Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Ford C-Max 2019: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 83 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2019 Ford C-Max were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

A 2019 Ford C-Max passed first time about 3 in every 100 more often than the 2018 model year next to it.

At a glance

How 2,514 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
83 in every 100
Did not pass first time
17 in every 100418 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
6 yearsabout 33,159 miles
First tests counted
2,514

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)16 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 Ford C-Max vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Noise, emissions and leaks

Two faults. The strongest is the petrol emissions (with catalyst): 6.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 418 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.

Petrol emissions (with catalyst)

Failed on 30 first tests6.6 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.

Petrol engine warning light

Failed on 35 first tests3.6 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.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. 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
83in 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
13in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 83.4% of 2,514 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 86.9%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 13 not fixed make the 17 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Petrol2,17332,434 miles8383
Diesel34139,333 miles8486

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.

406080100201020152019Older 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, 85 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
201880 in every 1004,665
2019 This car83 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 2019 C-Max.

Of 2019 C-Max vehicles with under 20,000 miles, 90 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 49,000 miles or more, 77 in every 100 did.

Under 20,000494 tests
90
20,000–29,000498 tests
86
29,000–37,000 Typical car506 tests
84
37,000–49,000521 tests
79
49,000 and over495 tests
77

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Petrol32,434 miles8383
Diesel39,333 miles8486

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 20,00029,000–37,00049,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)1.42.44.2

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

When a car fails

58in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

12in 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.

A 2019 Ford C-Max passed first time about 3 in every 100 more often than the 2018 model year next to it. In 2025, 83.4% of 2,514 first MOTs on the 2019 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 86.9%. Among 418 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Petrol emissions (with catalyst) appears more often than on similar cars (7.2% of those tests; 30 observed failures; about 6.6× 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 Ford C-Max at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (15.6%), 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: Petrol emissions (with catalyst) (7.2% of those tests; 30 observed failures; about 6.6× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Petrol emissions (with catalyst) shows up more often than on similar cars (7.2% of those tests; 30 observed failures; about 6.6× 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 Ford C-Max include Petrol emissions (with catalyst), Petrol engine warning light. These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2019 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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