FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSRenault Kangoo
Top three failure systems, annotated from 722 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
Between three and ten years the Renault Kangoo's failure rate more than doubles, from 11.6% to 31.6%
4,063 inspections in a single year make the KANGOO one of the better-documented electric car. Lighting cause 30.1% of its failures; steering take 1.9× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
The three-year vs ten-year picture
AT THREE YEARS OLD11.6%
KANGOO failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.2%.
AT TEN YEARS OLD31.6%
KANGOO failure rate, against 22.6% for petrol.
At three years old the Renault Kangoo fails 11.6% of the time, over the 8.2% of a petrol car the same age. By 9 years that reaches 31.9%. Lighting cause 30.1% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // STEERING RACK AND TRACK ROD107 certificates in 2024
Play at the straight-ahead
Steering take 6.0% of the defects that fail this car, 1.9× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play", recorded 107 times in 2024.
SECTION // STEERING CONCENTRATIONYear 3 crossover
Where the curve bends
The crossover with petrol happens around year 3. From there the KANGOO'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. 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
✓ Free DVSA MOT history check
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
- 4,063
- Passed
- 3,071
- Failed
- 722
- Passed after repair
- 270
- Failure rate
- 17.8% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 4.7 years
- Best year
- 3 yrs · 11.6%
- Worst year
- 9 yrs · 31.9%
- Top cause
- Lighting 30.1%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 17.9% | 1.3× less | |
| Suspension | 10.2% | 1.3× less | |
| Brakes | 9.7% | 1.9× less | |
| Visibility | 19.4% | 1.6× more | |
| Lighting | 30.1% | 1.8× more | |
| Steering | 6.0% | 1.9× more | |
| Body | 4.7% | in line |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen208
- A tyre seriously damaged163
- Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning111
- A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play107
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements102
- A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened85
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (10.2% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (9.7% of defects vs 18.7%)
Where it fails
- Visibility take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (19.4% vs 11.9%)
- Lighting take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (30.1% vs 16.5%)
- Steering take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (6.0% vs 3.1%)
- At three years old it fails 11.6% of the time, above the 8.2% of petrol cars the same age
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- KANGOO3,059
- KANGOO BUSINESS LL21 I ZE 33549
- KANGOO BUSINESS + ML20 I ZE 33348
- KANGOO BUSINESS + LL21 I ZE 33106
- KANGOO START ML19 E-TECH EV1
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
Tesla Model X18.3% fail · 6,208 testsNissan e-NV20019.3% fail · 6,054 testsCitroen Berlingo18.5% fail · 216 testsAudi RS17.4% fail · 172 tests
OTHER RENAULT ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 4,063 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Steering take 1.9× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- Failure rate rises from 11.6% at 3 years to 31.9% at 9: a steep 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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