Citroen Xsara Picasso MOT reliability

Citroen Xsara Picassos passed their MOT first time 47% of the time across 262 tests in 2025.

First-time pass rate

47%

MOTs analysed

262

Still licensed (GB)

–

Body type

–

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

2007 petrol

25 MOTs

These figures come from 25 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

Passed first time 60%. Typical mileage 102,854 (most between 81,077 and 118,867).

2007: 100% → 2008: 81% → 2009: 81% → 2010: 84% → 2011: 80% → 2012: 74% → 2013: 69% → 2014: 66% → 2015: 64% → 2016: 60% → 2017: 56% → 2018: 56% → 2019: 29% → 2020: 50% → 2021: 54% → 2022: 38% → 2023: 46% → 2024: 39% → 2025: 60%

Most common failures

Ball joint excessively worn (12.0%)
Service brake imbalance: across an axle (8.0%)
Ball joint likely to become detached (4.0%)
Coil spring: fractured or broken (4.0%)
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect (4.0%)

2007 diesel

14 MOTs

These figures come from only 14 MOT tests. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 43%. Typical mileage 102,286 (most between 64,207 and 119,448).

2007: 93% → 2008: 81% → 2009: 77% → 2010: 80% → 2011: 74% → 2012: 67% → 2013: 65% → 2014: 63% → 2015: 63% → 2016: 57% → 2017: 54% → 2018: 46% → 2019: 57% → 2020: 52% → 2021: 45% → 2022: 58% → 2023: 46% → 2024: 25% → 2025: 43%

Most common failures

Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect (14.3%)
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (14.3%)
Stop lamp: not working (14.3%)
Anti-lock braking system: warning lamp indicates an ABS fault (7.1%)
Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (7.1%)

Where 2007 Xsara Picassos fail

Suspension & axles

20.0%

Steering

12.0%

Brakes

8.0%

Lights & electrics

8.0%

Body, structure & corrosion

4.0%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

4.0%

Seat belts & other equipment

4.0%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB (CC BY 4.0, adapted).