All generations and engines together · 21,184 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 55k
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 16,554 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The 1.2 PureTech petrol engine used across the Cactus range runs its timing belt inside the engine oil. Modern oil additives can degrade the rubber, and the shed fibres clog the oil pickup strainer, starving the engine. The warning sign is an oil pressure fault light flickering briefly under braking or hard cornering, easily written off as a sensor glitch; ignored, it can lead to a seized engine. Citroen/Peugeot issued a recall around 2020-2021, but it only reprogrammed the warning light to trigger sooner, it did not replace the belt itself, so inspection still matters on a car that's already had the recall done.
Cars fitted with the ETG6 automated manual (a single clutch operated electronically, not a torque converter) are repeatedly reported as hesitant and jerky pulling away, with a noticeable flat spot from a standstill and clunky changes as it wears. The clutch pack and the electronic actuator that operates it are the parts that go. No manufacturer TSB was found, but the pattern is consistent across owner and specialist reports. Manual-gearbox Cactus models don't have this problem.
Owner and inspection reports describe surface corrosion turning up on the subframe and rust weakening exhaust mountings, alongside the odd corroded brake pipe, from mid-life onward. That lines up with the measured MOT data for this model, where body/chassis/structure failures run well above the class average. It's rarely enough to fail an MOT outright on its own yet, so a car can look clean on paper while quietly rusting underneath.
The plastic Airbump door panels that define the Cactus's look can fade, peel or crack with age and UV exposure, and they mark easily from car park knocks. It's cosmetic rather than mechanical, but it's a repeated complaint and there's no fix beyond replacing the panel, since it's the material itself rather than a fault.
On the 1.6 BlueHDi diesel, short town journeys stop the DPF regenerating properly, triggering a warning light, reduced power or limp mode. It's a driving-pattern problem rather than a manufacturer defect, but it hits diesel Cactus owners doing mostly urban miles hardest. Petrol PureTech cars aren't affected.
The 7-inch touchscreen, which also controls climate on this model, is reported to freeze or lose connectivity, and on some cars the heater has been reported switching between hot and cold without any input from the driver. A dealer software reset often clears it, but repeat offenders sometimes need the head unit replacing.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.