Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Citroen C1 2019: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 84 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2019 Citroen C1 were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Windscreen wipers (front).

Summary

The 2019 Citroen C1 follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 5,083 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
84 in every 100
Did not pass first time
16 in every 100800 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
6 yearsabout 27,568 miles
First tests counted
5,083

What failed most often

  1. Windscreen wipers (front)17 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Brake pads (front)13 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre condition (front)12 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2019 Citroen C1 vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Brakes

Two wear patterns. The strongest is the brake discs (front): 5.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 800 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Brake discs (front)

Failed on 75 first tests5.5 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A brake disc or drum must be significantly worn before it is rejected, and being worn below the manufacturer's recommended limits is not a reason in itself. Significantly and obviously worn is Major, as is contamination with oil or grease. A disc or drum that is fractured, insecure, seriously weakened or missing is graded Dangerous.

Brake pads (front)

Failed on 101 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A pad worn down to its wear indicator, or contaminated with oil or grease, is Major. A pad worn below the set thickness limit, missing or incorrectly mounted is Dangerous. The manual treats an illuminated brake wear indicator as no reason for failure, although DVSA also lists an illuminated indicator as a Major row.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Visibility

One fault: windscreen wipers (front), 2.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Windscreen wipers (front)

Failed on 135 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Only a clearly damaged or worn windscreen wiper needs to be rejected. A wiper that is missing or not working is graded Major, and so is a blade that is missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen. A defective blade is graded Minor.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail.

Anti-roll bar linkage pins and bushes (front)

Noted on 35 first tests44 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Shock absorbers (front)

Noted on 35 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
84in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
5in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
11in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 84.3% of 5,083 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 89.0%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 5 fixed and the 11 not fixed make the 16 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

4060801002005201020152019Older carsNewer cars
40608010020102019Older cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 87 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200552 in every 100584
200651 in every 1003,686
200752 in every 1005,910
200852 in every 1008,458
200955 in every 10010,477
201058 in every 10011,836
201160 in every 10012,693
201264 in every 10012,916
201368 in every 10013,273
201473 in every 10013,005
201575 in every 10017,206
201676 in every 10017,491
201780 in every 1008,800
201884 in every 1006,976
2019 This car84 in every 1005,083
202087 in every 1003,630
202190 in every 1004,384

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2019 Citroen C1.

Of 2019 Citroen C1 vehicles with under 16,000 miles, 91 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 42,000 miles or more, 78 in every 100 did.

Under 16,000998 tests
91
16,000–24,0001,034 tests
85
24,000–32,000 Typical car1,061 tests
84
32,000–42,000963 tests
84
42,000 and over1,027 tests
78

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 16,00024,000–32,00042,000 and over
Windscreen wipers (front)2.92.52.1
Brake pads (front)0.23.02.4
Tyre condition (front)1.31.72.0
Tyre tread depth (front)0.22.32.6
Brake discs (front)0.62.01.9

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

56in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

18in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

6in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2019 Citroen C1 follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Windscreen wipers (front), about 17 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 84.3% of 5,083 first MOTs on the 2019 Citroen C1 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 89.0%. Among 800 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Windscreen wipers (front) appears more often than on similar cars (16.9% of those tests; 135 observed failures; about 2.3× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2019 Citroen C1 at the first attempt were Windscreen wipers (front) (16.9%), Brake pads (front) (12.6%) and Tyre condition (front) (12.1%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Windscreen wipers (front) (16.9% of those tests; 135 observed failures; about 2.3× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Windscreen wipers (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (16.9% of those tests; 135 observed failures; about 2.3× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2019 Citroen C1 include Windscreen wipers (front). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2019 Citroen C1 (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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