Pass rate
80.8%
Around average — 3.6 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 291 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £44–£125
2012 Mercedes-Benz A160 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 63,449 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
32.2% 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 2012 80.8% pass · this year
- Avoid 2010 75.5% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 5.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 76.8%
- Typical mileage
- 63k mi
The 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160 MOT pass rate is 80.8% of its MOT tests — 3.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.2% 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 32.2% of everything recorded on the 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160, against 20.9% nationally — 11.3 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 77.2% and this one manages 80.8% — 3.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 31% 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 A160? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 3.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 76.8%. The median 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160 in this dataset had covered 63,449 mi.
69% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 81.1% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.0% of the time, April–September 83.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 5.15% of tests.
- 291 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.8% overall pass rate, 76.8% 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
- 291
- Typical mileage (median)
- 63,449 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
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the A160 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (69% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the A160
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 85 | 77.6% |
| South West | 57 | 82.5% |
| West Midlands | 27 | 85.2% |
| East of England | 23 | 78.3% |
| North West | 22 | 77.3% |
| Yorkshire | 21 | 81.0% |
| London | 17 | 88.2% |
| Scotland | 17 | 82.4% |
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 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 2012 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 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.
-
Check the brake pipes 2.1% 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 suspension joints 1.4% 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.
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 A160 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £44–£125 — and 31% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £44–£125
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 31%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 291 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 2012 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- BMW X3 80.8%
- Suzuki Grand Vitara 80.8%
- Audi A4 81.0%
- Toyota Auris 81.0%
- BMW 520 80.5%
- Toyota Avensis 81.1%
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 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 350 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 | 114 | 32.20% | 20.89% | +11.31 |
| Tyres | 67 | 18.90% | 19.76% | −0.86 |
| Suspension | 42 | 11.90% | 20.98% | −9.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 42 | 11.90% | 12.21% | −0.31 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 28 | 7.90% | 5.57% | +2.33 |
| Visibility | 21 | 5.90% | 4.97% | +0.93 |
| Non-component advisories | 16 | 4.50% | 4.18% | +0.32 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 13 | 3.70% | 5.52% | −1.82 |
| Steering | 4 | 1.10% | 2.57% | −1.47 |
| Road Wheels | 3 | 0.80% | 0.75% | +0.05 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 5.2% | £80–250 |
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.5% | £5–25 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £25–65 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.1% | £80–180 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.7% | £80–250 |
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 1.7% | £60–150 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.4% | £18–45 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.4% | £3–12 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 1.4% | £45–110 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £8–22 |
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 | 11.7% | £80–180 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.3% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 7.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 5.8% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.8% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 3.1% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 30 | 90.0% | 22,063 mi |
| 30-60k | 105 | 84.8% | 46,910 mi |
| 60-90k | 101 | 75.2% | 73,367 mi |
| 90-120k | 55 | 78.2% | 102,118 mi |
Source: 291 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 A160 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160?
80.8% of the 291 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 76.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (5.15%), side repeaters not working (4.47%), coil spring fractured or broken (2.41%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.0% of the time, falling to 78.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160 in this dataset had covered 63,449 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160?
Petrol: 81.1% pass rate across 201 tests. Diesel: 80.0% pass rate across 90 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Mercedes-Benz A160 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 83.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.