Citroen Xsara MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Citroen Xsara in Great Britain in 2025 — 19,397 tests. Figures cover every Xsara first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the Xsara ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
51.2%
21.1 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
19,397
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
10.1%
of Xsara first tests; national 7.3%

How many Citroen Xsara cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 34,009 Citroen Xsara cars that were taxed or on SORN: 17,173 taxed and 16,836 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper). The MOT figures above count tests; these count cars, across the whole United Kingdom, cars only. Citroen Xsara vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
17,173
50.5% of the 34,009 Xsara cars taxed or on SORN; 79 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
16,836
declared off the road by their keepers — 49.5% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed Xsara cars peaked at 232,392 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 215,219 (92.6%) to 17,173 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 8,256 at the end of 2014 to 16,836 at the end of 2025, up 103.9%. A car leaves the taxed count when it is scrapped, exported or declared off the road; the year-end counts do not say which.

Taxed Xsara cars, year by year

Cars of this model taxed and on the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025.

050k100k150k200k250k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed Xsara cars, year 2014: 232kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2015: 203kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2016: 173kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2017: 139kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2018: 110kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2019: 86kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2020: 67kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2021: 51kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2022: 40kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2023: 31kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2024: 23kTaxed Xsara cars, year 2025: 17k17k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed Xsara cars
2014232,392
2015203,084
2016172,536
2017139,477
2018109,910
201985,605
202067,374
202150,903
202240,034
202330,976
202423,175
202517,173

Xsara cars on SORN, year by year

Cars of this model declared off the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025. Its own scale — SORN counts are a fraction of the taxed count.

05k10k15k20k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Xsara cars on SORN, year 2014: 8kXsara cars on SORN, year 2015: 12kXsara cars on SORN, year 2016: 15kXsara cars on SORN, year 2017: 16kXsara cars on SORN, year 2018: 17kXsara cars on SORN, year 2019: 17kXsara cars on SORN, year 2020: 18kXsara cars on SORN, year 2021: 18kXsara cars on SORN, year 2022: 18kXsara cars on SORN, year 2023: 18kXsara cars on SORN, year 2024: 17kXsara cars on SORN, year 2025: 17k17k
View this chart as a table
YearXsara cars on SORN
20148,256
201511,922
201615,116
201715,980
201816,581
201917,294
202018,168
202117,857
202217,687
202317,852
202417,157
202516,836

Which model years survive

Taxed Xsara cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 17,173 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. A build year's count depends on how many were sold that year as well as how many have lasted.

Year of manufacture Taxed, end of 2025Share of taxed Xsara cars
20109275.4%
20091,73410.1%
20081,81210.6%
20073,15218.4%
20063,25819.0%
20051,97111.5%
20041,6689.7%
20031,1166.5%
20027964.6%
20014882.8%
All other build years (eight years, each under 1%)2511.5%

Population source: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026; counts of the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, United Kingdom, cars only, excluding cars recorded with no model name. SortedCars groups DVLA's model name XSARA under this model. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, DVLA or the Department for Transport.

How the Xsara ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, Xsara vs all cars, 2025.

Citroen XsaraAll cars
40%50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Citroen Xsara, vehicle age 15: 52.3%Citroen Xsara, vehicle age 16: 53.9%Citroen Xsara, vehicle age 17: 50.2%Citroen Xsara, vehicle age 18: 49.7%Citroen Xsara, vehicle age 19: 51.9%Citroen Xsara, vehicle age 20: 50.2%All cars, vehicle age 3: 88.5%All cars, vehicle age 4: 87.2%All cars, vehicle age 5: 86%All cars, vehicle age 6: 83.5%All cars, vehicle age 7: 80.9%All cars, vehicle age 8: 78.2%All cars, vehicle age 9: 74.9%All cars, vehicle age 10: 71.9%All cars, vehicle age 11: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 12: 65.8%All cars, vehicle age 13: 63.5%All cars, vehicle age 14: 61.2%All cars, vehicle age 15: 59.3%All cars, vehicle age 16: 58.3%All cars, vehicle age 17: 57.2%All cars, vehicle age 18: 57.4%All cars, vehicle age 19: 57%All cars, vehicle age 20: 57.6%All cars 57.6%Citroen Xsara 50.2%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Xsara testsXsara pass rateAll cars
1598852.3%59.3%
161,88753.9%58.3%
172,04950.2%57.2%
183,54049.7%57.4%
193,70451.9%57.0%
202,20950.2%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

The Xsara's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the Xsara beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

Xsara behind
-8-4+0+4+8Age 15: -7.0 points vs the average car15Age 16: -4.4 points vs the average carAge 17: -7.0 points vs the average car17Age 18: -7.7 points vs the average carAge 19: -5.1 points vs the average car19Age 20: -7.4 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
15-7.0
16-4.4
17-7.0
18-7.7
19-5.1
20-7.4

The Xsara fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the Xsara fleet still in use.

