Pass rate
73.5%
Below average — 3.7 pts behind the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 155 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £25–£67
2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 100,943 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
36.7% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 96.5% pass
- Avoid 2013 70.0% pass
Across the 15 years on record, a spread of 26.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 66.9%
- Typical mileage
- 101k mi
The 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 MOT pass rate is 73.5% of its MOT tests — 3.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 36.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz 220 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.8× the national share
Brakes make up 36.7% of everything recorded on the 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220, against 20.9% nationally — 15.8 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 77.2%; this one manages 73.5% — 3.7 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 22% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Mercedes-Benz 220? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 3.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 66.9%. The median 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 in this dataset had covered 100,943 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.3% of the time, April–September 68.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 3.87% of tests.
- 155 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.5% overall pass rate, 66.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz 220, the average is 78.7% — best year 2019 (96.5%), worst 2013 (70.0%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 155
- Typical mileage (median)
- 100,943 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz 220
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 220 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 220
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 31 | 71.0% |
| North West | 30 | 70.0% |
| South East | 22 | 77.3% |
| East Midlands | 20 | 65.0% |
| Yorkshire | 15 | 66.7% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2012 220
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2012 220
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.9% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check the lights 3.9% of tests
“malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the brake pipes 3.2% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2012 220 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £25–£67 — and 22% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £25–£67
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: rigid brake pipes excessively corroded
- £80–£180
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 22%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 155 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the 220, side by side
15 model years on record, from 2005 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.0% to 96.5% — a spread of 26.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 75.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 73.9% ball joint excessively worn
- 2007 71.3% rigid brake pipes excessively…
- 2008 72.5% ball joint excessively worn
- 2009 73.4% ball joint excessively worn
- 2010 76.6% ball joint excessively worn
- 2011 74.1% ball joint excessively worn
- 2012 73.5%linkage ball joint dust cover…
- 2013 70.0% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2014 85.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2015 83.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 86.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2017 86.8% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2018 84.4% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2019 96.5% has ply or cords exposed
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2012 cars with a similar record
- Fiat Fiorino 73.5%
- Ford Galaxy 73.7%
- Kia Sorento 73.3%
- Hyundai Veloster 73.7%
- Peugeot 207 73.8%
- Kia Sportage 73.8%
Closest pass rates among 2012 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 293 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 108 | 36.70% | 20.89% | +15.81 |
| Suspension | 75 | 25.50% | 20.98% | +4.52 |
| Tyres | 41 | 13.90% | 19.76% | −5.86 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 22 | 7.50% | 5.52% | +1.98 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 19 | 6.50% | 12.21% | −5.71 |
| Non-component advisories | 10 | 3.40% | 4.18% | −0.78 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 7 | 2.40% | 5.57% | −3.17 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 7 | 2.40% | 0.82% | +1.58 |
| Visibility | 3 | 1.00% | 4.97% | −3.97 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 0.30% | 1.76% | −1.46 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.9% | £18–45 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.9% | £3–12 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £80–180 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £40–150 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.9% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.9% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 1.9% | £25–65 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.9% | £5–20 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.1% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 10.3% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.7% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 9.0% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 8.4% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 14 | 78.6% | 47,760 mi |
| 60-90k | 38 | 78.9% | 79,294 mi |
| 90-120k | 55 | 69.1% | 103,930 mi |
| 120k+ | 45 | 71.1% | 158,282 mi |
Source: 155 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2012 220 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220?
73.5% of the 155 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 66.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220?
The three most recorded items are linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.87%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (3.87%), rigid brake pipes excessively corroded (3.23%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 78.6% of the time, falling to 71.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 in this dataset had covered 100,943 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 Mercedes-Benz 220 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 68.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.