Peugeot 208: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Peugeot 208 fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 1.5 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 180,164 individual Peugeot 208 tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 75.2% first-time pass rate means roughly 25 in every 100 Peugeot 208s 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 Peugeot 208 tested had covered 58,006 miles and was built around 2015.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Peugeot 208 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. See how it stacks up against the Ford Fiesta.

Looking at a specific Peugeot 208 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 Peugeot 208s actually sold for at UK salvage auction, from 17 real settled sales.

Most common MOT failures on a Peugeot 208

1. Emissions levels exceed the manufacturer's specified limits, 1.3% of tests (5.74x the national rate for this defect)
2. Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer, 2% of tests (5.07x the national rate for this defect)
3. Emissions levels exceed default limits, 1.1% of tests (3.7x the national rate for this defect)
4. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 2.8% of tests (3.66x the national rate for this defect)
5. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 4% of tests (3.54x the national rate for this defect)
6. A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps, 1.7% of tests (2.61x the national rate for this defect)
7. A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED, 1.9% of tests (2.15x the national rate for this defect)
8. Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn, 1.2% of tests (2.1x the national rate for this defect)
9. Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction, 1.4% of tests (1.54x the national rate for this defect)
10. A tyre seriously damaged, 2.4% of tests (1.18x the national rate for this defect)

From 252,219 DVSA-tracked Peugeot 208 tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 4.54% of these flagged Peugeot 208 defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Peugeot 208 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 Peugeot 208 year:

• 2012 Peugeot 208 - 66.3% first-time pass, 14,143 tests
• 2013 Peugeot 208 - 67.9% first-time pass, 32,705 tests
• 2014 Peugeot 208 - 71.6% first-time pass, 28,731 tests
• 2015 Peugeot 208 - 76.8% first-time pass, 27,426 tests
• 2016 Peugeot 208 - 79.2% first-time pass, 25,802 tests
• 2017 Peugeot 208 - 80% first-time pass, 17,584 tests
• 2018 Peugeot 208 - 82.5% first-time pass, 15,274 tests
• 2019 Peugeot 208 - 86.9% first-time pass, 17,060 tests
• 2020 Peugeot 208 - 84.1% first-time pass, 276 tests

Peugeot 208 by fuel type

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

• Petrol Peugeot 208 - 76.8% first-time pass, 142,038 tests
• Diesel Peugeot 208 - 71.2% first-time pass, 36,820 tests
• Electric Peugeot 208 - 83.9% first-time pass, 242 tests

Other Peugeot models

• Peugeot Partner - 71.5%
• Peugeot 207 - 59.8%
• Peugeot 308 - 70%
• Peugeot 3008 - 74.7%
• Peugeot 107 - 69.7%
• Peugeot 2008 - 76.4%
• Peugeot 108 - 85.6%
• Peugeot Boxer - 76.8%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Skoda Fabia - 75.3%
• Toyota Corolla - 75.3%
• Mercedes-Benz 230 - 75.3%
• Mitsubishi L200 - 75.2%
• Volvo Xc90 - 75.2%
• Volvo S60 - 75.2%

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