Pass rate
86.9%
Above average — 4.3 pts behind the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 5,840 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £18–£49
2021 Citroen C4 MOT pass rate
- 2021
- typical 26,132 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
29.9% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 92.8% pass
- Avoid 2004 64.4% pass
Across the 20 years on record, a spread of 28.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 85.1%
- Typical mileage
- 26k mi
The 2021 Citroen C4 MOT pass rate is 86.9% of its MOT tests — 4.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 29.9% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Visibility: 3.1× the national share
Visibility accounts for 15.3% of everything recorded on the 2021 Citroen C4, against 5.0% nationally — 10.3 points above. Tyres are still the single largest share at 29.9%, but at 19.8% nationally that one is ordinary. Wipers, washers and a chip in the driver’s eyeline are the three quickest ways to fail a test that the car otherwise deserves to pass.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 91.2%; this one manages 86.9% — 4.3 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 55% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 C4? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2021 Citroen C4 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 4.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 85.1%. The median 2021 Citroen C4 in this dataset had covered 26,132 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 90% of tests, with a 86.9% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 87.2% of the time, April–September 86.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively", noted on 3.99% of tests.
- 5,840 recorded tests behind this page.
- 86.9% overall pass rate, 85.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Citroen C4, the average is 74.7% — best year 2023 (92.8%), worst 2004 (64.4%).
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
- 5,840
- Typical mileage (median)
- 26,132 mi
- Make and model
- Citroen C4
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Wiper Blade
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the C4 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (90% of tests).
Where the Citroen C4 is most common
Across all C4 model years on record (2004–2023): 199,734 Citroen C4 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 504,908 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 7,065 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 7,065 | 79.6% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 5,377 | 76.8% |
| 3 | Peterborough (PE) | 4,927 | 76.2% |
| 4 | Nottingham (NG) | 4,480 | 73.6% |
| 5 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 3,695 | 73.8% |
| 6 | Manchester (M) | 3,616 | 77.1% |
| 7 | Cardiff (CF) | 3,540 | 72.2% |
| 8 | Coventry (CV) | 3,537 | 77.0% |
| 9 | Doncaster (DN) | 3,442 | 74.1% |
| 10 | Leicester (LE) | 3,220 | 76.4% |
| 11 | Derby (DE) | 3,154 | 75.3% |
| 12 | Bristol (BS) | 2,949 | 72.1% |
| 13 | Portsmouth (PO) | 2,931 | 72.7% |
| 14 | Norwich (NR) | 2,818 | 73.5% |
| 15 | Glasgow (G) | 2,758 | 71.4% |
| 16 | Swansea (SA) | 2,631 | 72.8% |
| 17 | Edinburgh (EH) | 2,629 | 69.4% |
| 18 | Northampton (NN) | 2,582 | 73.4% |
| 19 | Preston (PR) | 2,488 | 75.5% |
| 20 | Brighton (BN) | 2,459 | 72.9% |
The twenty areas with the most Citroen C4 cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the C4
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 945 | 86.6% |
| North West | 807 | 88.8% |
| Scotland | 689 | 82.4% |
| Yorkshire | 572 | 86.9% |
| South West | 514 | 87.0% |
| West Midlands | 497 | 89.1% |
| East of England | 481 | 87.1% |
| Wales | 411 | 86.6% |
| North East | 404 | 90.1% |
| East Midlands | 360 | 86.7% |
| London | 159 | 83.6% |
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 2021 C4
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 2021 C4
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 wipers and washers 4.0% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the suspension joints 1.9% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
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 brakes 1.3% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
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 2021 C4 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £18–£49 — and 55% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £18–£49
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 55%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 5,840 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 C4, side by side
20 model years on record, from 2004 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 64.4% to 92.8% — a spread of 28.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 64.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 71.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 70.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 69.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 68.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 69.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 69.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 72.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 72.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 72.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 73.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 76.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 78.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2017 82.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2018 84.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2019 86.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2020 89.7% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 86.9%wipers does not clear the…
- 2022 89.4% wipers blade defective
- 2023 92.8% ball joint excessively worn
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 2021 Citroen C4 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 2021 cars with a similar record
- Ford Ranger 86.9%
- Peugeot 508 86.9%
- Land Rover Discovry 86.7%
- Mercedes-Benz Eqc 87.3%
- Fiat 500E La Prima 86.5%
- Vauxhall Corsa E 86.3%
Closest pass rates among 2021 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 2021 Citroen C4 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 4,933 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 1,483 | 29.90% | 19.76% | +10.14 |
| Brakes | 1,441 | 29.10% | 20.89% | +8.21 |
| Visibility | 759 | 15.30% | 4.97% | +10.33 |
| Suspension | 597 | 12.00% | 20.98% | −8.98 |
| Non-component advisories | 334 | 6.70% | 4.18% | +2.52 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 128 | 2.60% | 12.21% | −9.61 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 102 | 2.10% | 5.57% | −3.47 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 47 | 0.90% | 5.52% | −4.62 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 25 | 0.50% | 0.82% | −0.32 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 17 | 0.30% | 1.76% | −1.46 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 4.0% | £8–22 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.8% | £8–22 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.9% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 1.9% | £8–22 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 1.4% | £5–15 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 1.2% | £80–250 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.0% | £18–45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.8% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.6% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.7% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.9% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 2.6% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 2.4% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 3,480 | 90.0% | 18,921 mi |
| 30-60k | 2,211 | 82.5% | 40,523 mi |
| 60-90k | 136 | 80.1% | 67,001 mi |
| 90-120k | 11 | 72.7% | 101,106 mi |
| 120k+ | 1 | 100.0% | 146,595 mi |
Source: 5,840 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.
2021 C4 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Citroen C4?
86.9% of the 5,840 2021 Citroen C4 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 85.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Citroen C4?
The three most recorded items are wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (3.99%), wipers blade defective (2.84%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (1.95%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2021 Citroen C4 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Citroen C4 in this dataset had covered 26,132 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2021 Citroen C4?
Petrol: 86.9% pass rate across 5,234 tests. Diesel: 86.8% pass rate across 598 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2021 Citroen C4 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 87.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 86.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.