Pass rate
83.3%
Around average — 6.1 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 258 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £20–£49
2012 Citroen C Zero MOT pass rate
- 2012
- 2 trims combined
- typical 45,540 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
26.8% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2016 94.4% pass
- Avoid 2013 80.0% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 14.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 80.9%
- Typical mileage
- 46k mi
The 2012 Citroen C Zero MOT pass rate is 83.3% of its MOT tests — 6.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Citroen C Zero does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Steering: 5.0× the national share
Steering accounts for 12.8% of everything recorded on the 2012 Citroen C Zero, against 2.6% nationally — 10.2 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 26.8%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 77.2% and this one manages 83.3% — 6.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 23% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Citroen C Zero? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Citroen C Zero first registered in 2012 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2012 Citroen C Zero compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 6.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 80.9%. The median 2012 Citroen C Zero in this dataset had covered 45,540 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 83.6% of the time, April–September 82.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt", noted on 14.73% of tests.
- 258 recorded tests behind this page.
- 83.3% overall pass rate, 80.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Citroen C Zero, the average is 84.1% — best year 2016 (94.4%), worst 2013 (80.0%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 258
- Typical mileage (median)
- 45,540 mi
- Make and model
- Citroen C Zero
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the C Zero MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the C Zero
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 50 | 78.0% |
| South East | 43 | 90.7% |
| East of England | 33 | 78.8% |
| East Midlands | 24 | 83.3% |
| Scotland | 22 | 68.2% |
| North West | 22 | 81.8% |
| West Midlands | 19 | 84.2% |
| Yorkshire | 15 | 93.3% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2012 C Zero
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2012 C Zero
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the suspension joints 14.7% of tests
“track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated,”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check the lights 2.3% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the brake pipes 2.3% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2012 C Zero through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £20–£49 — and 23% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £20–£49
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: rigid brake pipes excessively corroded
- £80–£180
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 23%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 258 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the C Zero, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2011 to 2016. Across them the pass rate runs from 80.0% to 94.4% — a spread of 14.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2011 86.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2012 83.3%track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2013 80.0% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2016 94.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2012 Citroen C Zero with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2012 cars with a similar record
- MINI Mini 83.3%
- Ford Fusion 83.3%
- Volkswagen Touareg 83.1%
- BMW 530 83.5%
- Audi Q5 83.0%
- Land Rover Range Rover 82.9%
Closest pass rates among 2012 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2012 Citroen C Zero 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 437 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 117 | 26.80% | 20.98% | +5.82 |
| Brakes | 111 | 25.40% | 20.89% | +4.51 |
| Tyres | 81 | 18.50% | 19.76% | −1.26 |
| Steering | 56 | 12.80% | 2.57% | +10.23 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 32 | 7.30% | 12.21% | −4.91 |
| Visibility | 20 | 4.60% | 4.97% | −0.37 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 10 | 2.30% | 5.57% | −3.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 5 | 1.10% | 4.18% | −3.08 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4 | 0.90% | 0.82% | +0.08 |
| Road Wheels | 1 | 0.20% | 0.75% | −0.55 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 14.7% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 8.1% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.3% | £5–20 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.3% | £80–180 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Rectified | 2.3% | £5–15 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.3% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.9% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of… Steering | Major | 1.9% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.2% | £18–45 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 16.3% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 13.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.2% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.0% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 10.5% | £80–180 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 4.7% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 58 | 82.8% | 24,459 mi |
| 30-60k | 144 | 86.8% | 44,829 mi |
| 60-90k | 50 | 76.0% | 71,689 mi |
| 90-120k | 6 | 66.7% | 93,816 mi |
Source: 258 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2012 C Zero MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Citroen C Zero?
83.3% of the 258 2012 Citroen C Zero tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 80.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Citroen C Zero?
The three most recorded items are track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (14.73%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (8.14%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (2.33%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Citroen C Zero MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 82.8% of the time, falling to 66.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Citroen C Zero in this dataset had covered 45,540 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 Citroen C Zero MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 83.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 82.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.