Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 118,522 tests

Pass rate climbs 10.3 points across the cohorts — newer 108 examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 91,104

Pass

82.7%

Fail

13.4%

PRS

3.4%

Avg mileage at test

45,419 mi

2018–2020 cohort 21,449

Pass

88.3%

Fail

8.6%

PRS

2.9%

Avg mileage at test

24,719 mi

2021+ cohort 5,969

Pass

93.0%

Fail

4.8%

PRS

1.8%

Avg mileage at test

15,533 mi

Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.

The picture

Peugeot 108 Clears 84% — Tyres and Wipers Catch Owners

With an 84.55% pass rate across 82,669 tests and an average of just 35,902 miles, the 108 is one of the youngest and highest-passing cars in this batch. Tyre tread depth, wiper blade condition, and brake pad wear account for all three main failure reasons — straightforward maintenance items that owners sometimes overlook on a city car. One 2014 example at 14,000 miles triggered a cascade of dashboard warning lights including engine fault, ABS, and flat tyre indicators simultaneously, diagnosed as an electrical fault by the dealer. Check wiper blades and tyre depth before presenting for test, and on earlier models, verify there are no unresolved electrical fault codes.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 2–7

A low-group car — among the cheapest to insure in the UK. 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 →

2–7

out of 50

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Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

Hide wear items to see the model's real defects.

01

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

1,917 occurrences · 1.6% of tests
02

a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

1,413 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
03

Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

1,374 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
04

Wiper blade defective

1,361 occurrences · 1.1% of tests
05

A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

1,028 occurrences · 0.9% of tests
06

Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn

1,015 occurrences · 0.9% of tests
07

Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

972 occurrences · 0.8% of tests
08

A tyre cords visible or damaged

958 occurrences · 0.8% of tests
09

A tyre seriously damaged

940 occurrences · 0.8% of tests
10

Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake

861 occurrences · 0.7% 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 5 failures

£188–£380

If every one of this 108'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

Best year to buy. Worst to avoid.

First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 10.3-point gap between bands means the year you buy Peugeot 108 has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

93.0%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 93.0% — a 10.3-point improvement. Tests in this band average 15,533 miles — roughly 30K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: has a bulge, caused by separation or…, blade defective — 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

82.7%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 82.7% pass rate against a fleet average of 93.0% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, less than 1.5 mm thick, and does not clear the windscreen effectively. Average mileage on test for this band is 45,419 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme. Honest John records: "Report of 2014 Peugeot 108 at 14,000 miles suddenly suffering strange electrical problem: All of a sudden all the warning lights on the dash came on: engine fault, abs, flat…"

Best band to buy: 2021+ (93.0% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (82.7% pass). That's a 10.3-point spread across 91,104 older tests and 5,969 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.

Year-spread leaderboard →

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

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

Item 03 · Amazon UK

Bosch Aerotwin wiper blades

Cheap wipers fail the test on smear streaks. Bosch Aerotwins last a winter and clear a screen properly.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Hycote

Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Peugeot Black 12.5ml

£6.59

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Hycote

Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Peugeot Cherry 12.5ml

£6.59

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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Peugeot Diablo Red Pearlescent 12.5ml

£6.59

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Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Peugeot Indigo Blue 12.5ml

£6.59

View at My Motor World →

Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

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.

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Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.

Where it falls short

Owner reports (2 entries) flag recurring issues with electrical faults.

Recent owner-reported faults

13 Aug 2017
Report of 2014 Peugeot 108 at 14,000 miles suddenly suffering strange electrical problem: All of a sudden all the warning lights on the dash came on: engine fault, abs, flat tyre, etc, plus a reduction in power such as the car will not go above 30mph. Peugeot dealer did a diagnostic check, fitted a new ECU,plus numerous sensors, but cannot find the problem. Maybe the earth lead from the battery to the body.
5 Sep 2015
MirrorLink system is not compatible with iPhones beyond the iPhone 4S, so not compatible with iPhone 5, 5S or 6. A software patch is being worked on but is not yet available.

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 2 reports indexed

Recall history

3 UK recalls on record.

The 108 has 3 official UK vehicle recalls covering defect details, remedies, and affected build dates.

See all recalls

Buying or keeping a 108?

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 108 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.