FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSPeugeot 208
Top three failure systems, annotated from 974 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Wiper and visibility defects fail the Peugeot 208 2.7× as often as they fail a petrol or diesel car
7,252 inspections in a single year make the 208 one of the better-documented electric car. Tyres cause 35.5% of its failures; visibility take 2.7× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The three-year vs four-year picture
AT THREE YEARS OLD10.7%
208 failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
AT FOUR YEARS OLD17.7%
208 failure rate, against 8.9% for petrol.
At three years old the Peugeot 208 fails 10.7% of the time, over the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. By 4 years that reaches 17.7%. Tyres cause 35.5% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // WINDSCREEN AND WIPER453 certificates in 2024
The cheapest failure on the list
Visibility take 31.8% of the defects that fail this car, 2.7× 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 453 times in 2024.
SECTION // VISIBILITY CONCENTRATIONYear 3 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 3. From there the 208's failure rate climbs faster than the petrol fleet, and the defect list explains why.
Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.
What to check
Trivial to fix, but a car advertised with worn wipers and a fresh failure certificate tells you how it was maintained. 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. 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. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.
3 inspection points:
✓ Wipers and washers
✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age
✓ 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
- 7,252
- Passed
- 6,020
- Failed
- 974
- Passed after repair
- 258
- Failure rate
- 13.4% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 3.4 years
- Best year
- 3 yrs · 10.7%
- Worst year
- 4 yrs · 17.7%
- Top cause
- Tyres 35.5%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 35.5% | 1.5× more | |
| Suspension | 19.0% | 1.4× more | |
| Brakes | 8.3% | 2.3× less | |
| Visibility | 31.8% | 2.7× more | |
| Lighting | 2.4% | 6.9× less | |
| Steering | 0.5% | 6.2× less | |
| Body | 0.2% | 20.5× less |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen453
- A tyre seriously damaged313
- A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc245
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements144
- A tyre cords visible or damaged110
- Wiper blade defective61
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (8.3% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (2.4% of defects vs 16.5%)
- Steering fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.5% of defects vs 3.1%)
- Body fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.2% of defects vs 4.1%)
Where it fails
- Tyres take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (35.5% vs 23.7%)
- Suspension take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (19.0% vs 13.6%)
- Visibility take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (31.8% vs 11.9%)
- At three years old it fails 10.7% of the time, above the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- 208 GT EV2,964
- 208 GT PREMIUM EV1,722
- 208 ALLURE EV960
- 208 GT LINE EV770
- 208 ALLURE PREMIUM EV464
- 208242
- 208 ACTIVE EV67
- 208 ACTIVE PREMIUM EV59
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 testsDS 312.5% fail · 1,212 testsMercedes-Benz EQV12.6% fail · 898 testsMercedes-Benz EQC14.7% fail · 7,232 tests
OTHER PEUGEOT ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 7,252 inspections in 2024 make this one of the best-documented electric cars in the data.
- Visibility take 2.7× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 10.7% at 3 years to 17.7% at 4: a gentle ageing curve.
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.
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