Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Citroen Dispatch 2019: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 70 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2019 Citroen Dispatch were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Number plate lights.

Summary

A 2019 Citroen Dispatch passed first time about 2 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2018 and 2020 model years.

At a glance

How 3,943 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
70 in every 100
Did not pass first time
30 in every 1001,193 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
6 yearsabout 76,691 miles
First tests counted
3,943

What failed most often

  1. Number plate lights11 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Brake pads (rear)8 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Drive shaft joints and boots (front)8 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 Dispatch 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.

Seat belts and restraints

One fault: seat belt condition (front), 7.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,193 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.

Seat belt condition (front)

Failed on 30 first tests7.0 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Any sign of overstretching is a deficiency, and so is a cut anywhere on a child seat belt. On other belts the size of a cut decides it, with a stricter limit at the webbing edge than away from it. Webbing significantly stretched or weakened has rows in both Major and Dangerous grades.

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

Brakes

One fault and one wear pattern. The strongest is the brake pedal: 4.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake pedal

Failed on 24 first tests4.6 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A brake pedal rubber worn smooth is not a defect, and nor is a worn design pattern on an aftermarket rubber. A pedal with no rubber is rejected if its grooves or raised grip sections are worn smooth, unless the vehicle was made without them. Insufficient reserve travel is Major, but a vehicle is failed for it only if the pedal or lever is touching the floor or handlebar.

Brake discs (rear)

Failed on 45 first tests2.4 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.

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

Lamps and electrical

Four faults. The strongest is the individual sidelight or tail light (rear): 4.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Individual sidelight or tail light (rear)

Failed on 74 first tests4.6 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A position lamp showing red light to the front or white light to the rear is Major. Rear lamps must show a steady red light, and front ones can show white, predominantly white with a blue tinge, or yellow if combined in a yellow headlamp. With a multiple light source, up to half not working is Minor and more than half is Major.

Number plate lights (rear)

Failed on 131 first tests3.6 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Registration plate lamps must light up the rear registration plate and operate at the same time as the position lamps. A missing or inoperative lamp is Major when the plate has only one lamp or all its lamps are not working, and Minor when the plate has several lamps or light sources and not all have failed. A lamp throwing direct white light to the rear is also Minor.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 75 first tests3.3 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

All stop lamps missing or not working is graded Dangerous, and so is a stop lamp that stays on when the brakes are released. A stop lamp that is missing or not working is Major. On some vehicles with LED rear lamps, part of the stop lamp can go out when the rear fog lamp is lit, which is not regarded as a defect.

Headlight

Failed on 92 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

On vehicles first used on or after a set date, a halogen headlamp unit converted to take HID or LED bulbs fails for light source and lamp not compatible, which is Major. A complete unit built with those light sources is not failed for that. The precise position of the lamps is not part of the inspection beyond a visual look to see that they sit at about the same height and distance from each side.

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

Body and structure

One fault: drive shaft joints and boots (front), 3.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Drive shaft joints and boots (front)

Failed on 96 first tests3.2 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A constant velocity boot that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. It is Major once it is missing, split or insecure so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A transmission joint excessively worn is Major, and graded Dangerous when it is so worn it is likely to fail.

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.

Transmission oil leaks

Noted on 22 first tests4.0 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Engine oil leaks

Noted on 129 first tests3.7 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Exhaust system (front)

Noted on 20 first tests3.1 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
70in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
9in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
21in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 69.7% of 3,943 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 79.4%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 9 fixed and the 21 not fixed make the 30 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, 71 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200443 in every 100382
200547 in every 100519
200647 in every 100696
200751 in every 1001,228
200849 in every 1001,451
200949 in every 1001,257
201050 in every 1001,711
201150 in every 1001,659
201251 in every 1001,550
201353 in every 1002,238
201450 in every 1002,979
201550 in every 1003,773
201652 in every 1003,382
201767 in every 1004,102
201869 in every 1004,090
2019 This car70 in every 1003,943
202075 in every 1002,800
202169 in every 1002,931
202269 in every 1003,755

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 Dispatch.

Of 2019 Dispatch vehicles with under 51,000 miles, 75 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 109,000 miles or more, 65 in every 100 did.

Under 51,000804 tests
75
51,000–68,000758 tests
69
68,000–86,000 Typical car812 tests
71
86,000–109,000787 tests
69
109,000 and over782 tests
65

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 51,00068,000–86,000109,000 and over
Number plate lights2.23.14.2
Brake pads (rear)2.21.72.0
Drive shaft joints and boots (front)1.12.03.3
Headlight1.52.02.8
Tyre condition (rear)2.12.02.0

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

When a car fails

39in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

36in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

8in 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.

A 2019 Citroen Dispatch passed first time about 2 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2018 and 2020 model years. In 2025, 69.7% of 3,943 first MOTs on the 2019 Citroen Dispatch passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 79.4%. Among 1,193 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Seat belt condition (front) appears more often than on similar cars (2.5% of those tests; 30 observed failures; about 7.0× 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 Dispatch at the first attempt were Number plate lights (11.0%), Brake pads (rear) (8.4%) and Drive shaft joints and boots (front) (8.0%), 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: Seat belt condition (front) (2.5% of those tests; 30 observed failures; about 7.0× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Seat belt condition (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (2.5% of those tests; 30 observed failures; about 7.0× 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 Dispatch include Seat belt condition (front), Brake pedal, Individual sidelight or tail light (rear). 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 Dispatch (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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