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2023 Citroen C4 MOT pass rate

Only 69 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.

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Pass rate by postcode →

Pass rate

92.8%

Above average — 2.0 pts behind the 94.8% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 69 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £24–£64

Which year to buy

  • Best 2023 92.8% pass · this year
  • Avoid 2004 64.4% pass

Across the 20 years on record, a spread of 28.4 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
92.2%
Typical mileage
19k mi

The 2023 Citroen C4 MOT pass rate is 92.8% of its MOT tests — 2.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.0% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2023 Citroen C4 on the real record

92.8% of 2023 Citroen C4 MOTs passed — 69 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Expert verdict

Advisories: 4.2× the national share

Advisories make up 17.5% of everything recorded on the 2023 Citroen C4, against 4.2% nationally — 13.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 25.0%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Most of what testers record here is advisory — worth reading, not worth walking away from on its own.

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 .

Every Citroen C4 first registered in 2023 is combined here — 3 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.

How does the 2023 Citroen C4 compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 94.8%, so this figure is 2.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 92.2%. The median 2023 Citroen C4 in this dataset had covered 18,530 mi.

The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 75% of tests, with a 96.2% pass rate.

The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint excessively worn", noted on 2.90% of tests.

  • 69 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 92.8% overall pass rate, 92.2% 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
69
Typical mileage (median)
18,530 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

Ball Joint

Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.

Does mileage affect the C4 MOT pass rate?

0-30k 97.9%
30-60k 77.8%
60-90k 100.0%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 69% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Petrol 96.2%
Diesel 82.4%

Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (75% 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 Share of all Tests Pass rate
1 Birmingham (B) 7,065 3.5% 15,971 79.6%
2 Sheffield (S) 5,377 2.7% 13,625 76.8%
3 Peterborough (PE) 4,927 2.5% 12,357 76.2%
4 Nottingham (NG) 4,480 2.2% 11,580 73.6%
5 Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) 3,695 1.8% 10,137 73.8%
6 Manchester (M) 3,616 1.8% 8,043 77.1%
7 Cardiff (CF) 3,540 1.8% 9,689 72.2%
8 Coventry (CV) 3,537 1.8% 8,680 77.0%
9 Doncaster (DN) 3,442 1.7% 8,741 74.1%
10 Leicester (LE) 3,220 1.6% 8,123 76.4%
11 Derby (DE) 3,154 1.6% 7,680 75.3%
12 Bristol (BS) 2,949 1.5% 8,085 72.1%
13 Portsmouth (PO) 2,931 1.5% 8,229 72.7%
14 Norwich (NR) 2,818 1.4% 8,259 73.5%
15 Glasgow (G) 2,758 1.4% 7,271 71.4%
16 Swansea (SA) 2,631 1.3% 7,649 72.8%
17 Edinburgh (EH) 2,629 1.3% 7,370 69.4%
18 Northampton (NN) 2,582 1.3% 6,537 73.4%
19 Preston (PR) 2,488 1.2% 6,452 75.5%
20 Brighton (BN) 2,459 1.2% 6,894 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 →

What fails a 2023 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.

Brakes 25.0%
+4.1 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Tyres 22.5%
+2.7 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Advisories 17.5%
+13.3 pts vs national national 4.2% Price advisories parts
Visibility 15.0%
+10.0 pts vs national national 5.0% Order bulbs & wipers
Show the other 4 fault categories
  • Suspension 12.5%
  • Body & chassis 2.5%
  • Identification 2.5%
  • Road wheels 2.5%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2023 Citroen C4 tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2023 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.

  1. Check the suspension joints 2.9% of tests

    “ball joint excessively worn”

    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.

  2. Check the wipers and washers 2.9% of tests

    “washers provides insufficient washer liquid”

    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.

  3. Check the lights 1.4% of tests

    “mirrors slightly damaged”

    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.

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 2023 C4 through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £24–£64 — and 38% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£24–£64
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
38%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 69 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.

  1. 2004 64.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
  2. 2005 71.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
  3. 2006 70.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
  4. 2007 69.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  5. 2008 68.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  6. 2009 69.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
  7. 2010 69.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  8. 2011 72.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
  9. 2012 72.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
  10. 2013 72.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
  11. 2014 73.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
  12. 2015 76.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
  13. 2016 78.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  14. 2017 82.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
  15. 2018 84.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
  16. 2019 86.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
  17. 2020 89.7% wipers does not clear the…
  18. 2021 86.9% wipers does not clear the…
  19. 2022 89.4% wipers blade defective
  20. 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 2023 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.

Compare 2023 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2023 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2023 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 2023 Citroen C4 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 8 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold

Every inspection category

Shares of the 40 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
Brakes 10 25.00% 20.89% +4.11
Tyres 9 22.50% 19.76% +2.74
Non-component advisories 7 17.50% 4.18% +13.32
Visibility 6 15.00% 4.97% +10.03
Suspension 5 12.50% 20.98% −8.48
Body, chassis, structure 1 2.50% 5.57% −3.07
Identification of the vehicle 1 2.50% 1.76% +0.74
Road Wheels 1 2.50% 0.75% +1.75

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 69 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Major 2.9% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres Major 2.9% £45–95 Tyres →
Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility Major 2.9% £5–15 Windscreen Washer →
Fractured Road Wheels Major 1.4% £20–55 Wheel Hub Bearing Kit →
Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure Minor 1.4% £80–250 Body Panel Repair →
Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility Minor 1.4% £3–15 Bulb →
Registration plates insecure Identification of the vehicle Rectified 1.4% £20–80 Replacement Service Parts →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Major 1.4% £45–95 Tyres →
Washers not working Visibility Major 1.4% £5–15 Windscreen Washer →
Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility Rectified 1.4% £5–15 Windscreen Washer →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 8.7% £45–110
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 8.7% £45–95
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension Advisory 4.3% £18–45
Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories Advisory 4.3% £20–80
Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories Advisory 4.3% £45–95
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 2.9% £18–45

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 48 97.9% 15,188 mi
30-60k 18 77.8% 47,506 mi
60-90k 3 100.0% 76,638 mi

Source: 69 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.

2023 C4 MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2023 Citroen C4?

92.8% of the 69 2023 Citroen C4 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 94.8% for cars first used in 2023. First-attempt pass rate: 92.2%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2023 Citroen C4?

The three most recorded items are ball joint excessively worn (2.90%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.90%), washers provides insufficient washer liquid (2.90%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2023 Citroen C4 MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 97.9% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2023 Citroen C4 in this dataset had covered 18,530 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2023 Citroen C4?

Petrol: 96.2% pass rate across 52 tests. Diesel: 82.4% pass rate across 17 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.