Pass rate
77.6%
Around average — 6.4 pts behind the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 42,935 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £42–£121
2016 DS DS3 MOT pass rate
- 2016
- typical 53,814 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
24.0% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 90.3% pass
- Avoid 2015 74.4% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 15.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 71.7%
- Typical mileage
- 54k mi
The 2016 DS DS3 MOT pass rate is 77.6% of its MOT tests — 6.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how DS DS3 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.3× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 12.9% of everything recorded on the 2016 DS Ds3, against 5.6% nationally — 7.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 24.0%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 84.0%; this one manages 77.6% — 6.4 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 27% 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 DS DS3? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2016 DS DS3 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 6.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 71.7%. The median 2016 DS DS3 in this dataset had covered 53,814 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 64% of tests, with a 79.3% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 77.5% of the time, April–September 77.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt", noted on 6.03% of tests.
- 42,935 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.6% overall pass rate, 71.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the DS DS3, the average is 79.5% — best year 2022 (90.3%), worst 2015 (74.4%).
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
- 42,935
- Typical mileage (median)
- 53,814 mi
- Make and model
- DS DS3
- 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 DS3 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (64% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the DS3
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 5,851 | 76.8% |
| South East | 5,374 | 80.9% |
| West Midlands | 4,917 | 79.4% |
| Yorkshire | 4,639 | 77.6% |
| Scotland | 4,125 | 71.3% |
| South West | 4,002 | 77.6% |
| East Midlands | 3,562 | 76.8% |
| East of England | 3,551 | 81.0% |
| Wales | 3,529 | 75.7% |
| North East | 2,719 | 76.2% |
| London | 666 | 86.5% |
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 2016 DS3
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 2016 DS3
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 coil springs 4.8% 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 2.3% of tests
“track rod end ball joint has excessive play”
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 lights 1.8% 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.
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 2016 DS3 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £42–£121 — and 27% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £42–£121
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot split or…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 27%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 42,935 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 DS3, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2015 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.4% to 90.3% — a spread of 15.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2015 74.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 77.6%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2017 81.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 83.7% wipers does not clear the…
- 2019 88.4% wipers does not clear the…
- 2020 87.2% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 87.9% wipers does not clear the…
- 2022 90.3% tread depth below requirements of…
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 2016 DS DS3 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 2016 cars with a similar record
- Citroen C4 Grand Picasso 77.6%
- Hyundai I800 77.5%
- Renault Grand Scenic 77.9%
- Peugeot 3008 78.1%
- Citroen C4 Cactus 78.2%
- Peugeot 5008 76.9%
Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 DS DS3 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 70,110 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 | 16,964 | 24.00% | 20.89% | +3.11 |
| Tyres | 16,507 | 23.30% | 19.76% | +3.54 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 9,128 | 12.90% | 5.57% | +7.33 |
| Suspension | 8,959 | 12.70% | 20.98% | −8.28 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 6,464 | 9.10% | 12.21% | −3.11 |
| Visibility | 3,463 | 4.90% | 4.97% | −0.07 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3,239 | 4.60% | 5.52% | −0.92 |
| Steering | 2,489 | 3.50% | 2.57% | +0.93 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,259 | 3.20% | 4.18% | −0.98 |
| Road Wheels | 638 | 0.90% | 0.75% | +0.15 |
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 | 6.0% | £80–250 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.8% | £25–65 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 2.3% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 1.8% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.8% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.7% | £5–25 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.6% | £8–22 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.6% | £80–200 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.4% | £5–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 17.4% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.7% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 12.6% | £45–95 |
| Exhaust system system insecure Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 8.0% | £45–120 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.5% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 5.6% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 4,623 | 85.3% | 22,687 mi |
| 30-60k | 21,505 | 78.9% | 46,002 mi |
| 60-90k | 13,085 | 74.5% | 72,016 mi |
| 90-120k | 3,034 | 72.0% | 101,396 mi |
| 120k+ | 681 | 69.5% | 138,402 mi |
Source: 42,935 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.
2016 DS3 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 DS DS3?
77.6% of the 42,935 2016 DS DS3 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 71.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 DS DS3?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.03%), coil spring fractured or broken (4.84%), track rod end ball joint has excessive play (2.25%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 DS DS3 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.3% of the time, falling to 69.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 DS DS3 in this dataset had covered 53,814 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 DS DS3?
Petrol: 79.3% pass rate across 27,570 tests. Diesel: 74.6% pass rate across 15,365 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2016 DS DS3 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 77.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 77.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.