5 is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.

Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.; Traficom — Periodic inspections of cars by model / by model and fault object 2024, CC BY 4.0; Statens vegvesen — Periodisk kjøretøykontroll (PKK) 2024, CC BY 4.0. Adapted; licences and full notice.

Citroen C5 MOT: quick answers

Citroen C5 MOT Risk Index stands out at 109.4, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

What is the Citroen C5 first-time MOT pass rate?
73.48% of first attempts passed in 2024 (20,466 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
Why does this number differ from other sites?
Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 26.52% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 20,466 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 109.4 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Citroen C5 with other cars

Citroen C5 is highest at 109.4; Volkswagen Caddy is lowest at 109.0 — the gap is 0.4 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Same brand

All Citroen MOT statisticsCitroen Xsara MOT statsCitroen C3 MOT stats

Similar risk

Hyundai ix35 (index 109.3)Mitsubishi L200 (index 109.3)Volkswagen Caddy (index 109.0)

Same size class

how Mercedes-Benz Citan compareshow Vauxhall Antara compareshow Volkswagen Amarok compares

By build year

Citroen C5 2001Citroen C5 2002Citroen C5 2003Citroen C5 2004Citroen C5 2005Citroen C5 2006Citroen C5 2007Citroen C5 2008Citroen C5 2009Citroen C5 2010Citroen C5 2011Citroen C5 2012Citroen C5 2013Citroen C5 2014Citroen C5 2015Citroen C5 2016Citroen C5 2019Citroen C5 2020

By area

Citroen C5 MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Citroen C5 body, chassis and structure failuresCitroen C5 brakes failuresCitroen C5 vehicle identification failuresCitroen C5 lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresCitroen C5 noise, emissions and leaks failuresCitroen C5 road wheels failuresCitroen C5 seat belts and airbags failuresCitroen C5 steering failuresCitroen C5 suspension failuresCitroen C5 tyres failuresCitroen C5 visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Citroen C5 in NorwayCitroen C5 in FinlandCitroen C5 in the Netherlands


Data details & how to cite

Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:citroen-c5:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Citroen C5 MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/citroen-c5/ · Published 2026-07-30.