Pass rate
93.7%
Above average — 3.0 pts ahead of the 90.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 79 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £21–£60
2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl MOT pass rate
- 2020
- 2 trims combined
- typical 30,023 mi
Only 79 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
Tyres
50.0% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Which year to buy
- Best 2020 93.7% pass · this year
- Avoid 2009 81.2% pass
Across the 15 years on record, a spread of 12.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 93.3%
- Typical mileage
- 30k mi
The 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl MOT pass rate is 93.7% of its MOT tests — 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 50.0% 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
Tyres: 2.5× the national share
Tyres make up 50.0% of everything recorded on the 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl, against 19.8% nationally — 30.2 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.
- 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 90.7% and this one manages 93.7% — 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 79 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 Gl? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Mercedes-Benz Gl first registered in 2020 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 90.7%, so this figure is 3.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 93.3%. The median 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl in this dataset had covered 30,023 mi.
68% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 94.4% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 95.2% of the time, April–September 91.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 2.53% of tests.
- 79 recorded tests behind this page.
- 93.7% overall pass rate, 93.3% 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
- 79
- Typical mileage (median)
- 30,023 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
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Gl MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 72% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (68% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Gl
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 17 | 94.1% |
| Scotland | 15 | 100.0% |
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 2020 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 2020 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 coil springs 2.5% 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 brakes 1.3% 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 lights 1.3% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 Gl through its MOT
Across the 7 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £21–£60 — and 38% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 7 common items
- £21–£60
- Cheapest common item: washers not working
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: pins
- £40–£150
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 86%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 38%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 79 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 2020 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 2020 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen T-Roc 93.7%
- Volvo XC60 Momentum B5 93.8%
- Ford Puma 93.6%
- Toyota Aygo 93.6%
- Audi Q3 93.6%
- Volkswagen Up 93.6%
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 Gl 7 failure items · 6 advisories · 7 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 32 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 | 16 | 50.00% | 19.76% | +30.24 |
| Suspension | 4 | 12.50% | 20.98% | −8.48 |
| Brakes | 4 | 12.50% | 20.89% | −8.39 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 9.40% | 4.18% | +5.22 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2 | 6.20% | 12.21% | −6.01 |
| Steering | 2 | 6.20% | 2.57% | +3.63 |
| Visibility | 1 | 3.10% | 4.97% | −1.87 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.5% | £25–65 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.3% | £5–25 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.3% | £40–150 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.3% | £5–20 |
| Washers not working Visibility | Major | 1.3% | £5–15 |
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 | 8.9% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 3.8% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 3.8% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint has excessive play Steering | Advisory | 2.5% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 1.3% | £45–110 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 1.3% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 39 | 94.9% | 20,029 mi |
| 30-60k | 31 | 93.5% | 42,992 mi |
| 60-90k | 5 | 80.0% | 68,947 mi |
| 90-120k | 2 | 100.0% | 101,669 mi |
| 120k+ | 2 | 100.0% | 133,572 mi |
Source: 79 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 Gl MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl?
93.7% of the 79 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 90.7% for cars first used in 2020. First-attempt pass rate: 93.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (2.53%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (1.27%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.27%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 94.9% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl in this dataset had covered 30,023 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl?
Petrol: 94.4% pass rate across 54 tests. Diesel: 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 2020 Mercedes-Benz Gl MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 95.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 91.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.