Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Ford C-Max 2018: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 80 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2018 Ford C-Max were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

A 2018 Ford C-Max passed first time about 3 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2017 and 2019 model years.

At a glance

How 4,665 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
80 in every 100
Did not pass first time
20 in every 100933 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
7 yearsabout 41,753 miles
First tests counted
4,665

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Brake pads (rear)12 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Petrol engine warning light12 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 2018 Ford C-Max 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.

Lamps and electrical

One fault: horn, 14 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 932 of 933 failed first attempts (99.9%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.

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.

Horn

Failed on 56 first tests14 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A horn that does not work, or is likely to be confused with an emergency vehicle siren, is graded Major. Gongs, bells, sirens and anything with more than one tone, which includes a horn that alternates between its notes, are not allowed, except a gong, bell or siren on vehicles first used before a set date. Sound defects are Minor for named cases such as a bell or harsh sound, and Major under a general row.

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

Noise, emissions and leaks

Two faults. The strongest is the petrol engine warning light: 4.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Petrol engine warning light

Failed on 109 first tests4.4 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

The malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) on a petrol engine is a Major failure when it is illuminated indicating a malfunction. The detail line DVSA gives for the same row also names an inoperative lamp. The test covers only certain petrol vehicles, depending on their age, size and fuel type.

Petrol emissions (with catalyst)

Failed on 44 first tests3.2 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Emissions levels over the manufacturer's specified limits are Major, as are levels over default limits, which apply when no exact match is found for the vehicle. Dense blue or clearly visible black smoke at idle, held for a set period, is Major, except for certain older vehicles and two stroke engines where smoke is unavoidable. An induction or exhaust leak that could affect emissions levels is Major too.

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

Brakes

One wear pattern: brake pads (rear), 2.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake pads (rear)

Failed on 111 first tests2.2 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, 2.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Windscreen wipers

Failed on 79 first tests2.2 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.

Number plates (rear)

Noted on 33 first tests2.6 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
80in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
4in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
16in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 80.0% of 4,665 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 83.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 16 not fixed make the 20 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol3,50040,005 miles8079
Diesel1,16547,316 miles8183

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

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

406080100201020152018Older cars
40608010020102018Older 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, 83 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200751 in every 1003,659
200852 in every 1008,076
200954 in every 1004,451
201056 in every 1005,170
201163 in every 1009,555
201263 in every 10010,220
201368 in every 10012,957
201469 in every 10011,973
201572 in every 10010,919
201678 in every 10010,179
201782 in every 1007,766
2018 This car80 in every 1004,665
201983 in every 1002,514

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2018 C-Max.

Of 2018 C-Max vehicles with under 27,000 miles, 87 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 59,000 miles or more, 72 in every 100 did.

Under 27,000893 tests
87
27,000–37,000976 tests
82
37,000–47,000 Typical car958 tests
82
47,000–59,000887 tests
76
59,000 and over949 tests
72

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Petrol40,005 miles8079
Diesel47,316 miles8183

Figures are in every 100 first tests. At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

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 27,00037,000–47,00059,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)1.12.53.4
Brake pads (rear)0.82.92.7
Petrol engine warning light0.72.23.1
Windscreen wipers (front)2.21.72.0
Tyre tread depth (front)0.41.42.4

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

When a car fails

55in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

17in 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 2018 Ford C-Max passed first time about 3 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2017 and 2019 model years. In 2025, 80.0% of 4,665 first MOTs on the 2018 Ford C-Max passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 83.8%. Among 933 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Horn appears more often than on similar cars (6.0% of those tests; 56 observed failures; about 14× 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 2018 Ford C-Max at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (12.0%), Brake pads (rear) (11.9%) and Petrol engine warning light (11.7%), 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: Horn (6.0% of those tests; 56 observed failures; about 14× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Horn shows up more often than on similar cars (6.0% of those tests; 56 observed failures; about 14× 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 2018 Ford C-Max include Horn, Petrol engine warning light, Petrol emissions (with catalyst). 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 2018 Ford C-Max (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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