Pass rate
81.2%
Around average — 7.2 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 627 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£100
2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl MOT pass rate
- 2009
- 2 trims combined
- typical 120,644 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
23.7% 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 2020 93.7% pass
- Avoid 2009 81.2% pass · this year
Across the 15 years on record, a spread of 12.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 78.5%
- Typical mileage
- 121k mi
The 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl MOT pass rate is 81.2% of its MOT tests — 7.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz Gl does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.9× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 15.8% of everything recorded on the 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl, against 5.5% nationally — 10.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 23.7%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- 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 81.2% — 7.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 58% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 Gl? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Mercedes-Benz Gl first registered in 2009 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 7.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.5%. The median 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl in this dataset had covered 120,644 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 97% of tests, with a 80.9% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 81.2% of the time, April–September 81.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 4.63% of tests.
- 627 recorded tests behind this page.
- 81.2% overall pass rate, 78.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz Gl, the average is 85.8% — best year 2020 (93.7%), worst 2009 (81.2%).
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
- 627
- Typical mileage (median)
- 120,644 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz Gl
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Gl MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 70% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (97% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Gl
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 182 | 83.0% |
| East of England | 72 | 87.5% |
| London | 63 | 73.0% |
| West Midlands | 62 | 93.5% |
| East Midlands | 50 | 78.0% |
| North West | 43 | 83.7% |
| Yorkshire | 42 | 78.6% |
| South West | 40 | 72.5% |
| Scotland | 36 | 80.6% |
| Wales | 21 | 61.9% |
| North East | 16 | 75.0% |
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 Gl
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 Gl
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 4.6% 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 windscreen 3.5% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 1.8% of tests
“on or after 01/07/2008 emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
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 Gl through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£100 — and 58% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£100
- 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
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 58%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 627 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 Gl, side by side
15 model years on record, from 2006 to 2020. Across them the pass rate runs from 81.2% to 93.7% — a spread of 12.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2006 85.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 82.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 81.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 81.2%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 85.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2011 84.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2012 85.4% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 87.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2014 88.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2015 87.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2016 88.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2017 84.7% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2018 91.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2019 87.3% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2020 93.7% coil spring fractured or broken
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 Gl 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
- Toyota Hi-Ace 81.3%
- Nissan Elgrand 81.3%
- BMW 525 80.9%
- BMW X5 80.8%
- Subaru Impreza 80.8%
- BMW 5 Series 80.8%
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 Gl 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 1,308 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 | 315 | 23.70% | 20.89% | +2.81 |
| Tyres | 214 | 16.10% | 19.76% | −3.66 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 211 | 15.90% | 12.21% | +3.69 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 210 | 15.80% | 5.52% | +10.28 |
| Suspension | 189 | 14.20% | 20.98% | −6.78 |
| Visibility | 45 | 3.40% | 4.97% | −1.57 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 38 | 2.90% | 5.57% | −2.67 |
| Non-component advisories | 36 | 2.70% | 4.18% | −1.48 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 26 | 2.00% | 0.82% | +1.18 |
| Steering | 24 | 1.80% | 2.57% | −0.77 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.6% | £5–20 |
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.6% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.5% | £80–200 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.0% | £80–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £5–25 |
| Rear reflectors defective or damaged by up to 50% of the reflecting surface Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.9% | £5–25 |
| On or after 01/07/2008 emissions exceed manufacturer's specified limit Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.8% | £60–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.8% | £5–25 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.6% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £80–180 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 24.7% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 19.9% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.8% | £80–180 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 8.6% | £30–75 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.5% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 6.4% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 10 | 80.0% | 53,574 mi |
| 60-90k | 92 | 81.5% | 77,709 mi |
| 90-120k | 208 | 78.4% | 106,691 mi |
| 120k+ | 315 | 83.2% | 150,013 mi |
Source: 627 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 Gl MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl?
81.2% of the 627 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 78.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.63%), side repeaters not working (4.63%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (3.51%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 80.0% of the time, falling to 83.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl in this dataset had covered 120,644 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl?
Diesel: 80.9% pass rate across 607 tests. Petrol: 90.0% pass rate across 20 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2009 Mercedes-Benz Gl MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 81.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 81.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.