Pass rate
68.9%
Below average — 3.3 pts behind the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 9,286 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £27–£80
2004 Ford Focus C-Max MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 113,800 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
31.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
1.3 pts down across model years — 3.5% in 2004, 2.2% in 2008.
Which year to buy
- Best 2011 79.2% pass
- Avoid 2004 68.9% pass · this year
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 10.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 58.3%
- Typical mileage
- 114k mi
The 2004 Ford Focus C-Max MOT pass rate is 68.9% of its MOT tests — 3.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 31.5% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.5× the national share
Suspension accounts for 31.5% of everything recorded on the 2004 Ford Focus C-Max, against 21.0% nationally — 10.5 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 72.2%; this one manages 68.9% — 3.3 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
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 Ford Focus C-Max? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Ford Focus C-Max compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 3.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 58.3%. The median 2004 Ford Focus C-Max in this dataset had covered 113,800 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 52% of tests, with a 69.7% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 69.3% of the time, April–September 68.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 7.44% of tests.
- 9,286 recorded tests behind this page.
- 68.9% overall pass rate, 58.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford Focus C-Max, the average is 70.3% — best year 2011 (79.2%), worst 2004 (68.9%).
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
- 9,286
- Typical mileage (median)
- 113,800 mi
- Make and model
- Ford Focus C-Max
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 Focus C-Max MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (52% of tests).
Where the Ford Focus C-Max is most common
Across all Focus C-Max model years on record (2003–2013): 21,824 Ford Focus C-Max cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 56,717 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 695 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) | 695 | 75.1% |
| 2 | Bristol (BS) | 510 | 64.9% |
| 3 | Peterborough (PE) | 493 | 69.1% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 460 | 71.9% |
| 5 | Liverpool (L) | 454 | 71.6% |
| 6 | Leicester (LE) | 450 | 71.6% |
| 7 | Brighton (BN) | 440 | 64.9% |
| 8 | Nottingham (NG) | 428 | 66.4% |
| 9 | Basildon (SS) | 428 | 77.9% |
| 10 | Portsmouth (PO) | 386 | 68.7% |
| 11 | Ipswich (IP) | 385 | 69.7% |
| 12 | Norwich (NR) | 378 | 68.9% |
| 13 | Romford (RM) | 366 | 78.7% |
| 14 | Chelmsford (CM) | 357 | 74.0% |
| 15 | Coventry (CV) | 328 | 72.7% |
| 16 | Exeter (EX) | 318 | 62.5% |
| 17 | Maidstone (ME) | 314 | 70.9% |
| 18 | Manchester (M) | 314 | 72.3% |
| 19 | Reading (RG) | 311 | 72.0% |
| 20 | Plymouth (PL) | 310 | 64.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Ford Focus C-Max 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 Focus C-Max
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,096 | 70.0% |
| South West | 1,555 | 64.6% |
| East of England | 1,395 | 70.7% |
| North West | 942 | 69.9% |
| West Midlands | 855 | 69.1% |
| East Midlands | 714 | 65.8% |
| Yorkshire | 603 | 68.0% |
| Wales | 405 | 69.1% |
| London | 376 | 81.9% |
| North East | 202 | 65.8% |
| Scotland | 142 | 61.3% |
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 2004 Focus C-Max
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 2004 Focus C-Max
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 7.4% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 4.5% 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 shock absorbers 3.5% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
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 2004 Focus C-Max through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £27–£80 — and 39% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £27–£80
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 39%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 9,286 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 Focus C-Max, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2003 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.9% to 79.2% — a spread of 10.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 70.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 68.9%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 69.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 70.1% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 71.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 71.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 73.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 73.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 79.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2013 76.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
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 2004 Ford Focus C-Max 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Renault Megane 68.9%
- Vauxhall Astravan 69.1%
- Mercedes-Benz Vito 69.1%
- Fiat Punto 68.7%
- Renault Scenic 68.7%
- Jaguar X-Type 69.2%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Ford Focus C-Max 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 31,842 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 | 10,272 | 31.50% | 20.98% | +10.52 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4,746 | 14.60% | 12.21% | +2.39 |
| Brakes | 4,509 | 13.80% | 20.89% | −7.09 |
| Tyres | 4,217 | 12.90% | 19.76% | −6.86 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2,373 | 7.30% | 5.52% | +1.78 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2,346 | 7.20% | 5.57% | +1.63 |
| Visibility | 1,137 | 3.50% | 4.97% | −1.47 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 966 | 3.00% | 1.76% | +1.24 |
| Non-component advisories | 736 | 2.30% | 4.18% | −1.88 |
| Steering | 540 | 1.70% | 2.57% | −0.87 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.4% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.3% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.2% | £30–80 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.5% | £25–65 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £30–75 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.5% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.1% | £40–150 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 2.9% | £80–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.7% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 23.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.5% | £45–110 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 14.1% | £180–450 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 13.4% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 13.2% | £40–150 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 12.8% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 28 | 92.9% | 26,794 mi |
| 30-60k | 453 | 76.8% | 48,093 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,739 | 72.0% | 77,625 mi |
| 90-120k | 3,058 | 68.4% | 105,790 mi |
| 120k+ | 3,953 | 66.8% | 149,030 mi |
Source: 9,286 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.
2004 Focus C-Max MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Ford Focus C-Max?
68.9% of the 9,286 2004 Ford Focus C-Max tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 58.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Ford Focus C-Max?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (7.44%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.28%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (5.17%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Ford Focus C-Max MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.9% of the time, falling to 66.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Ford Focus C-Max in this dataset had covered 113,800 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 Ford Focus C-Max?
Petrol: 69.7% pass rate across 4,834 tests. Diesel: 68.0% pass rate across 4,452 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2004 Ford Focus C-Max MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 69.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 68.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.