Pass rate
76.4%
Around average — 0.5 pts ahead of the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 208 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£83
2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 MOT pass rate
- 2011
- 2 trims combined
- typical 68,292 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
31.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 80.8% pass
- Avoid 2010 75.5% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 5.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 70.1%
- Typical mileage
- 68k mi
The 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 MOT pass rate is 76.4% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 31.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz A160 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.5× the national share
Brakes make up 31.5% of everything recorded on the 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160, against 20.9% nationally — 10.6 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- Based on a small sample. 208 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 A160? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Mercedes-Benz A160 first registered in 2011 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 0.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 70.1%. The median 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 in this dataset had covered 68,292 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.2% of the time, April–September 81.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Side repeaters not working", noted on 4.81% of tests.
- 208 recorded tests behind this page.
- 76.4% overall pass rate, 70.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz A160, the average is 77.7% — best year 2012 (80.8%), worst 2010 (75.5%).
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
- 208
- Typical mileage (median)
- 68,292 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz A160
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the A160 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 42% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the A160
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 61 | 82.0% |
| London | 34 | 76.5% |
| West Midlands | 25 | 80.0% |
| East of England | 25 | 68.0% |
| Scotland | 20 | 65.0% |
| South West | 18 | 83.3% |
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 2011 A160
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 2011 A160
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 lights 4.3% 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.9% 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 coil springs 2.4% 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 2011 A160 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£83 — and 37% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£83
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 37%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 208 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 A160, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2009 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.5% to 80.8% — a spread of 5.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2009 77.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 75.5% ball joint excessively worn
- 2011 76.4%side repeaters not working
- 2012 80.8% joints constant velocity boot…
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 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 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 2011 cars with a similar record
- Vauxhall Meriva 76.5%
- SEAT Leon 76.5%
- Skoda Superb 76.5%
- Abarth 500 76.5%
- Volkswagen Amarok 76.5%
- Vauxhall Astra 76.3%
Closest pass rates among 2011 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 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 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 339 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 | 107 | 31.50% | 20.89% | +10.61 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 59 | 17.40% | 12.21% | +5.19 |
| Tyres | 58 | 17.10% | 19.76% | −2.66 |
| Suspension | 38 | 11.20% | 20.98% | −9.78 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 22 | 6.50% | 5.57% | +0.93 |
| Non-component advisories | 21 | 6.20% | 4.18% | +2.02 |
| Visibility | 17 | 5.00% | 4.97% | +0.03 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 11 | 3.20% | 5.52% | −2.32 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4 | 1.20% | 1.76% | −0.56 |
| Road Wheels | 2 | 0.60% | 0.75% | −0.15 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.8% | £5–25 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.3% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.9% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.9% | £80–250 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £25–65 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 2.4% | £45–110 |
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.4% | £60–150 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £30–75 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.9% | £5–25 |
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 | 20.7% | £80–180 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.5% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 10.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.7% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.3% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 3.4% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 9 | 88.9% | 26,396 mi |
| 30-60k | 76 | 78.9% | 42,278 mi |
| 60-90k | 89 | 74.2% | 76,553 mi |
| 90-120k | 24 | 83.3% | 99,401 mi |
| 120k+ | 10 | 50.0% | 136,483 mi |
Source: 208 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.
2011 A160 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160?
76.4% of the 208 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 70.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160?
The three most recorded items are side repeaters not working (4.81%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.33%), ball joint excessively worn (3.85%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.9% of the time, falling to 50.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 in this dataset had covered 68,292 mi.
Does the season affect the 2011 Mercedes-Benz A160 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.