Citroen Berlingo MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Berlingo is 10.4 percentage points below the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is well below average. The unadjusted figure is 58.9%; the difference is what the age and mileage of this model’s fleet was hiding.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Citroen Berlingo tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning21.3%

   11,762 occurrencesLamp not working explained

2. 2.A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc18.9%

   10,444 occurrencesDriveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing explained

3. 3.Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning16.3%

   8,987 occurrencesStop lamp not working explained

4. 4.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened15.2%

   8,359 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained

5. 5.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements14.9%

   8,233 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

6. 6.A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps12.1%

   6,657 occurrencesLamp not working explained

7. 7.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.1%

   5,571 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

8. 8.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen9.6%

   5,309 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

9. 9.A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED7.7%

   4,263 occurrencesHeadlamp not working explained

10. 10.Audible warning inoperative7.6%

    4,176 occurrencesHorn not working, or of the wrong type explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Citroen Berlingo tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1. 1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements32.6%

   58,508 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured13.7%

   24,533 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

3. 3.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn11.2%

   20,059 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

4. 4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.7%

   19,234 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

5. 5.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users9.5%

   17,045 tests

6. 6.A tyre seriously damaged8.0%

   14,373 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

7. 7.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements3.8%

   6,918 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

8. 8.Lamp emitted colour, position or intensity not in accordance with the requirements3.6%

   6,442 testsLamp of the wrong colour, position or intensity explained

How wear changes the picture

Pass rate by vehicle age

Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Berlingo fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

95,356

Across examples of every age, so this is a description of the fleet rather than an annual figure.

Fuel mix of tested cars

Diesel94.2%

Petrol5.6%

Compare within the range

Other Citroen models

• Citroen C3 — 63.9% adjusted
• Citroen C1 — 68.7% adjusted
• Citroen C4 — 63.8% adjusted
• Citroen DS3 — 51.9% adjusted
• Citroen Dispatch — 62.0% adjusted
• Citroen C3 Aircross — 84.6% unadjusted
• All Citroen models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Vauxhall Insignia — 72.5% adjusted, ranked 139
• Vauxhall Vivaro — 62.2% adjusted, ranked 244
• Volkswagen Passat — 77.9% adjusted, ranked 75
• Seat Leon — 75.3% adjusted, ranked 105

Common questions

Is the Citroen Berlingo reliable?

On MOT evidence the Citroen Berlingo is well below average. It passes 61.9% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 247 of 262 models with enough data for a fair comparison. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Citroen Berlingo?

The item recorded most often is "A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning", which appears in 21.3% of failed Citroen Berlingo tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Citroen Berlingo?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 32.6% of all Citroen Berlingo tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Citroen Berlingo usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 95,356 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Does a Citroen Berlingo get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 72.8% of Citroen Berlingo tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 51.5%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Citroen Berlingo models petrol or diesel?

Of the Citroen Berlingo cars tested, 94% are diesel, 6% are petrol. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. The adjusted rate is directly standardised across twenty-five age and mileage bands and reweighted onto the national distribution, so this model is compared against cars that have lived a similar life rather than against a younger or lighter-used fleet.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.

Further reading

Make sense of the numbers

• How to judge reliability from evidence rather than reputation
• What counts as high or low mileage for a car’s age
• The most common MOT failures and how to avoid them
• What to check before buying a used Citroen