VehicleScore research
Peugeot 208: exhaust comments, mostly not failures
Exhaust comments appeared on 29.3% of 7,472 Peugeot 208s aged 3–5 and under 60,000 miles. Other vehicles in that slice were at 2.5%. Of the 3,060 exhaust comments on those 208s, 567 were failures. That is 18.5%. The 29.3% figure is a comment rate.
Do not read 29.3% as “29.3% of young 208s failed the MOT on the exhaust”. 81.5% of the matched comments were advisory, minor or PRS. This file does not split those three.
Exhaust comments on the 208
Age 3–5, under 60k
Age 6–8, under 60k
Age 9–11, 60–120k
The gap does not close as the cars get older. At ages 6–8 and under 60,000 miles, 36.7% of 5,234 208s had an exhaust comment, against 5.8%. 20.3% of those comments were failures. At ages 9–11 and 60,000–119,999 miles the comment rate is 43.8% of 4,000, against 12.7%, and the failure share rises to 32.7%. Even in that older slice, most of the comments were not failures.
The comments are whatever text VehicleScore’s rule grouped as exhaust: leaks, mounts, noise, corrosion, security. The dataset does not say which of those lines dominates, and it does not identify a part number or a design cause. Citroën DS3 records are not in these rows.
Buying a 208?
The aggregate says exhaust comments are common on 208s of this age, and that most of them were not failures. Only the registration you enter has the actual wording and the pass or fail beside it.
Brake-disc comments are common too, and even less often a failure
In the same young slice, brake-disc comments appeared on 30.2% of the 7,472 cars, against 13.3% of other vehicles. 5.7% of the 208’s disc comments were failures (178 of 3,149). A 208 MOT from ages 3–5 often mentions discs or the exhaust. It much less often fails on either.
Share of 208 vehicles in each age and mileage slice with at least one matching MOT comment. The comparison is other vehicles in the same slice, not the model itself. Failure share is the percentage of matched comments recorded as a fail. The rest are advisory, minor or PRS comments.
| Comment | Slice | 208 | Other vehicles | Gap | Comments that were failures |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhaust | Age 3–5, under 60,000 miles | 29.3% 2,191 of 7,472 | 2.5% 974,833 vehicles | +26.8 pp | 18.5% 567 of 3,060 |
| Exhaust | Age 6–8, under 60,000 miles | 36.7% 1,920 of 5,234 | 5.8% 616,090 vehicles | +30.9 pp | 20.3% 602 of 2,972 |
| Exhaust | Age 9–11, 60,000–119,999 miles | 43.8% 1,752 of 4,000 | 12.7% 507,831 vehicles | +31.1 pp | 32.7% 982 of 3,005 |
| Brake disc wear | Age 3–5, under 60,000 miles | 30.2% 2,254 of 7,472 | 13.3% 974,833 vehicles | +16.9 pp | 5.7% 178 of 3,149 |
The pass rate is a separate, smaller gap
The crude pass rate on 81,556 tests is 77.8%, against 78.5% overall. The age-standardised figure is 77.0%, but coverage is 87.7% because at least one age band had fewer than 50 tests and was left out of the adjustment. The 15-or-over band does not appear in the age table below for the same sample-size reason. Treat 77.0% as a partial adjustment, not a finished one.
Test pass rate by the vehicle’s age at the test. The comparison column is every pass/fail test in that age band, including 208. A vehicle can appear in more than one band.
| Age at test | Vehicles | Tests | 208 | All tests in the band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–2 years | 6,144 | 6,924 | 89.1% | 87.4% |
| 3–5 years | 7,768 | 25,813 | 83.7% | 84.4% |
| 6–8 years | 6,961 | 25,407 | 76.1% | 79.3% |
| 9–11 years | 5,618 | 19,153 | 70.4% | 75.0% |
| 12–14 years | 2,192 | 4,254 | 67.9% | 72.3% |
From ages 3–5 the 208’s pass rate sits a few points under the band. That is a real difference on these sample sizes. It is not the exhaust story. A car can carry an exhaust advisory and still pass. The pass rate by age for the whole dataset is on MOT pass rate by age.
Related VehicleScore research
Methodology
Snapshot 27 September 2026, job 2026-09-27.1. The model is the Peugeot 208 only. Comparable vehicles are other checked vehicles in the same age and mileage slice. Published cells have non-overlapping Wilson 95% intervals. Failure comments are type FAIL. Everything else in the matched set is advisory, minor or PRS.
No mechanical cause is inferred. The sample is vehicles checked through VehicleScore, not every 208 registered in the UK.