Ford C-MAX years to avoid: the later ones

Based on 117,317 real MOT tests from DVSA records. Each year is compared against every other car first registered the same year — otherwise the numbers would only tell you that older cars fail more, which you knew.

The short answer

Avoid 2019. The worst is the 2019, which fails its MOT 23% more often than other cars of the same age. The 2013 is the strongest, failing 21% less often than average.

Found a Ford C-MAX you like?

Averages tell you what to expect. Its registration tells you what actually happened — every MOT, every advisory, and whether the mileage adds up.

Every C-MAX model year

Shaded rows are the years that differ most from other cars of the same age — worse, better.

MOT failure rate by registration year for the Ford C-MAX
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2007	5,771	38.6%	about average
2008	12,279	37.9%	about average
2009	6,066	33.8%	about average
2010	6,505	34.1%	about average
2011	10,816	27.0%	about average
2012	11,222	24.1%	about average
2013	13,994	20.2%	21% better
2014	12,831	19.9%	about average
2015	11,466	15.9%	19% better
2016	10,651	13.6%	20% better
2017	8,094	12.3%	about average
2018	4,900	12.8%	about average
2019 Worst	2,722	12.6%	23% worse

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Ford C-MAX, grouped by the year the car was first registered. Retests are excluded, so a car that failed and was fixed still counts as a failure. Each year's rate is then divided by the rate for all cars first registered that year — so 120 means 20% more failures than its contemporaries, not 20% more than a brand new car.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.