Pass rate
70.9%
Below average — 1.7 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 55 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£88
2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 103,879 mi
Only 55 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.
Most common fault
Lamps & electrics
21.7% of faults · 12.2% nationally
Part only £6–£18 for Registration plate lamp inoperative (multiple lamps). What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2010 75.0% pass
- Avoid 2002 64.3% pass
Across the 9 years on record, a spread of 10.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 64.4%
- Typical mileage
- 104k mi
The 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso MOT pass rate is 70.9% of its MOT tests — 1.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Lamps & electrics is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Citroen Xsara Picasso does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.8× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 21.7% of everything recorded on the 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso, against 12.2% nationally — 9.5 points above. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- Based on a small sample. 55 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 Picasso? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 1.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 64.4%. The median 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso in this dataset had covered 103,879 mi.
58% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 71.9% of the time.
The single most recorded failure item is "Position lamp not working", noted on 9.09% of tests.
- 55 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.9% overall pass rate, 64.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Citroen Xsara Picasso, the average is 68.2% — best year 2010 (75.0%), worst 2002 (64.3%).
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
- 55
- Typical mileage (median)
- 103,879 mi
- Make and model
- Citroen Xsara Picasso
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Xsara Picasso MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 53% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (58% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Xsara Picasso
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 16 | 68.8% |
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 2003 Xsara Picasso
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 2003 Xsara Picasso
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 9.1% of tests
“position lamp not working”
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 coil springs 7.3% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the suspension joints 5.5% of tests
“linkage ball joints 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.
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 2003 Xsara Picasso through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£88 — and 52% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£88
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp with a multiple light source up to…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: integral vehicle structure condition corroded…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 52%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 55 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 Picasso, side by side
9 model years on record, from 2002 to 2010. Across them the pass rate runs from 64.3% to 75.0% — a spread of 10.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 64.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 70.9%position lamp not working
- 2004 66.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 67.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 68.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 67.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 69.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 65.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2010 75.0% prescribed areas prescribed area…
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 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- MINI Mini 70.9%
- Rover 75 70.9%
- Renault Scenic 71.0%
- Toyota Previa 71.1%
- Volvo XC90 70.7%
- Toyota Hilux 71.2%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso 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 175 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 39 | 21.70% | 12.21% | +9.49 |
| Brakes | 34 | 18.90% | 20.89% | −1.99 |
| Tyres | 29 | 16.10% | 19.76% | −3.66 |
| Suspension | 25 | 13.90% | 20.98% | −7.08 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 16 | 8.90% | 5.57% | +3.33 |
| Visibility | 8 | 4.40% | 4.97% | −0.57 |
| Steering | 8 | 4.40% | 2.57% | +1.83 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 6 | 3.30% | 5.52% | −2.22 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 6 | 3.30% | 0.82% | +2.48 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4 | 2.20% | 1.76% | +0.44 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 9.1% | £5–25 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 7.3% | £25–65 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.5% | £18–45 |
| Pre 01/07/2008 turbo emissions test not completed because smoke levels are significantly in excess of the specified… Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 5.5% | £60–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.5% | £5–20 |
| Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.5% | £3–12 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 3.6% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp not working on main beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| Integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.6% | £180–450 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 18.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.6% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 14.6% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.7% | £45–95 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 10.9% | £45–120 |
| Flexible brake hoses ferrule excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 10.9% | £25–70 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 6 | 100.0% | 41,667 mi |
| 60-90k | 15 | 73.3% | 71,425 mi |
| 90-120k | 13 | 69.2% | 105,070 mi |
| 120k+ | 21 | 61.9% | 195,788 mi |
Source: 55 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.
2003 Xsara Picasso MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso?
70.9% of the 55 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 64.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso?
The three most recorded items are position lamp not working (9.09%), coil spring fractured or broken (7.27%), linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn (5.45%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 61.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso in this dataset had covered 103,879 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Citroen Xsara Picasso?
Diesel: 71.9% pass rate across 32 tests. Petrol: 69.6% pass rate across 23 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.