01k2k3k4kAge 15: 98815Age 16: 1kAge 17: 2k17Age 18: 3kAge 19: 3k19Age 20: 2k20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
15988
161,887
172,049
183,540
193,704
202,209

What a Xsara fails on

Where the failure items land when a Xsara fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment29.5%
Suspension17.6%
Body, chassis, structure13.7%
Brakes11.3%
Tyres7.0%
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems6.7%
Visibility4.6%
Steering4.6%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (95.1% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a Xsara, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Tyres: 23.5% of advisories23.5%Suspension: 20.7% of advisories20.7%Brakes: 20.6% of advisories20.6%Body, chassis, structure: 9.0% of advisories9.0%Noise, emissions and leaks: 7.3% of advisories7.3%Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 5.8% of advisories
TyresSuspensionBrakesBody, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaksLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Tyres23.5%
Suspension20.7%
Brakes20.6%
Body, chassis, structure9.0%
Noise, emissions and leaks7.3%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment5.8%

Petrol, diesel or hybrid Xsara?

First-time pass rate for the two most-tested Xsara fuel types, 2025, against the all-cars average. Fleet ages differ by fuel — newer fleets help the electrified bars.

50%60%70%80%90%100%all cars 72.3%Petrol: 51.2% of 11,613 tests51.2%Petrol11,613 testsDiesel: 51.3% of 7,782 tests51.3%Diesel7,782 tests
View this chart as a table
FuelTestsPass rate
Petrol11,61351.2%
Diesel7,78251.3%

What mileage is normal for a Xsara?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Xsara; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

Typical Xsara (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k15171920Vehicle age (years)Age 15: typical 91,250 miles (middle half 68,750–113,750)Age 16: typical 91,250 miles (middle half 68,750–113,750)Age 17: typical 98,750 miles (middle half 78,750–121,250)Age 18: typical 98,750 miles (middle half 78,750–123,750)Age 19: typical 98,750 miles (middle half 76,250–121,250)Age 20: typical 103,750 miles (middle half 81,250–131,250)103k mi

Mileage values are midpoints of 2,500-mile bands.

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
1568,75091,250113,750
1668,75091,250113,750
1778,75098,750121,250
1878,75098,750123,750
1976,25098,750121,250
2081,250103,750131,250

More vehicles we've checked

How these figures are computed. Every number on this page is calculated by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (every MOT test in Great Britain — 2025 for single-year figures; trend figures state their span, currently 2023–2025). Where a figure comes from a sample or uses banded values (mileage is banded to 2,500 miles), the page says so beside the figure. Test class 4 only, first tests only — retests are excluded. Class 4 is the car MOT class and also covers car-derived vans, pickups and motorhomes tested to the same standard; where this page says "cars" it means class 4. Pass rate = passes ÷ (passes + failures + pass-after-rectification): a vehicle that failed and was fixed during the visit counts as a fail. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Alias spellings of a make in the DVSA file are counted under one make name, and all trims and variants of a model are grouped under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables. The taxed and SORN counts on this page are the one exception: they are not computed from MOT records but taken from the Department for Transport's vehicle licensing statistics (DfT/DVLA table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0), which count the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, UK-wide, cars only. They describe a model as a whole, grouped under SortedCars' model names, and say nothing about any one car. “Dangerous” is DVSA's statutory defect category (in force since May 2018): a defect posing an immediate risk to road safety — driving the vehicle before repair is an offence. What these figures are for. These statistics are general information about groups of vehicles. They are not advice, a valuation or a recommendation to buy, avoid or price any particular vehicle, and no decision about one car should rest on them alone — check the car itself and its own records. We take care over the calculations, but we cannot guarantee they are complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for loss arising from reliance on them. This does not limit any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — see our Terms & Conditions. If you believe any figure on this page is inaccurate, contact us. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DVSA or DVLA. DVSA publishes the raw test records; the statistics on this page are SortedCars' own calculations from them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.