Citroen Saxo: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Citroen Saxo fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 15.6 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 3,657 individual Citroen Saxo tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 61.1% first-time pass rate means roughly 39 in every 100 Citroen Saxos presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average Citroen Saxo tested had covered 74,969 miles and was built around 2001.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Citroen Saxo bought as a repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific Citroen Saxo rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see what damaged Citroen Saxos actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Citroen Saxo

1. Service brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 3.5% of tests (20.54x the national rate for this defect)
2. Emissions levels exceed the manufacturer's specified limits, 3.5% of tests (16.15x the national rate for this defect)
3. Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle., 5.7% of tests (14.33x the national rate for this defect)
4. Emissions levels exceed default limits, 3.8% of tests (12.98x the national rate for this defect)
5. Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer, 4.6% of tests (11.71x the national rate for this defect)
6. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 9.3% of tests (11.16x the national rate for this defect)
7. Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 4.5% of tests (8.13x the national rate for this defect)
8. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 4.2% of tests (5.53x the national rate for this defect)
9. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 4.2% of tests (3.75x the national rate for this defect)
10. Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 3.4% of tests (3.44x the national rate for this defect)

From 5,720 DVSA-tracked Citroen Saxo tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 3.59% of these flagged Citroen Saxo defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Citroen Saxo pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each Citroen Saxo year:

• 2000 Citroen Saxo - 57% first-time pass, 484 tests
• 2001 Citroen Saxo - 63.6% first-time pass, 924 tests
• 2002 Citroen Saxo - 61.2% first-time pass, 941 tests
• 2003 Citroen Saxo - 63.6% first-time pass, 829 tests

Other Citroen models

• Citroen C3 - 70.4%
• Citroen Berlingo - 68.3%
• Citroen C1 - 75.1%
• Citroen C4 - 66%
• Citroen Ds3 - 60.4%
• Citroen Dispatch - 66.2%
• Citroen Xsara - 58%
• Citroen C3 Aircross - 86.4%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Renault Megane - 61.1%
• Renault Kangoo - 61.1%
• Vauxhall Vectra - 61.1%
• Dodge Journey - 61.1%
• Fiat Doblo Cargo - 61%
• Chrysler Delta - 60.9%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate