All generations and engines together · 125,951 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 55k
Middling for its age among people carriers, and better than most per mile driven. Watch suspension and lights & electrics. A fair used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Owners of the 1.0 EcoBoost report premature clutch wear and dual-mass flywheel failure, often traced to a failing clutch slave cylinder rather than driver abuse. Some cars have needed a new clutch as early as 3,000 to 27,000 miles, well short of what you'd expect. Ford issued recall R/2018/082 covering clutch slip detection software on 1.0 EcoBoost models, though owners on forums say early repairs weren't always reimbursed. A full clutch and DMF replacement runs to £1,000-1,200.
The dual-clutch Powershift automatic needs its fluid and filter changed roughly every 3 years or it starts to shudder and hesitate between gears; that service alone is about £250. Owners report full failures needing a valve body or complete gearbox replacement, with bills reported up to £2,500 and, in the worst cases, around £5,500 for a full unit swap. Doesn't apply to manual cars.
The degas pipe that runs from the turbo to the coolant expansion tank on 1.0 EcoBoost engines is known to fail, letting coolant escape unnoticed until the engine overheats and seizes. Owner reports on Honest John describe more than one full engine replacement on the same car, at roughly £5,500 a time. No manufacturer recall found for this specific pipe, so it's down to buyers to check coolant level and look for staining around the turbo.
1.6 TDCi diesels have a history of injector failures, showing up as rough running, a flashing glow-plug or engine light, and poor economy. Owners report failures from as early as 20,000-40,000 miles, sometimes needing more than one injector replaced on the same car over its life. Not officially acknowledged by Ford as a design fault, so treat it as a running cost to budget for on higher-mileage diesels rather than a definite time bomb.
Diesel C-MAX and Grand C-MAX models built between 2014 and 2023 are covered by a Ford recall addressing a design issue that lets the diesel particulate filter emit more particles than it should over its life, alongside the usual owner complaints of blocked or cracked filters after a life of short journeys. A clogged DPF shows up as a warning light, sluggish power and failed regenerations; unblocking or replacing it ranges from a couple of hundred pounds for a forced regen up to £1,000+ for a new filter. Check the car's VIN against Ford's recall lookup before buying a diesel.
A long-running owner complaint on the C-MAX forums: a clunk or knock from the rear over bumps and speed humps, usually traced to worn rear trailing arm bushes or tired rear dampers rather than anything more serious. It tends to show up from mid-life onwards and a bush replacement is a modest job, but a full trailing arm or damper swap costs more. This lines up with the measured MOT data for this segment, where suspension is the standout fault category for MPVs generally, so the forum noise and the test-lane figures are pointing at the same area of the car.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
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. 47,098 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.
Same segment (MPVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.
Head to head with the other popular cars in its class on reliability and common faults.