Citroen Xsara: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Citroen Xsara fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 18.7 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 26,344 individual Citroen Xsara tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 58% first-time pass rate means roughly 42 in every 100 Citroen Xsaras 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 Xsara tested had covered 103,447 miles and was built around 2006.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Citroen Xsara 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 Xsara 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 Xsaras actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Citroen Xsara

1. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any seat belt anchorage (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 7.5% of tests (32.64x the national rate for this defect)
2. Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced, 4.7% of tests (12.97x the national rate for this defect)
3. 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, 4.8% of tests (5.74x the national rate for this defect)
4. Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 3.1% of tests (5.63x the national rate for this defect)
5. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 5.5% of tests (4.9x the national rate for this defect)
6. Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 4.4% of tests (4.49x the national rate for this defect)
7. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 3.1% of tests (4.1x the national rate for this defect)
8. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 3.4% of tests (4.06x the national rate for this defect)
9. A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 4.9% of tests (3.65x the national rate for this defect)
10. A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 5.2% of tests (3.2x the national rate for this defect)

From 38,735 DVSA-tracked Citroen Xsara tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 3.87% of these flagged Citroen Xsara defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Citroen Xsara 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 Xsara year:

• 2000 Citroen Xsara - 57.1% first-time pass, 238 tests
• 2001 Citroen Xsara - 56% first-time pass, 829 tests
• 2002 Citroen Xsara - 60.3% first-time pass, 1,326 tests
• 2003 Citroen Xsara - 56.9% first-time pass, 1,806 tests
• 2004 Citroen Xsara - 59.4% first-time pass, 2,759 tests
• 2005 Citroen Xsara - 56.8% first-time pass, 3,078 tests
• 2006 Citroen Xsara - 59% first-time pass, 5,067 tests
• 2007 Citroen Xsara - 57.3% first-time pass, 4,775 tests
• 2008 Citroen Xsara - 56.3% first-time pass, 2,663 tests
• 2009 Citroen Xsara - 61.8% first-time pass, 2,269 tests
• 2010 Citroen Xsara - 62.6% first-time pass, 1,185 tests

Citroen Xsara by fuel type

Diesel and petrol versions of the same car fail on different things, so the fuel type moves the number:

• Petrol Citroen Xsara - 59.2% first-time pass, 15,505 tests
• Diesel Citroen Xsara - 57.4% first-time pass, 10,643 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 C3 Aircross - 86.4%
• Citroen C4 Cactus - 79.2%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Vauxhall Tigra - 58.1%
• Hyundai Coupe - 58.1%
• Mitsubishi Carisma - 58.1%
• Suzuki Liana - 58%
• Renault G Scenic D-Que Tt Energy Dciss - 58%
• Ldv Convoy - 58%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• Britain's most and least reliable cars: 33 million MOT tests analysed
• 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