Mercedes Benz MOT pass rates and reliability
We have 1,655,727 MOT tests on Mercedes Benz cars from 2023, covering 34 models with enough tests to compare. Choose a model to see what it fails on most often, how its pass rate changes with age and how far it is typically driven.
Across 1,655,727 MOT tests on Mercedes Benz cars in 2023, 77% passed first time, above the national average of 71% for all cars. Of the Mercedes Benz models with enough tests, the GT did best at 92% and the CLC did least well at 55%. Newer models pass more often whatever the make, so compare cars of a similar age.
Mercedes Benz models
| Model | Tests | First-time pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| C Class | 385,823 | 75% |
| A Class | 322,032 | 79% |
| E Class | 241,646 | 78% |
| Vito | 89,072 | 66% |
| GLA | 78,901 | 86% |
| GLC | 72,966 | 88% |
| B Class | 72,737 | 73% |
| SLK | 59,368 | 73% |
| CLA | 54,508 | 81% |
| ML | 35,890 | 71% |
| CLK | 32,389 | 62% |
| S Class | 27,853 | 82% |
| GLE | 26,532 | 88% |
| CLS | 25,188 | 75% |
| Sprinter | 22,642 | 71% |
| SL | 22,321 | 83% |
| Citan | 20,180 | 63% |
| V Class | 10,687 | 82% |
| CLC | 9,143 | 55% |
| SLC | 8,854 | 88% |
| Viano | 5,807 | 65% |
| GL | 3,766 | 79% |
| X Class | 3,603 | 79% |
| CL | 3,385 | 78% |
| 190 | 2,940 | 73% |
| 300 | 2,933 | 76% |
| GLS | 2,515 | 88% |
| R Class | 2,447 | 70% |
| A 200 | 2,371 | 71% |
| G Class | 2,366 | 87% |
| C 320 | 1,454 | 62% |
| GT | 1,322 | 92% |
| 500 | 1,063 | 79% |
| 280 | 1,023 | 78% |
What Mercedes Benz cars fail on
Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, across all models, against the figure for all cars.
- Tyres7.1% (all cars 6.4%)
- Suspension7.0% (all cars 9.0%)
- Lights and electrics6.6% (all cars 11.3%)
- Brakes5.7% (all cars 6.8%)
- Visibility3.1% (all cars 4.8%)
- Exhaust and emissions2.7% (all cars 3.1%)
- Body and structure1.5% (all cars 3.5%)
- Seat belts and airbags1.2% (all cars 1.0%)
Most common Mercedes Benz failure items
Share of tests on which each item was recorded.
- Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.4%
- Coil spring: fractured or broken 2.4%
- Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction 1.9%
- Suspension arms, ball joint: ball joint excessively worn 1.8%
- Tyres, condition: has ply or cords exposed 1.4%
- Tyres, condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords 1.3%
- Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded 0.8%
- Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick 0.7%
Check a particular Mercedes Benz
Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.
Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.