Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Ford Grand C-Max 2017: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 74 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2017 Ford Grand C-Max were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre condition (front).

Summary

A 2017 Ford Grand C-Max passed first time about 4 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2016 and 2018 model years.

At a glance

How 3,725 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
74 in every 100
Did not pass first time
26 in every 100982 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
8 yearsabout 61,592 miles
First tests counted
3,725

What failed most often

  1. Tyre condition (front)15 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre tread depth (front)9 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Brake pads (rear)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 2017 Ford Grand 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.

Suspension

One fault: suspension arm pins and bushes (rear), 6.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 981 of 982 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.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)

Failed on 24 first tests6.5 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Pins and bushes on suspension arms fail as Major when they are excessively worn. They are graded Dangerous when likely to become detached. DVSA uses the same wording for a suspension joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 60 first tests, 9.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/01/2014), 5.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/01/2014)

Failed on 34 first tests5.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

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

Lamps and electrical

Two faults. The strongest is the brake light (rear): 2.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 63 first tests2.7 times as often as similar carsPossible 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.

Individual sidelight or tail light (front)

Failed on 51 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsPossible 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.

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. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Number plates (rear)

Noted on 36 first tests2.4 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
74in 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
21in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 73.6% of 3,725 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 78.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 5 fixed and the 21 not fixed make the 26 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel2,37265,694 miles7374
Petrol1,35355,935 miles7573

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.

406080100201120122013201420152016201720182019Older carsNewer cars
4060801002017Older 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, 75 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
201157 in every 1004,594
201260 in every 1003,448
201361 in every 1004,138
201461 in every 1003,788
201565 in every 1003,535
201667 in every 1006,176
2017 This car74 in every 1003,725
201871 in every 1002,586
201975 in every 100987

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2017 Grand C-Max.

Of 2017 Grand C-Max vehicles with under 44,000 miles, 83 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 82,000 miles or more, 64 in every 100 did.

Under 44,000716 tests
83
44,000–56,000761 tests
78
56,000–67,000 Typical car732 tests
73
67,000–82,000756 tests
71
82,000 and over756 tests
64

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Diesel65,694 miles7374
Petrol55,935 miles7573

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 65,694 against 55,935). 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 44,00056,000–67,00082,000 and over
Tyre condition (front)3.25.53.8
Tyre tread depth (front)1.03.12.9
Brake pads (rear)1.31.62.1
Brake light (rear)1.01.63.0
Windscreen wipers (front)1.41.41.7

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

When a car fails

48in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

25in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

10in 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 2017 Ford Grand C-Max passed first time about 4 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2016 and 2018 model years. In 2025, 73.6% of 3,725 first MOTs on the 2017 Ford Grand 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 78.8%. Among 982 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (2.4% of those tests; 24 observed failures; about 6.5× 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 2017 Ford Grand C-Max at the first attempt were Tyre condition (front) (14.9%), Tyre tread depth (front) (8.9%) and Brake pads (rear) (7.7%), 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: Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear) (2.4% of those tests; 24 observed failures; about 6.5× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (2.4% of those tests; 24 observed failures; about 6.5× 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 2017 Ford Grand C-Max include Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear), Brake light (rear), Individual sidelight or tail light (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 2017 Ford Grand 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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