Pass rate
78.4%
Around average — 4.4 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 74 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £26–£63
2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 120,439 mi
Only 74 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Brakes
32.6% 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 2016 91.4% pass
- Avoid 2011 74.2% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 17.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 72.9%
- Typical mileage
- 120k mi
The 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 MOT pass rate is 78.4% of its MOT tests — 4.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz 250 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.6× the national share
Brakes make up 32.6% of everything recorded on the 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250, against 20.9% nationally — 11.7 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 74.0% and this one manages 78.4% — 4.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 24% 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 250? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 4.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.9%. The median 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 in this dataset had covered 120,439 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 76.9% of the time, April–September 80.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint excessively worn", noted on 5.41% of tests.
- 74 recorded tests behind this page.
- 78.4% overall pass rate, 72.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz 250, the average is 80.6% — best year 2016 (91.4%), worst 2011 (74.2%).
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
- 74
- Typical mileage (median)
- 120,439 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz 250
- 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 250 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 65% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 250
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 23 | 82.6% |
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 2009 250
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 2009 250
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 5.4% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
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 brake pipes 5.4% 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.
-
Check the coil springs 4.0% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
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 2009 250 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £26–£63 — and 24% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £26–£63
- 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
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 24%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 74 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 250, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2009 to 2016. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.2% to 91.4% — a spread of 17.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2009 78.4%ball joint excessively worn
- 2010 77.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 74.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 76.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2013 81.9% ball joint excessively worn
- 2014 87.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 88.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2016 91.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
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 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- BMW 116 78.4%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet 78.4%
- BMW 123 78.6%
- Suzuki Jimny 78.2%
- Honda Cr-V 78.7%
- Audi Q5 78.0%
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 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 138 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 | 45 | 32.60% | 20.89% | +11.71 |
| Suspension | 36 | 26.10% | 20.98% | +5.12 |
| Tyres | 25 | 18.10% | 19.76% | −1.66 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 9 | 6.50% | 5.52% | +0.98 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 7 | 5.10% | 12.21% | −7.11 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 5 | 3.60% | 1.76% | +1.84 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 4 | 2.90% | 5.57% | −2.67 |
| Visibility | 3 | 2.20% | 4.97% | −2.77 |
| Steering | 3 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 1 | 0.70% | 4.18% | −3.48 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.4% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 5.4% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 5.4% | £80–180 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.0% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.0% | £25–65 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.0% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.7% | £18–45 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.7% | £3–12 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.7% | £5–20 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 2.7% | £45–95 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 21.6% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 17.6% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 16.2% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 13.5% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 8.1% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.1% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 5 | 80.0% | 50,738 mi |
| 60-90k | 8 | 75.0% | 80,864 mi |
| 90-120k | 23 | 87.0% | 109,704 mi |
| 120k+ | 38 | 73.7% | 148,919 mi |
Source: 74 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.
2009 250 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250?
78.4% of the 74 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 72.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250?
The three most recorded items are ball joint excessively worn (5.41%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.41%), rigid brake pipes excessively corroded (5.41%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 80.0% of the time, falling to 73.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 in this dataset had covered 120,439 mi.
Does the season affect the 2009 Mercedes-Benz 250 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 76.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.