Mercedes-Benz Citan MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Mercedes-Benz Citan in Great Britain in 2025 — 19,945 tests. Figures cover every Citan first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. The Citan is a van, tested in the car MOT class (class 4) to the same standard. How the Citan ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
60.4%
11.9 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
19,945
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
11.6%
of Citan first tests; national 7.3%
Typical mileage at 10 years
113,750
middle half: 83,750–146,250 miles (2,500-mile-band midpoints)

How the Citan ages

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

Mercedes-Benz CitanAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 4: 71.3%Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 5: 69.5%Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 6: 65.8%Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 7: 62%Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 8: 60.5%Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 9: 58.1%Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 10: 57.3%Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 11: 53.3%Mercedes-Benz Citan, vehicle age 12: 51.9%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%Mercedes-Benz Citan 51.9%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Citan testsCitan pass rateAll cars
499371.3%87.2%
51,32569.5%86.0%
61,91165.8%83.5%
73,51762.0%80.9%
83,19160.5%78.2%
93,25158.1%74.9%
102,33857.3%71.9%
112,00153.3%68.6%
121,37351.9%65.8%

Better or worse than the average car?

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

Citan behind
-20-10+0+10+20Age 4: -15.9 points vs the average carAge 5: -16.5 points vs the average car5Age 6: -17.7 points vs the average carAge 7: -18.9 points vs the average car7Age 8: -17.7 points vs the average carAge 9: -16.8 points vs the average car9Age 10: -14.6 points vs the average carAge 11: -15.3 points vs the average car11Age 12: -13.9 points vs the average carVehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
4-15.9
5-16.5
6-17.7
7-18.9
8-17.7
9-16.8
10-14.6
11-15.3
12-13.9

The Citan fleet on the road, by age

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

01k2k3k4kAge 4: 9934Age 5: 1kAge 6: 1k6Age 7: 3kAge 8: 3k8Age 9: 3kAge 10: 2k10Age 11: 2kAge 12: 1k12Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
4993
51,325
61,911
73,517
83,191
93,251
102,338
112,001
121,373

What a Citan fails on

Where the failure items land when a Citan 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 equipment33.2%
Brakes17.8%
Tyres10.5%
Body, chassis, structure10.1%
Suspension9.9%
Visibility8.2%
Steering6.4%
Noise, emissions and leaks2.8%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (98.8% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

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

Brakes: 42.1% of advisories42.1%Tyres: 31.0% of advisories31.0%Suspension: 9.1% of advisories9.1%Non-component advisories: 4.7% of advisoriesSteering: 3.7% of advisoriesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 3.4% of advisories
BrakesTyresSuspensionNon-component advisoriesSteeringLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Brakes42.1%
Tyres31.0%
Suspension9.1%
Non-component advisories4.7%
Steering3.7%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment3.4%

What mileage is normal for a Citan?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Citan; 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 Citan (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k175k4681012Vehicle age (years)Age 4: typical 58,750 miles (middle half 41,250–83,750)Age 5: typical 68,750 miles (middle half 48,750–93,750)Age 6: typical 86,250 miles (middle half 61,250–113,750)Age 7: typical 88,750 miles (middle half 66,250–116,250)Age 8: typical 101,250 miles (middle half 73,750–128,750)Age 9: typical 106,250 miles (middle half 81,250–138,750)Age 10: typical 113,750 miles (middle half 83,750–146,250)Age 11: typical 118,750 miles (middle half 91,250–151,250)Age 12: typical 128,750 miles (middle half 101,250–163,750)128k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
441,25058,75083,750
548,75068,75093,750
661,25086,250113,750
766,25088,750116,250
873,750101,250128,750
981,250106,250138,750
1083,750113,750146,250
1191,250118,750151,250
12101,250128,750163,750

What fails at each age

The Citan's failure mix by age band, 2025 — each band's top categories at their true share of that band's failure items; the pale remainder is everything else. How the mix shifts with age is the point of the chart.

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyresBrakesVisibilityNoise, emissions and leaksBody, chassis, structureSuspensionSteeringEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment40.3%
3-5 yrsTyres19.1%
3-5 yrsBrakes15.3%
3-5 yrsVisibility11.5%
3-5 yrsNoise, emissions and leaks6.1%
3-5 yrsEverything else7.7%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment28.3%
6-9 yrsBrakes20.0%
6-9 yrsTyres12.8%
6-9 yrsBody, chassis, structure12.1%
6-9 yrsSuspension9.3%
6-9 yrsEverything else17.5%
10-13 yrsBrakes22.7%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment21.6%
10-13 yrsSuspension16.3%
10-13 yrsBody, chassis, structure10.2%
10-13 yrsSteering10.0%
10-13 yrsEverything else19.2%

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. “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.