MOT Risk Index.co.uk

DS 3 — MOT statistics 2024

All DS 3 variants tested in Great Britain in 2024 — 158,830 MOT tests, every generation and engine together.

MOT risk index
150.2
100 = normal for its age

This car fails its MOT about 50% more often than expected for its age.

Rank 25 of 25 families published so far · margin of error ±1 points

What this means for buyers

Checklist when viewing a used 3:
  1. Ask the seller about: A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or
  2. Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
  3. Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
  4. Ask the seller about: A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play

Top specific failures

Exact defect wording from test records, per 100 tests.

What failedper 100
A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc11.84
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened10.63
A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources9.93
A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play6.75
A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated6.51
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn6.48
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements5.67
A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning5.31
Exhaust system leaking or insecure4.66
A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED4.22

Failures by component area

Lamps & electrical 34.9 Body & structure 24.4 Suspension 21.9 Brakes 15.4 Tyres 13.5 Visibility 12.2

Early warnings (advisories)

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

Brakes 79.2 Tyres 74.7 Suspension 41.6 Body & structure 21.3 Emissions & leaks 10.4 Non-component advisories 9.4

How it ages

3579111315171953%car age, years

Takeaway: a 10-year-old 3 has roughly a 44% chance of failing its MOT; from about age 3 it does worse than the average car.

Data table
AgeDS 3All cars
316.5%10.9%
416.3%11.6%
516.0%13.5%
624.0%15.6%
728.2%18.2%
833.0%21.3%
940.2%24.4%
1044.4%27.7%
1145.9%30.6%
1249.2%33.4%
1347.3%36.0%
1449.4%38.6%

Petrol, diesel, hybrid — which ages best?

FuelTests% failing
Petrol90,60936.4%
Diesel68,21446.4%

Where they fail most

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. Raw rates: coastal and rural areas run older fleets and salted roads.

Kirkcaldy (KY): 52.3% failing, 1,093 testsSunderland (SR): 48.5% failing, 895 testsDarlington (DL): 46.8% failing, 1,200 testsGloucester (GL): 46.7% failing, 1,558 testsAberdeen (AB): 46.6% failing, 1,235 testsCardiff (CF): 46.6% failing, 5,017 testsBath (BA): 46.5% failing, 1,244 testsChester (CH): 46% failing, 1,935 testsEdinburgh (EH): 45.8% failing, 1,754 testsStoke-on-Trent (ST): 45.8% failing, 2,044 testsPlymouth (PL): 45.5% failing, 2,124 testsOldham (OL): 45.2% failing, 1,070 testsNewport (NP): 45.1% failing, 2,840 testsFalkirk (FK): 45% failing, 900 testsHull (HU): 45% failing, 1,711 testsExeter (EX): 44.5% failing, 1,381 testsTaunton (TA): 44.5% failing, 1,175 testsLincoln (LN): 44.2% failing, 1,164 testsNottingham (NG): 44.1% failing, 3,804 testsColchester (CO): 44.1% failing, 1,002 testsBristol (BS): 44.1% failing, 2,827 testsPortsmouth (PO): 43.9% failing, 2,476 testsPreston (PR): 43.7% failing, 1,956 testsNorwich (NR): 43.4% failing, 2,194 testsOxford (OX): 43.3% failing, 1,121 testsBlackpool (FY): 43.1% failing, 1,135 testsStockport (SK): 43.1% failing, 1,182 testsYork (YO): 42.7% failing, 1,610 testsSwansea (SA): 42.7% failing, 4,073 testsLlandudno (LL): 42.6% failing, 2,618 testsCleveland (TS): 42.6% failing, 1,802 testsShrewsbury (SY): 42.5% failing, 1,239 testsBrighton (BN): 42.4% failing, 1,825 testsCrewe (CW): 42.3% failing, 892 testsDudley (DY): 42.2% failing, 1,399 testsTelford (TF): 42.1% failing, 929 testsNorthampton (NN): 41.9% failing, 1,819 testsCambridge (CB): 41.3% failing, 847 testsIpswich (IP): 41.3% failing, 1,412 testsWakefield (WF): 41.3% failing, 1,864 testsWigan (WN): 41.1% failing, 1,118 testsLeeds (LS): 40.9% failing, 1,712 testsSwindon (SN): 40.9% failing, 1,070 testsTruro (TR): 40.8% failing, 845 testsCanterbury (CT): 40.7% failing, 1,283 testsSouthampton (SO): 40.4% failing, 1,238 testsDoncaster (DN): 40.3% failing, 3,150 testsNewcastle (NE): 40.1% failing, 3,455 testsWolverhampton (WV): 40.1% failing, 1,348 testsLiverpool (L): 39.8% failing, 1,001 testsLeicester (LE): 39.6% failing, 3,184 testsBournemouth (BH): 39.4% failing, 1,626 testsWarrington (WA): 39.4% failing, 1,790 testsManchester (M): 39.1% failing, 2,517 testsPeterborough (PE): 39.1% failing, 3,602 testsDurham (DH): 39% failing, 1,590 testsTonbridge (TN): 38.9% failing, 1,746 testsHemel Hempstead (HP): 38.2% failing, 1,049 testsCarlisle (CA): 38% failing, 1,357 testsCoventry (CV): 37.9% failing, 2,574 testsBradford (BD): 37.7% failing, 1,665 testsBolton (BL): 37.7% failing, 1,371 testsReading (RG): 37.6% failing, 1,201 testsMotherwell (ML): 37.6% failing, 1,153 testsWalsall (WS): 36.9% failing, 1,652 testsBlackburn (BB): 36.8% failing, 1,637 testsDerby (DE): 36.8% failing, 3,021 testsSheffield (S): 36.5% failing, 5,258 testsMedway (ME): 36.2% failing, 1,769 testsChelmsford (CM): 36.2% failing, 1,321 testsBirmingham (B): 36.1% failing, 5,269 testsGlasgow (G): 36.1% failing, 2,631 testsKilmarnock (KA): 36% failing, 1,282 testsGuildford (GU): 35.6% failing, 1,293 testsMilton Keynes (MK): 35% failing, 1,302 testsTorquay (TQ): 34.5% failing, 1,011 testsRedhill (RH): 33.3% failing, 1,159 testsSouthend-on-Sea (SS): 30.6% failing, 1,087 tests % failing 35% 47%
Toughest areas% failing
Cardiff (CF)46.6%
Stoke-on-Trent (ST)45.84%
Plymouth (PL)45.53%
Newport (NP)45.07%
Bristol (BS)44.07%
Easiest areas% failing
Glasgow (G)36.11%
Birmingham (B)36.14%
Sheffield (S)36.52%
Derby (DE)36.81%
Coventry (CV)37.92%

