Pass rate
71.7%
Below average — 1.4 pts behind the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,424 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £50–£148
2008 Ford Focus C-Max MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 101,821 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
27.1% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
1.3 pts up across model years — 5.4% in 2004, 6.7% in 2009.
Which year to buy
- Best 2011 79.2% pass
- Avoid 2004 68.9% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 10.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 62.3%
- Typical mileage
- 102k mi
The 2008 Ford Focus C-Max MOT pass rate is 71.7% of its MOT tests — 1.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 27.1% of everything recorded on the 2008 Ford Focus C-Max, against 21.0% nationally — 6.1 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.
- 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 Ford Focus C-Max? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Ford Focus C-Max compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 1.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 62.3%. The median 2008 Ford Focus C-Max in this dataset had covered 101,821 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 80% of tests, with a 72.4% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 71.2% of the time, April–September 72.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 6.35% of tests.
- 2,424 recorded tests behind this page.
- 71.7% overall pass rate, 62.3% 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
- 2,424
- Typical mileage (median)
- 101,821 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
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Focus C-Max 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 (80% 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 | 576 | 74.1% |
| South West | 335 | 67.8% |
| East of England | 334 | 71.3% |
| North West | 278 | 70.5% |
| West Midlands | 208 | 76.4% |
| East Midlands | 167 | 68.9% |
| Yorkshire | 146 | 74.7% |
| London | 121 | 83.5% |
| Wales | 118 | 63.6% |
| North East | 80 | 65.0% |
| Scotland | 61 | 62.3% |
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 2008 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 2008 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 coil springs 3.6% 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 lights 3.4% 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 steering 3.3% 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 2008 Focus C-Max through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £50–£148 — and 27% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £50–£148
- 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
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 27%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,424 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 2008 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz B-Class 71.8%
- Toyota Hilux 71.8%
- Vauxhall Astra 71.6%
- Hyundai Santa Fe 71.6%
- Hyundai Tucson 71.6%
- Peugeot 107 71.5%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 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 6,997 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 | 1,915 | 27.10% | 20.98% | +6.12 |
| Brakes | 1,120 | 15.80% | 20.89% | −5.09 |
| Tyres | 1,064 | 15.00% | 19.76% | −4.76 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 869 | 12.30% | 12.21% | +0.09 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 666 | 9.40% | 5.57% | +3.83 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 415 | 5.90% | 5.52% | +0.38 |
| Steering | 289 | 4.10% | 2.57% | +1.53 |
| Non-component advisories | 282 | 4.00% | 4.18% | −0.18 |
| Visibility | 208 | 2.90% | 4.97% | −2.07 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 169 | 2.40% | 1.76% | +0.64 |
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 | 6.3% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.1% | £80–250 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £25–65 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.4% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.3% | £5–20 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 3.3% | £120–300 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £40–150 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.9% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £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 | 25.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.5% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 13.7% | £25–65 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 13.4% | £40–150 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 11.8% | £18–45 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.4% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 14 | 71.4% | 25,530 mi |
| 30-60k | 148 | 75.7% | 50,347 mi |
| 60-90k | 645 | 76.0% | 77,770 mi |
| 90-120k | 908 | 69.2% | 104,021 mi |
| 120k+ | 706 | 70.3% | 142,790 mi |
Source: 2,424 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.
2008 Focus C-Max MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Ford Focus C-Max?
71.7% of the 2,424 2008 Ford Focus C-Max tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 62.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Ford Focus C-Max?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (6.35%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.13%), coil spring fractured or broken (3.59%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Ford Focus C-Max MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 71.4% of the time, falling to 70.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Ford Focus C-Max in this dataset had covered 101,821 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 Ford Focus C-Max?
Petrol: 72.4% pass rate across 1,948 tests. Diesel: 68.7% pass rate across 476 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2008 Ford Focus C-Max MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 71.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 72.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.