Peugeot 208 MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The 208 is 3.9 percentage points below the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is below average. The unadjusted figure is 70.5%; 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 Peugeot 208 tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc17.1%

   8,712 occurrencesDriveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing explained

2. 2.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements11.0%

   5,583 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

3. 3.Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer10.2%

   5,204 occurrencesEmissions above the permitted limit explained

4. 4.A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED8.7%

   4,410 occurrencesHeadlamp not working explained

5. 5.A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps8.5%

   4,347 occurrencesLamp not working explained

6. 6.A tyre seriously damaged7.4%

   3,756 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

7. 7.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen7.2%

   3,679 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

8. 8.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn7.0%

   3,562 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

9. 9.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn6.7%

   3,426 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

10. 10.Exhaust system leaking or insecure6.3%

    3,210 occurrencesExhaust leaking or insecure explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Peugeot 208 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 requirements20.9%

   45,850 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A tyre seriously damaged17.1%

   37,592 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

3. 3.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured15.7%

   34,564 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

4. 4.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn12.5%

   27,548 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

5. 5.Exhaust system leaking or insecure6.7%

   14,659 testsExhaust leaking or insecure explained

6. 6.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm5.4%

   11,965 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

7. 7.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn5.1%

   11,187 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

8. 8.Exhaust system leaking or insecure4.0%

   8,718 testsExhaust leaking or insecure 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 208 fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

55,400

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

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol77.8%

Diesel16.7%

Electric5.4%

Compare within the range

Other Peugeot models

• Peugeot Partner — 65.1% adjusted
• Peugeot 2008 — 69.0% adjusted
• Peugeot 3008 — 65.6% adjusted
• Peugeot 308 — 67.5% adjusted
• Peugeot 207 — 50.2% unadjusted
• Peugeot 107 — 60.8% adjusted
• All Peugeot models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Skoda Fabia — 70.5% adjusted, ranked 165
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class — 78.5% adjusted, ranked 69
• BMW 5 Series — 82.0% adjusted, ranked 38
• Audi A1 — 73.7% adjusted, ranked 126

Common questions

Is the Peugeot 208 reliable?

On MOT evidence the Peugeot 208 is below average. It passes 68.4% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 78% of the national age and mileage range, which is enough to quote but not to rank. 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 Peugeot 208?

The item recorded most often is "A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc", which appears in 17.1% of failed Peugeot 208 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 Peugeot 208?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 20.9% of all Peugeot 208 tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Peugeot 208 usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 55,400 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 Peugeot 208 get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 84.0% of Peugeot 208 tests pass. By 12 to 14 years, that falls to 59.2%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Peugeot 208 models petrol or diesel?

Of the Peugeot 208 cars tested, 78% are petrol, 17% are diesel, 5% are electric. 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 Peugeot