Pass rate
78.7%
Around average — 2.8 pts ahead of the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 61 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £45–£128
2011 Mercedes-Benz B180 MOT pass rate
- 2011
- typical 67,442 mi
Only 61 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
36.4% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£40 for Brake pads under 1.5 mm. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 82.9% pass
- Avoid 2009 71.9% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 11 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 72.9%
- Typical mileage
- 67k mi
The 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180 MOT pass rate is 78.7% of its MOT tests — 2.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 36.4% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz B180 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.7× the national share
Brakes make up 36.4% of everything recorded on the 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180, against 20.9% nationally — 15.5 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 0% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 61 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 B180? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 2.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.9%. The median 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180 in this dataset had covered 67,442 mi.
62% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 81.6% of the time.
The single most recorded failure item is "Service brake performance efficiency below requirements", noted on 4.92% of tests.
- 61 recorded tests behind this page.
- 78.7% overall pass rate, 72.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz B180, the average is 78.5% — best year 2012 (82.9%), worst 2009 (71.9%).
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
- 61
- Typical mileage (median)
- 67,442 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz B180
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Servicing
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the B180 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 52% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (62% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the B180
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 26 | 73.1% |
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 2011 B180
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 B180
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 3.3% 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 3.3% 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 steering 1.6% of tests
“attachment bracket and mounting attachment bracket/mounting insecure”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
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 B180 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £45–£128 — and 0% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £45–£128
- Cheapest common item: ball joint excessively worn
- £18–£45
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 0%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 61 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 B180, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2009 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.9% to 82.9% — a spread of 11 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2009 71.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 75.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2011 78.7%service brake performance…
- 2012 82.9% 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 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180 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
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 B180 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 9 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 88 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 | 32 | 36.40% | 20.89% | +15.51 |
| Suspension | 15 | 17.00% | 20.98% | −3.98 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 13 | 14.80% | 12.21% | +2.59 |
| Tyres | 11 | 12.50% | 19.76% | −7.26 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 4 | 4.50% | 5.57% | −1.07 |
| Visibility | 4 | 4.50% | 4.97% | −0.47 |
| Steering | 4 | 4.50% | 2.57% | +1.93 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 3.40% | 4.18% | −0.78 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2 | 2.30% | 5.52% | −3.22 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service brake performance efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.9% | £60–150 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £25–65 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.3% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.3% | £80–250 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance effort inadequate at a wheel Brakes | Major | 3.3% | £60–150 |
| Attachment bracket and mounting attachment bracket/mounting insecure Suspension | Rectified | 1.6% | £40–150 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.6% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £18–45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 14.8% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 9.8% | £80–180 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 6.6% | £45–110 |
| Individual direction indicators incorrect colour Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Advisory | 6.6% | £3–12 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 4.9% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 19 | 73.7% | 52,172 mi |
| 60-90k | 15 | 86.7% | 64,817 mi |
| 90-120k | 17 | 88.2% | 103,695 mi |
| 120k+ | 10 | 60.0% | 131,695 mi |
Source: 61 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 B180 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180?
78.7% of the 61 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 72.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180?
The three most recorded items are service brake performance efficiency below requirements (4.92%), ball joint excessively worn (3.28%), coil spring fractured or broken (3.28%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 73.7% of the time, falling to 60.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180 in this dataset had covered 67,442 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2011 Mercedes-Benz B180?
Petrol: 81.6% pass rate across 38 tests. Diesel: 73.9% pass rate across 23 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.