Does the test month matter?

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 3.6 percentage points — noticeable seasonality.

41.22% in month 1 J39.47% in month 2 F38.98% in month 3 M40.32% in month 4 A39.83% in month 5 M40.87% in month 6 J40.45% in month 7 J40.55% in month 8 A40.9% in month 9 S42.39% in month 10 O41.11% in month 11 N42.58% in month 12 D 44% 23%

bars: DS 3 · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthDS 3All cars
Jan41.22%27.37%
Feb39.47%26.14%
Mar38.98%24.75%
Apr40.32%26.01%
May39.83%25.01%
Jun40.87%25.01%
Jul40.45%26.04%
Aug40.55%25.79%
Sep40.9%25.19%
Oct42.39%27.13%
Nov41.11%27.2%
Dec42.58%26.29%

Is the mileage normal?

A typical 8-year-old 3 has ~53,422 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

36912car age, years 123k mi 0

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

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
315,20521,21529,3551,002
419,29726,76935,6621,985
523,61532,08242,1884,330
627,64738,53251,7465,380
732,53344,67958,16511,327
840,51053,42268,82818,024
947,25161,58378,10122,509
1054,59470,57888,94826,712
1160,08876,86095,90826,444
1267,18884,702104,75321,477
1373,04091,680113,45513,771
1476,59596,995116,8985,831

Quick answers

What most commonly fails on a DS 3 MOT?
The most frequent specific failures in 2024 were: a transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc; a spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened; a rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources.
Is the DS 3 reliable for its age?
Across 158,830 initial tests in 2024, it fails its MOT about 50% more often than expected for its age (MOT Risk Index 150.2, where 100 = normal for its age).
Are diesel 3s worse than petrol at the MOT?
46.4% of diesel tests found a failing defect vs 36.4% of petrol.
What mileage is normal for a 8-year-old 3?
The median is about 53,422 miles; the middle half of the fleet sits between 40,510 and 68,828.
How often are dangerous defects found on the DS 3?
About 17 dangerous defects were recorded per 100 initial tests in 2024 — with a dangerous defect the car legally cannot be driven away.

Compare with

Mitsubishi Outlander · 100.5Tesla Model 3 · 122.9Nissan Leaf · 109.2Honda E · 84.6

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 dvsa-2024-v1, frozen baseline. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). DS 3 MOT statistics 2024 (dvsa-2024-v1). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/ds3/ · Published 2026-07-30.