Citroen Xsara 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

53.3% of 29,454 MOT tests of the Citroen Xsara first registered in 2003 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 99.2 (95% CI 97.6–100.7; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2003 build year is no different from other years of the same model at the same age.

Citroen Xsara built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	53.3	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	29454
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 97.6–100.7)	99.2	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	29454
Rank among this model's 13 build years	9	of 13	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	29454
Tested in 2024	1803	tests	median 111,263 miles	2024	1803

Built 2003 against Citroen Xsara normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 55% vs 57.5%; age 17: 53.2% vs 53.1%; age 18: 52.9% vs 52.7%; age 19: 51.8% vs 51%; age 20: 51.6% vs 50.1%; age 21: 51.1% vs 48.7%. Axis from 0% to 60%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Citroen Xsara by registration · All Citroen Xsara 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 2003 Citroen Xsara fail at each age?

Cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21 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 Xsara built 2003: 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)
16	10,131	55	54–55.9	57.5	95.6
17	6,570	53.2	52–54.4	53.1	100.4
18	4,874	52.9	51.4–54.3	52.7	100.2
19	3,520	51.8	50.1–53.4	51	101.6
20	2,556	51.6	49.6–53.5	50.1	103
21	1,803	51.1	48.8–53.4	48.7	104.9

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 29,454 (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 2003 Citroen Xsara?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 51.9 items per 100 first tests, against 44.6 across all build years of the Citroen Xsara. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Citroen Xsara built 2003 against the Citroen Xsara in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2003, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	51.9	44.6	15,287
Suspension	36.7	32.1	10,823
Brakes	23.9	19.6	7,038
Body, chassis, structure	21.3	22.9	6,262
Visibility	17.7	13.3	5,221

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 29,454 (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 2003 compare with the years around it?

Among the 13 published build years of the Citroen Xsara, 2003 ranks 9 (1 = fails least for its age). 2002: index 99.3. 2004: index 98.8.

Citroen Xsara build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	93.9	80.4–107.4	no different (rough estimate)	380
1999	97.5	87.0–107.9	no different (rough estimate)	656
2000	101.9	97.1–106.7	no different (rough estimate)	3,216
2001	101.5	99.1–103.8	no different	13,465
2002	99.3	97.5–101.1	no different	22,500
2003	99.2	97.6–100.7	no different	29,454
2004	98.8	97.5–100.1	no different	42,865
2005	102.1	100.9–103.4	worse	45,532
2006	96.0	94.9–97.1	better	60,637
2007	98.1	96.9–99.3	better	51,992
2008	99.0	97.3–100.7	no different	26,435
2009	92.3	90.3–94.3	better	18,727
2010	91.9	89.0–94.9	better	9,103

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 324,962 (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 Xsara 2003 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-xsara/2003/

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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