Pass rate
66.9%
Below average — 6.9 pts behind the 73.8% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 975 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £53–£161
2000 Citroen Xsara MOT pass rate
- 2000
- typical 101,968 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
17.2% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2009 71.7% pass
- Avoid 2000 66.9% pass · this year
Across the 11 years on record, a spread of 4.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 54.6%
- Typical mileage
- 102k mi
The 2000 Citroen Xsara MOT pass rate is 66.9% of its MOT tests — 6.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 17.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Citroen Xsara does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.4× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 13.0% of everything recorded on the 2000 Citroen Xsara, against 5.5% nationally — 7.5 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 17.2%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.8%; this one manages 66.9% — 6.9 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 25% 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 Xsara? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2000 Citroen Xsara compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.8%, so this figure is 6.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 54.6%. The median 2000 Citroen Xsara in this dataset had covered 101,968 mi.
79% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 67.2% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 66.2% of the time, April–September 68.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 8.62% of tests.
- 975 recorded tests behind this page.
- 66.9% overall pass rate, 54.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Citroen Xsara, the average is 69.3% — best year 2009 (71.7%), worst 2000 (66.9%).
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
- 975
- Typical mileage (median)
- 101,968 mi
- Make and model
- Citroen Xsara
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Xsara MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 56% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (79% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Xsara
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 239 | 64.4% |
| South East | 193 | 68.4% |
| East of England | 144 | 68.1% |
| West Midlands | 85 | 76.5% |
| North West | 73 | 64.4% |
| Yorkshire | 68 | 69.1% |
| East Midlands | 61 | 62.3% |
| Scotland | 44 | 56.8% |
| Wales | 30 | 56.7% |
| North East | 21 | 76.2% |
| London | 17 | 76.5% |
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 2000 Xsara
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 2000 Xsara
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 exhaust and emissions 6.3% of tests
“exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
-
Check the lights 4.3% 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 steering 3.7% of tests
“steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
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 2000 Xsara through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £53–£161 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £53–£161
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter missing or no longer…
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 975 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 Xsara, side by side
11 model years on record, from 2000 to 2010. Across them the pass rate runs from 66.9% to 71.7% — a spread of 4.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 66.9%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 68.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 69.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 68.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 69.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 68.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 69.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 69.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 68.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 71.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 71.6% 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 2000 Citroen Xsara 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 2000 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen Beetle 66.9%
- Peugeot 206 67.8%
- Ford Fiesta 68.3%
- Honda Cr-V 68.7%
- Renault Clio 69.0%
- Ford Focus 69.3%
Closest pass rates among 2000 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 2000 Citroen Xsara 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 3,287 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 | 580 | 17.20% | 20.89% | −3.69 |
| Suspension | 533 | 15.80% | 20.98% | −5.18 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 442 | 13.10% | 12.21% | +0.89 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 439 | 13.00% | 5.52% | +7.48 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 430 | 12.70% | 5.57% | +7.13 |
| Tyres | 387 | 11.50% | 19.76% | −8.26 |
| Visibility | 162 | 4.80% | 4.97% | −0.17 |
| Steering | 144 | 4.30% | 2.57% | +1.73 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 100 | 3.00% | 1.76% | +1.24 |
| Non-component advisories | 70 | 2.10% | 4.18% | −2.08 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 8.6% | £80–250 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 6.3% | £45–120 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.9% | £80–250 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.7% | £60–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.3% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £5–25 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 3.7% | £120–300 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.7% | £80–200 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 3.7% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 22.6% | £200–700 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 17.6% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 15.1% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.6% | £45–110 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 10.4% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 83.3% | 29,354 mi |
| 30-60k | 138 | 68.8% | 46,772 mi |
| 60-90k | 239 | 69.5% | 75,423 mi |
| 90-120k | 270 | 67.0% | 104,850 mi |
| 120k+ | 311 | 64.0% | 161,006 mi |
Source: 975 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.
2000 Xsara MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2000 Citroen Xsara?
66.9% of the 975 2000 Citroen Xsara tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.8% for cars first used in 2000. First-attempt pass rate: 54.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2000 Citroen Xsara?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (8.62%), exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases (6.26%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.92%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2000 Citroen Xsara MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 64.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2000 Citroen Xsara in this dataset had covered 101,968 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2000 Citroen Xsara?
Petrol: 67.2% pass rate across 769 tests. Diesel: 65.5% pass rate across 206 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2000 Citroen Xsara MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 66.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 68.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.