Pass rate
92.3%
Above average — 1.1 pts ahead of the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 716 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £19–£47
2021 Citroen C4 Cactus MOT pass rate
- 2021
- typical 29,173 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
32.3% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
2.8 pts down across model years — 6.6% in 2015, 3.8% in 2020.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 92.3% pass · this year
- Avoid 2014 73.5% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 18.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 91.7%
- Typical mileage
- 29k mi
The 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus MOT pass rate is 92.3% of its MOT tests — 1.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.3% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Citroen C4 Cactus does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.6× the national share
Tyres make up 32.3% of everything recorded on the 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus, against 19.8% nationally — 12.5 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 56% 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 Cactus? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 1.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 91.7%. The median 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus in this dataset had covered 29,173 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 92% of tests, with a 92.1% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 93.3% of the time, April–September 89.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively", noted on 2.51% of tests.
- 716 recorded tests behind this page.
- 92.3% overall pass rate, 91.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Citroen C4 Cactus, the average is 82.9% — best year 2021 (92.3%), worst 2014 (73.5%).
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
- 716
- Typical mileage (median)
- 29,173 mi
- Make and model
- Citroen C4 Cactus
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Cactus MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 79% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (92% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the C4 Cactus
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Yorkshire | 113 | 92.0% |
| North West | 97 | 93.8% |
| South East | 88 | 95.5% |
| North East | 70 | 91.4% |
| East of England | 65 | 95.4% |
| South West | 63 | 87.3% |
| Scotland | 58 | 89.7% |
| Wales | 54 | 90.7% |
| West Midlands | 50 | 94.0% |
| East Midlands | 41 | 92.7% |
| London | 17 | 88.2% |
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 Cactus
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 Cactus
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 2.5% 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 brakes 1.0% 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.
-
Check the lights 1.0% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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 2021 C4 Cactus through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £19–£47 — and 56% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £19–£47
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep…
- £45–£95
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 56%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 716 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 Cactus, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2014 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.5% to 92.3% — a spread of 18.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2014 73.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 74.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 78.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2017 81.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2018 83.4% wipers does not clear the…
- 2019 85.9% wipers does not clear the…
- 2020 90.7% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 92.3%wipers does not clear the…
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 Cactus 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
- Porsche Taycan 92.3%
- Land Rover R Rover 92.3%
- Volkswagen ID3 Family 92.3%
- Jaguar F-Pace Rdynam HSE 92.3%
- Jeep Renegade 92.3%
- Hyundai Ioniq 92.2%
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 Cactus 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 503 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 | 163 | 32.30% | 19.76% | +12.54 |
| Brakes | 134 | 26.60% | 20.89% | +5.71 |
| Visibility | 52 | 10.30% | 4.97% | +5.33 |
| Suspension | 39 | 7.70% | 20.98% | −13.28 |
| Non-component advisories | 39 | 7.70% | 4.18% | +3.52 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 38 | 7.50% | 12.21% | −4.71 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 16 | 3.20% | 5.57% | −2.37 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 14 | 2.80% | 5.52% | −2.72 |
| Road Wheels | 6 | 1.20% | 0.75% | +0.45 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 0.40% | 1.76% | −1.36 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.5% | £8–22 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.3% | £8–22 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 1.1% | £5–15 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.98% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.98% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.98% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.98% | £5–25 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 0.56% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.56% | £30–80 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.56% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 11.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.8% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.5% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 3.8% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.5% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 371 | 94.1% | 19,292 mi |
| 30-60k | 301 | 90.7% | 42,713 mi |
| 60-90k | 40 | 87.5% | 69,751 mi |
| 90-120k | 4 | 100.0% | 93,846 mi |
Source: 716 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 Cactus MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus?
92.3% of the 716 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 91.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus?
The three most recorded items are wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (2.51%), wipers blade defective (1.26%), washers provides insufficient washer liquid (1.12%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 94.1% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus in this dataset had covered 29,173 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus?
Petrol: 92.1% pass rate across 656 tests. Diesel: 95.0% pass rate across 60 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2021 Citroen C4 Cactus MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 93.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 89.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.