Citroen
4,075 MOT tests analysed. sits above the UK fleet average — here's where C3 Flair + Puretech S/ss pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.
That's 13.5 points above the UK fleet average across our 1,984 tracked models — a confident result.
Pass
91.0%
Pass-after-fix
2.3%
Fail
6.2%
Avg miles
28,737
Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%
Petrol cars first registered from January 2006 meet Euro 4 — compliant in London ULEZ, Birmingham CAZ, Bristol CAZ, and Glasgow LEZ.
Performance by cohort
2 year bands · 4,075 tests
Pass rate climbs 1.3 points across the cohorts — newer C3 Flair + Puretech S/s examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.
Pass
90.9%
Fail
6.5%
PRS
2.2%
Avg mileage at test
29,170 mi
Pass
92.1%
Fail
4.1%
PRS
3.0%
Avg mileage at test
25,686 mi
Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.
The picture
Across 2,464 MOT tests, the C3 Flair + Puretech S/S returns 90.8% first-time pass — comfortably ahead of the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is a seriously damaged tyre. Brake pads worn below 1.5 mm and an excessively worn brake disc round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 22,780, which is the lens to read those failure rankings through. If you own one and the next test is close, the ranked list below is a sensible pre-test checklist.
ABI Insurance Group
Below the fleet average — generally reasonable to insure. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.
Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →
5–16
out of 50
Filter failures:
Hide categories
Tick a category to hide it from rankings sitewide. Saved in this browser only.
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
27 occurrences · 0.7% of tests
A tyre seriously damaged
27 occurrences · 0.7% of tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
22 occurrences · 0.5% of tests
Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn
21 occurrences · 0.5% of tests
A lens defective which has no effect on emitted light
18 occurrences · 0.4% of tests
A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
17 occurrences · 0.4% of tests
A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
17 occurrences · 0.4% of tests
Wiper blade defective
15 occurrences · 0.4% of tests
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
9 occurrences · 0.2% of tests
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
9 occurrences · 0.2% of tests
Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.
Worst-case fix budget · top 2 failures
£140–£255
If every one of this C3 Flair + Puretech S/s's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →
Try the calculator
Build your own retest budget.
Year-band analysis
First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 1.3-point gap between bands is modest — the year you buy Citroen C3 Flair + Puretech S/s makes a small but real difference to MOT outcomes.
Best band to buy
92.1%
2021+ registration
the 2021-on band climbs to 92.1% — a 1.3-point improvement. Failures here are mostly wear items: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no…, inoperative or indicates a malfunction — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. Post-2020 examples are early in their MOT life and generally show the cleanest records.
Band to be cautious about
90.9%
2018–2020 registration
On the 2018–2020 band, the data shows a 90.9% pass rate against a fleet average of 92.1% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: has a cut in excess of the…, tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, and less than 1.5 mm thick. Average mileage on test for this band is 29,170 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.
Best band to buy: 2021+ (92.1% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: 2018-2020 (90.9% pass). That's a 1.3-point spread across 3,568 older tests and 507 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.
Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.
Item 01 · Amazon UK
Digital tyre-tread depth gauge
Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.
Search Amazon UK
Item 02 · Amazon UK
Brake pad measurement gauge
Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.
Search Amazon UK
My Motor World · affiliate
Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.
Summit
Summit ADRG-169 Citroen Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass RHS
£9.89
View at My Motor World →
Summit
Summit ADRG-170 Citroen Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass LHS
£9.89
View at My Motor World →
Summit
Summit ADRG-48 Citroen Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass RHS
£9.89
View at My Motor World →
Summit
Summit ADRG-49 Citroen Replacement Stick-On Tinted Mirror Glass LHS
£9.89
View at My Motor World →
Click Mechanic · affiliate
Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.
Mobile mechanic · UK-wide
Book a mechanic at your door.
Fixed-price quotes upfront. No garage needed. Click Mechanic sends a vetted local mechanic to you — home, work, or roadside.
Owner reports · Honest John
Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.
What's good
An unassuming small car, the Citroen C3 offers easy driving and practicality. But don’t expect any of the excitement behind the wheel that the likes of a Ford Fiesta of a similar age delivers.
Report of repeated cracking of wrapover screen of 2012 Citroen C3. Has been replaced 3 times on the same car. Has now cracked again, right across on the inside this time, just above the bend.
Report of timing belt of 2013/63 Citroen C3 1.2 82Vti coming off at 12,996 miles. Car has been in for service action at 3,200 miles where the timing belt checked okay.
Report of problem with 2011 Citroen C3 automatic. After being stuck in traffic for a long period in rush hour the gearbox fault warning sign comes on and it jerks forward when car moves off, but once car been moving again it is fine.
Failure of power steering rack of 34k mile 2011 Citroen C3 reported and quoted £1,300 to replace.
Intermittent failure of electric power assistance to steering of C3 reported.
Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 5 reports indexed
Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.
If you own a C3 Flair + Puretech S/s and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.
