How often does the Citroen e-C4 fail its MOT?

14.2% of 1,413 first-time tests in 2024 were failures, against 12.0% for all electric cars.

What does the Citroen e-C4 most often fail on?

Tyres, 28.2% of failing defects. The single most common defect was: A tyre seriously damaged.

Citroen · Fully electric · 1,413 inspections in 2024 · Rank 60 of 81DVSA MOT analysis

Wiper and visibility defects fail the Citroen e-C4 2.2× as often as they fail a petrol or diesel car

1,413 inspections in a single year make the E-C4 a modestly documented electric car in the data. Tyres cause 28.2% of its failures; visibility take 2.2× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.

FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSCitroen e-C4

Top three failure systems, annotated from 201 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.

First-time test findings

First-time failure rate

AT 3 YEARS OLD14.2%

Overall first-time failure rate.

AT FLEET YEARS OLD12.0%

All electric cars in the data.

At three years old the Citroen e-C4 fails 14.3% of the time, over the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. Tyres cause 28.2% of its failures.

FIGURE 2 // WINDSCREEN AND WIPER45 certificates in 2024

The cheapest failure on the list

Visibility take 26.5% of the defects that fail this car, 2.2× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen", recorded 45 times in 2024.

SECTION // VISIBILITY CONCENTRATIONYear 3 crossover

Where the curve bends

The crossover with petrol happens around year 3. From there the E-C4's failure rate climbs faster than the petrol fleet, and the defect list explains why.

DEFECT CONCENTRATION IN FAILED TESTS:

E-C4 visibility share26.5%

Wider fleet average11.9%

The single most common item on a E-C4 certificate is "A tyre seriously damaged", recorded 51 times.

Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.

Buyer's protocolPre-purchase checklist

What to check

Check tyre age and tread across the full width, inner edge included. Electric cars wear tyres faster; a cheap mismatched set on a used car tells you how it was run. Trivial to fix, but a car advertised with worn wipers and a fresh failure certificate tells you how it was maintained. Have the suspension joints, bushes and springs checked on a lift. On this car it is a leading cause of failure and it is not visible from the outside. Check the washers reach the screen. It fails the test and it is a thirty-second check. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.

3 inspection points:

✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age

✓ Wipers and washers

✓ Suspension joints and bushes on a lift

FIGURE 3 // FAILURE RATE BY AGEvs petrol, diesel and all electric cars

Points hidden where fewer than 50 cars of that age were tested. Dashed lines are the same-age petrol and diesel fleets.

Data sheet

Inspections: 1,413
Passed: 1,169
Failed: 201
Passed after repair: 43
Failure rate: 14.2% (all EV 12.0%)
Average age: 3.0 years
Best year: 3 yrs · 14.3%
Worst year: 3 yrs · 14.3%
Top cause: Tyres 28.2%

TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects

System	Share	vs fleet
Tyres	28.2%	in line
Suspension	20.6%	1.5× more
Brakes	15.5%	in line
Visibility	26.5%	2.2× more
Lighting	5.9%	2.8× less
Steering	0.0%	in line
Body	0.6%	6.8× less

TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE

A tyre seriously damaged51
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen45
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn38
Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen32
A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc29
A tyre cords visible or damaged25

Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.

Where it holds up

Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.9% of defects vs 16.5%)
Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 3.1%)
Body fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.6% of defects vs 4.1%)

Where it fails

Suspension take a bigger share of failures than on the wider fleet (20.6% vs 13.6%)
Visibility take a bigger share of failures than on the wider fleet (26.5% vs 11.9%)
At three years old it fails 14.3% of the time, above the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age

VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded

E-C4 SHINE +894
E-C4 SHINE318
E-C4 SENSE +195
E-C4 X SHINE +3
E-C4 SENSE2
E-C4 C-SERIES EDITION1

OWNER REPORTS // MATCHED TO RECORDED DEFECTS0 read · 0 matched

No owner discussion has been matched to this car's recorded defects yet. Reports are re-collected every quarter; the figures on this page do not depend on them.

Summaries written by us, never quotes; every entry links to its source. Owner reports have no denominator and never feed the failure rate.

SIMILAR CARS IN THE DATAclosest rate and age, other brands

Vauxhall Vivaro-E13.6% fail · 921 tests Vauxhall Corsa14.7% fail · 8,595 tests Mercedes-Benz EQC14.7% fail · 7,232 tests Peugeot 20813.4% fail · 7,252 tests

OTHER CITROEN ELECTRIC CARS

Citroen E-Dispatch6.6% fail first time Citroen e-Berlingo6.9% fail first time Citroen C-Zero20.0% fail first time Citroen Berlingo18.5% fail first time

Three things the data shows

1,413 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
Visibility take 2.2× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
It ranks 60 of 81 electric cars by first-time failure rate.

LIMITS // WHAT THE INSPECTION DOES NOT TELL YOU

No battery health, no motor, no charging performance. The test covers brakes, suspension, steering, tyres, lights, visibility and structure. A car with a badly degraded battery passes as long as it stops and steers. Read this page as evidence about the chassis, not the powertrain. Cars are tested from their third year, so the newest model years are missing; every figure carries its sample size for that reason. Full methodology.