Pass rate
77.7%
Around average — 0.5 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,352 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £46–£144
2012 Citroen C5 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 104,706 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
25.1% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
4.0 pts up across model years — 2.0% in 2003, 6.0% in 2013.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 91.1% pass
- Avoid 2008 71.1% pass
Across the 20 years on record, a spread of 20 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 72.3%
- Typical mileage
- 105k mi
The 2012 Citroen C5 MOT pass rate is 77.7% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
When it fails, it costs
Only 31% 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 C5? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Citroen C5 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 0.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.3%. The median 2012 Citroen C5 in this dataset had covered 104,706 mi.
99% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 77.6% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.0% of the time, April–September 77.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt", noted on 8.14% of tests.
- 1,352 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.7% overall pass rate, 72.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Citroen C5, the average is 82.1% — best year 2021 (91.1%), worst 2008 (71.1%).
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
- 1,352
- Typical mileage (median)
- 104,706 mi
- Make and model
- Citroen C5
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the C5 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (99% of tests).
Where the Citroen C5 is most common
Across all C5 model years on record (2001–2021): 33,218 Citroen C5 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 70,401 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 940 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) | 940 | 85.9% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 894 | 82.7% |
| 3 | Sheffield (S) | 825 | 84.2% |
| 4 | Glasgow (G) | 720 | 83.8% |
| 5 | Nottingham (NG) | 675 | 82.9% |
| 6 | Derby (DE) | 612 | 82.2% |
| 7 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 594 | 86.1% |
| 8 | Cardiff (CF) | 591 | 82.4% |
| 9 | Doncaster (DN) | 570 | 81.2% |
| 10 | Coventry (CV) | 563 | 82.6% |
| 11 | Swansea (SA) | 558 | 82.7% |
| 12 | Bristol (BS) | 558 | 80.6% |
| 13 | Edinburgh (EH) | 532 | 84.5% |
| 14 | Manchester (M) | 503 | 85.6% |
| 15 | Portsmouth (PO) | 496 | 76.4% |
| 16 | Northampton (NN) | 494 | 80.7% |
| 17 | Norwich (NR) | 492 | 79.2% |
| 18 | Ipswich (IP) | 490 | 80.7% |
| 19 | Preston (PR) | 475 | 82.8% |
| 20 | Leicester (LE) | 474 | 83.0% |
The twenty areas with the most Citroen C5 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 C5
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| East of England | 233 | 82.8% |
| South East | 224 | 75.9% |
| South West | 172 | 72.1% |
| North West | 168 | 77.4% |
| Yorkshire | 146 | 74.0% |
| East Midlands | 106 | 80.2% |
| West Midlands | 85 | 84.7% |
| Scotland | 83 | 74.7% |
| North East | 71 | 78.9% |
| Wales | 60 | 76.7% |
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 C5
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 C5
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 lights 5.2% 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 suspension joints 4.4% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush 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.
-
Check the windscreen 2.4% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
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 C5 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £46–£144 — and 31% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £46–£144
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot split or…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 31%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,352 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 C5, side by side
20 model years on record, from 2001 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.1% to 91.1% — a spread of 20 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 72.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 71.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 72.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 71.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 71.9% position lamp not working
- 2006 73.2% position lamp not working
- 2007 71.3% position lamp not working
- 2008 71.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 71.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2010 72.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2011 74.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2012 77.7%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2013 77.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2014 80.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 82.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2016 84.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2018 85.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2019 88.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2020 89.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2021 91.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
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 C5 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
- Vauxhall Astra 77.7%
- Skoda Octavia 77.7%
- Vauxhall Agila 77.7%
- Skoda Superb 77.7%
- Abarth 500 77.8%
- Volkswagen Scirocco 77.6%
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 C5 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 2,813 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 | 714 | 25.10% | 20.98% | +4.12 |
| Tyres | 494 | 17.40% | 19.76% | −2.36 |
| Brakes | 465 | 16.30% | 20.89% | −4.59 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 421 | 14.80% | 12.21% | +2.59 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 216 | 7.60% | 5.57% | +2.03 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 165 | 5.80% | 5.52% | +0.28 |
| Non-component advisories | 100 | 3.50% | 4.18% | −0.68 |
| Steering | 97 | 3.40% | 2.57% | +0.83 |
| Visibility | 96 | 3.40% | 4.97% | −1.57 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 45 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 8.1% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 5.8% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.2% | £5–20 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.4% | £40–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £80–200 |
| Position lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.2% | £5–25 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £18–45 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.6% | £5–25 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.6% | £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 | 20.6% | £45–95 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 14.5% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.3% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.2% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 7.8% | £200–700 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.1% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 16 | 93.8% | 25,162 mi |
| 30-60k | 113 | 88.5% | 48,864 mi |
| 60-90k | 339 | 81.4% | 75,655 mi |
| 90-120k | 408 | 74.5% | 104,504 mi |
| 120k+ | 475 | 74.5% | 148,952 mi |
Source: 1,352 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 C5 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Citroen C5?
77.7% of the 1,352 2012 Citroen C5 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 72.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Citroen C5?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (8.14%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (5.77%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (5.18%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Citroen C5 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.8% of the time, falling to 74.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Citroen C5 in this dataset had covered 104,706 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Citroen C5?
Diesel: 77.6% pass rate across 1,338 tests. Petrol: 85.7% pass rate across 14 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Citroen C5 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 77.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.