Pass rate
87.3%
Above average — 3.4 pts behind the 90.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 314 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £42–£103
2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class MOT pass rate
- 2020
- typical 27,989 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
44.9% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
1.9 pts up across model years — 4.3% in 2001, 6.2% in 2019.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 93.0% pass
- Avoid 2000 70.6% pass
Across the 22 years on record, a spread of 22.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 85.7%
- Typical mileage
- 28k mi
The 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class MOT pass rate is 87.3% of its MOT tests — 3.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 44.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz A-Class does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.3× the national share
Tyres make up 44.9% of everything recorded on the 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class, against 19.8% nationally — 25.1 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 90.7%; this one manages 87.3% — 3.4 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 9% 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 A-Class? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 90.7%, so this figure is 3.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 85.7%. The median 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class in this dataset had covered 27,989 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 78% of tests, with a 87.4% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 85.8% of the time, April–September 88.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords", noted on 2.23% of tests.
- 314 recorded tests behind this page.
- 87.3% overall pass rate, 85.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, the average is 82.5% — best year 2021 (93.0%), worst 2000 (70.6%).
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
- 314
- Typical mileage (median)
- 27,989 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the A-Class MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (78% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the A-Class
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Yorkshire | 51 | 80.4% |
| North West | 48 | 89.6% |
| South East | 45 | 88.9% |
| Scotland | 45 | 88.9% |
| West Midlands | 28 | 85.7% |
| East of England | 25 | 84.0% |
| North East | 22 | 90.9% |
| South West | 19 | 84.2% |
| East Midlands | 17 | 94.1% |
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 2020 A-Class
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 2020 A-Class
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 brakes 1.6% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
-
Check the tyre tread 1.3% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
-
Check the lights 1.0% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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.
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 2020 A-Class through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £42–£103 — and 9% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £42–£103
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: bumpers damaged
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 9%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 314 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 A-Class, side by side
22 model years on record, from 2000 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.6% to 93.0% — a spread of 22.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 70.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2001 72.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2002 72.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 72.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 73.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 74.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 73.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 74.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 74.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 75.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2010 76.5% side repeaters not working
- 2011 78.4% side repeaters not working
- 2012 78.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 79.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 80.5% linkage ball joint dust cover…
- 2015 82.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 84.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 85.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 88.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 88.9% srs malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2020 87.3%has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 93.0% windscreen damaged but not…
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 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class 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 2020 cars with a similar record
- Ford Allied 87.3%
- DS DS3 87.2%
- Volvo V90 Momentum + 87.2%
- Audi A3 E-Tron 87.4%
- Peugeot 5008 87.1%
- Ford S-Max 87.1%
Closest pass rates among 2020 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 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class 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 211 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 96 | 44.90% | 19.76% | +25.14 |
| Brakes | 59 | 27.60% | 20.89% | +6.71 |
| Visibility | 13 | 6.10% | 4.97% | +1.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 12 | 5.60% | 4.18% | +1.42 |
| Suspension | 8 | 3.70% | 20.98% | −17.28 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8 | 3.70% | 12.21% | −8.51 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5 | 2.30% | 5.52% | −3.22 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 4 | 1.90% | 5.57% | −3.67 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4 | 1.90% | 0.82% | +1.08 |
| Steering | 2 | 0.90% | 2.57% | −1.67 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 2.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 0.96% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 0.96% | £80–200 |
| Brake pads worn down to wear indicator Brakes | Major | 0.64% | £18–45 |
| Brake performance not tested unable to be tested Brakes | Major | 0.64% | £60–150 |
| Bumpers damaged and likely to cause injury when grazed or contacted Body, chassis, structure | Major | 0.64% | £80–250 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.64% | £30–80 |
| Service brake performance excessively fluctuating Brakes | Major | 0.64% | £60–150 |
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 | 11.2% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.0% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 3.2% | £45–110 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 2.9% | £45–110 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 2.5% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 168 | 90.5% | 19,247 mi |
| 30-60k | 127 | 85.0% | 40,712 mi |
| 60-90k | 18 | 72.2% | 69,436 mi |
| 90-120k | 1 | 100.0% | 92,587 mi |
Source: 314 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.
2020 A-Class MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class?
87.3% of the 314 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 90.7% for cars first used in 2020. First-attempt pass rate: 85.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class?
The three most recorded items are has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.23%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (1.59%), tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.27%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.5% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class in this dataset had covered 27,989 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class?
Petrol: 87.4% pass rate across 246 tests. Diesel: 85.4% pass rate across 41 tests. Hybrid: 88.9% pass rate across 27 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 85.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 88.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.