Peugeot 208: which years to avoid

Based on 181,616 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

No model year stands out as one to avoid. Every year sits within 15% of the failure rate for cars of the same age. The 2019 is the strongest, failing 21% less often than average.

Found a Peugeot 208 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 208 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 Peugeot 208
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2012	14,791	31.5%	about average
2013	33,733	29.0%	about average
2014	29,330	25.6%	about average
2015	27,747	19.3%	about average
2016	25,922	17.8%	about average
2017	17,696	16.0%	about average
2018	15,357	12.7%	about average
2019	17,040	8.1%	21% better

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Peugeot 208, 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.