Ford: Fiesta, Focus, Kuga... What Does the Roadworthiness Test Show?

Fiesta, Focus, Kuga, C-Max, Mondeo: Ford is one of the most common foreign brands on France’s used car market. For a buyer, the question is simple: which Fords do well at the roadworthiness test, and which do less well? Official UTAC-OTC data makes it possible to answer model by model.

Ford compared with other brands

Of the 38 brands tracked by this site, Ford ranks 27th, with a volume-weighted average retest rate of 23.17% across 28 model families (671,481 tests). That is 4.2 points above the national reference rate (18.94%, 2025 barometer).

Among mainstream brands, Ford sits in the lower middle of the brand rankings:

Brand	Retest rate	Rank (/38)
Dacia	16.78%	10
Citroën	19.16%	18
Toyota	20.92%	22
Kia	21.82%	25
Ford	23.17%	27
Volkswagen	23.44%	28
Fiat	23.45%	29
Renault	24.91%	33
Peugeot	25.55%	35
Opel	26.42%	37

Ford therefore does better than Renault, Peugeot and Opel, very slightly better than Volkswagen and Fiat, but worse than Dacia, Citroën, Toyota and Kia.

The Fords that stand out

Among families with at least 10,000 tests, three are clearly ahead:

• the EcoSport: 4.71%, 23rd of the 530 models tracked (24,993 tests);
• the Fusion: 5.77%, 40th (21,642 tests);
• the C-Max I: 7.91%, 86th (33,605 tests).

For the Fusion and the C-Max I, both older models, a selection effect is likely: the cars still on the road tend to be the best maintained.

Three other families post good rates, but on fewer than 10,000 tests, which calls for caution: the Mustang VI (7.67%, 5,826 tests), the Kuga III (9.09%, 8,357) and the Tourneo/Transit Custom I (10.03%, 4,049).

The recent family hatchbacks stay below the national average: the Focus III and Focus IV both post 17.26% (216th and 217th), as does the B-Max (17.25%).

The Fiesta VI, by far the most tested Ford (134,602 tests), ranks 271st at 21.16%: slightly above the national rate, slightly below the Ford average. The Fiesta VII shows the same rate. As with the Focus III and IV or the Ka I and II, the two generations share an identical rate in the source data, which does not allow them to be told apart.

The Fords that do less well

At the bottom of the range, again among families with at least 10,000 tests:

Model	Retest rate	Rank (/530)	Tests
Puma II	38.59%	524	20,744
Fiesta V	35.19%	502	49,556
Focus II	34.71%	495	30,970
Mondeo III	34.32%	489	10,131
Fiesta IV / Courier II	33.91%	482	12,275
C-Max II	33.08%	472	44,891

Most are older generations, in line with the trend seen across all mainstream brands. The Puma II is more surprising: launched in 2019, it ranks 524th of 530 at France’s roadworthiness test. This contrasts with Dutch data, where the Puma (all generations combined, as the Netherlands does not separate them) does better than the average for its age band. This comparison is not an official match between the two datasets and does not allow any conclusion to be drawn; the French figure is reported as published.

Manufacturer recalls

RappelConso lists 47 separate notices concerning the Ford families tracked, published between January 2019 and April 2026. Counted using the same method as our recalls ranking by brand (a recall counts once per family it concerns), that comes to 159 cumulative recalls across 27 of the 28 families (only the B-Max has none), putting Ford 7th among brands.

The most affected families are the Focus (16 notices per generation), the Tourneo/Transit Custom I (10) and the Kuga (8 per generation). One important caveat: none of these notices specifies the generation concerned. The same recall is therefore attached to every generation of a model, and the 16 notices counted for each Focus are the same from the Focus I to the Focus IV.

The view from abroad

Ford is widely sold in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, which allows a brand-level comparison.

In the United Kingdom (MOT), Ford ranks 22nd of 29 makes, with an average failure rate of 34.28% over 4.5 million tests. It does worse than the British average in every age band (for example 23.31% against 20.54% at 5 to 8 years). Recent generations are the exception: the Fiesta Mk7 (12.82% against 14.66% for its age band, 280,712 tests) and the Focus Mk4 (14.02% against 14.66%) do better than average. Conversely, the Fiesta Mk6, the most tested (919,990 tests), fails more often (42.76% against 38.66%).

In the Netherlands (APK), Ford ranks 50th of 84, with an average failure rate of 41.57% over 814,236 inspections, slightly above the Dutch average between 3 and 15 years. A methodological reminder: the APK result there is inferred from the defects recorded, and generations are not distinguished.

Only the Focus I to IV are part of the model-by-model comparison pilot, with a “high” confidence match in both countries. The top defect is the same: insufficient tyre tread depth (16.7% to 23.6% of MOT tests depending on the generation). These figures should be read as a gap to each country’s own average, not as absolute values compared across countries (see can we really compare roadworthiness test rates across countries). Details are available on the Ford in the United Kingdom and Ford in the Netherlands pages.

How much does a used Ford cost

This site has a reference new price for three Ford models. Here is their estimated used price, at ages matching their production period:

Model	Reference new price	Estimated used price
Focus IV	€25,400	~€16,460 at 3 years, ~€12,000 at 6 years
Focus III	€24,000	~€9,180 at 8 years, ~€6,030 at 12 years
Puma II	€24,000	~€15,550 at 3 years, ~€11,340 at 6 years

This is an indicative estimate, not a valuation: it applies a typical depreciation curve by segment to a reference new price (estimated for the Focus III). To compare the models within your budget, see the budget simulator.

What these figures don’t tell you

The retest rate measures the safety points inspected, not overall mechanical reliability: an engine or gearbox failure does not show up unless it affects an inspected item. See the methodology.

Our take

At France’s roadworthiness test, Ford sits below the national average and in the second half of the brand rankings, ahead of Renault, Peugeot and Opel but behind Citroën, Toyota or Dacia. British data points the same way. The brand is not uniform, though: the EcoSport, Fusion and C-Max I are among the best models tracked, the Focus III and IV beat the national average, while the Fiesta V, Focus II, C-Max II and Puma II sit at the bottom of the rankings. When buying, the model and generation matter more than the badge: details for each family are available on the Ford brand page.

Data sources: UTAC-OTC (France roadworthiness test, 2025), RappelConso (data.gouv.fr). Methodology: methodology.