Pass rate
86.3%
Above average — 1.6 pts behind the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 388 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £45–£119
2018 DS DS5 MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 41,149 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
40.6% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2018 86.3% pass · this year
- Avoid 2015 77.6% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 8.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 84.2%
- Typical mileage
- 41k mi
The 2018 DS DS5 MOT pass rate is 86.3% of its MOT tests — 1.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 40.6% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.1× the national share
Tyres make up 40.6% of everything recorded on the 2018 DS Ds5, against 19.8% nationally — 20.8 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.
- 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.
- Based on a small sample. 388 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 DS DS5? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 DS DS5 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 1.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 84.2%. The median 2018 DS DS5 in this dataset had covered 41,149 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 97% of tests, with a 86.2% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 86.0% of the time, April–September 86.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm", noted on 2.58% of tests.
- 388 recorded tests behind this page.
- 86.3% overall pass rate, 84.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the DS DS5, the average is 81.0% — best year 2018 (86.3%), worst 2015 (77.6%).
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
- 388
- Typical mileage (median)
- 41,149 mi
- Make and model
- DS DS5
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the DS5 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 74% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (97% of tests).
Where the DS DS5 is most common
Across all DS5 model years on record (2015–2018): 2,135 DS DS5 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 4,742 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 66 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) | 66 | 85.8% |
| 2 | Peterborough (PE) | 59 | 86.7% |
| 3 | Sheffield (S) | 56 | 83.3% |
| 4 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 55 | 76.0% |
| 5 | Manchester (M) | 47 | 83.7% |
| 6 | Cardiff (CF) | 41 | 81.2% |
| 7 | Doncaster (DN) | 37 | 87.5% |
| 8 | Portsmouth (PO) | 36 | 75.8% |
| 9 | Nottingham (NG) | 36 | 72.8% |
| 10 | Glasgow (G) | 36 | 75.0% |
| 11 | Northampton (NN) | 35 | 78.1% |
| 12 | Edinburgh (EH) | 34 | 76.3% |
| 13 | Chester (CH) | 32 | 77.9% |
| 14 | Swansea (SA) | 32 | 84.9% |
| 15 | Warrington (WA) | 31 | 76.1% |
| 16 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 31 | 84.1% |
| 17 | Leicester (LE) | 29 | 80.0% |
| 18 | Derby (DE) | 29 | 88.9% |
| 19 | Preston (PR) | 29 | 86.2% |
| 20 | Norwich (NR) | 28 | 83.6% |
The twenty areas with the most DS DS5 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 DS5
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 63 | 81.0% |
| South East | 53 | 81.1% |
| East of England | 43 | 88.4% |
| Yorkshire | 40 | 92.5% |
| North East | 37 | 83.8% |
| North West | 37 | 94.6% |
| East Midlands | 35 | 85.7% |
| South West | 33 | 84.8% |
| West Midlands | 25 | 88.0% |
| Wales | 16 | 93.8% |
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 2018 DS5
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 2018 DS5
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 tyre tread 2.6% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
-
Check the wipers and washers 1.6% 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 0.8% of tests
“brake discs significantly and obviously worn”
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.
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 2018 DS5 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £45–£119 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £45–£119
- Cheapest common item: wipers does not clear the windscreen…
- £8–£22
- 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
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 388 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 DS5, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2015 to 2018. Across them the pass rate runs from 77.6% to 86.3% — a spread of 8.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2015 77.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 80.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2017 84.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2018 86.3%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 2018 DS DS5 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Peugeot 2008 86.3%
- Citroen C3 Aircross 86.3%
- Mercedes-Benz Cls 86.3%
- Skoda Fabia 86.4%
- Mercedes-Benz Cla 86.4%
- Ford S-Max 86.4%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 DS DS5 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 320 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 | 131 | 40.60% | 19.76% | +20.84 |
| Brakes | 90 | 27.90% | 20.89% | +7.01 |
| Non-component advisories | 21 | 6.50% | 4.18% | +2.32 |
| Visibility | 20 | 6.20% | 4.97% | +1.23 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 18 | 5.60% | 5.57% | +0.03 |
| Suspension | 17 | 5.30% | 20.98% | −15.68 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 12 | 3.70% | 12.21% | −8.51 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 6 | 1.90% | 5.52% | −3.62 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 0.90% | 1.76% | −0.86 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 2 | 0.60% | 0.82% | −0.22 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 2.6% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 2.1% | £45–95 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.1% | £80–250 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.6% | £8–22 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 1.3% | £80–250 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 1.0% | £8–22 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 0.77% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.77% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 0.77% | £80–200 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 0.77% | £8–22 |
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 | 18.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.6% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.2% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 3.4% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.8% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 2.8% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 109 | 90.8% | 22,924 mi |
| 30-60k | 189 | 85.2% | 43,249 mi |
| 60-90k | 67 | 83.6% | 72,479 mi |
| 90-120k | 23 | 82.6% | 102,337 mi |
Source: 388 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.
2018 DS5 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 DS DS5?
86.3% of the 388 2018 DS DS5 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 84.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 DS DS5?
The three most recorded items are tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (2.58%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.06%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (2.06%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 DS DS5 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.8% of the time, falling to 82.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 DS DS5 in this dataset had covered 41,149 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 DS DS5?
Diesel: 86.2% pass rate across 378 tests. Petrol: 90.0% pass rate across 10 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2018 DS DS5 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 86.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 86.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.