Pass rate
88.8%
Above average — 0.9 pts ahead of the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 53,697 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £43–£117
2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla MOT pass rate
- 2018
- 7 trims combined
- typical 43,260 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
40.5% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
2.2 pts down across model years — 6.1% in 2014, 3.9% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2023 96.4% pass
- Avoid 2015 84.6% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 11.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 87.6%
- Typical mileage
- 43k mi
The 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla MOT pass rate is 88.8% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 40.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz Gla does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.0× the national share
Tyres make up 40.5% of everything recorded on the 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla, against 19.8% nationally — 20.7 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.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 26% 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 Gla? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Mercedes-Benz Gla first registered in 2018 is combined here — 7 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 0.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 87.6%. The median 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla in this dataset had covered 43,260 mi.
53% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 88.5% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 89.2% of the time, April–September 88.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt", noted on 1.90% of tests.
- 53,697 recorded tests behind this page.
- 88.8% overall pass rate, 87.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz Gla, the average is 88.6% — best year 2023 (96.4%), worst 2015 (84.6%).
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
- 53,697
- Typical mileage (median)
- 43,260 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz Gla
- 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 Gla MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 74% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (53% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Gla
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 10,367 | 89.5% |
| North West | 7,605 | 88.9% |
| Scotland | 5,834 | 86.7% |
| East of England | 5,043 | 89.1% |
| West Midlands | 4,792 | 89.1% |
| London | 4,378 | 89.8% |
| Yorkshire | 4,212 | 88.8% |
| South West | 3,661 | 88.7% |
| East Midlands | 3,224 | 88.2% |
| Wales | 2,429 | 88.2% |
| North East | 2,140 | 90.0% |
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 2018 Gla
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 2018 Gla
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 tyre tread 1.3% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
-
Check the wipers and washers 1.2% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the windscreen 1.1% 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.
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 2018 Gla through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £43–£117 — and 26% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £43–£117
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot split or…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 26%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 53,697 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 Gla, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2014 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 84.6% to 96.4% — a spread of 11.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2014 85.6% linkage ball joint dust cover…
- 2015 84.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 85.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 86.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2018 88.8%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2019 90.5% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2020 93.1% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 93.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2022 93.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2023 96.4% windscreen damaged but not…
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 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Hyundai I10 88.8%
- Ford Ka 88.7%
- Ford Mondeo 88.7%
- Volkswagen Arteon 88.7%
- MINI John COOPER Works 88.9%
- Alfa Romeo Giulia 88.9%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla 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 45,867 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 | 18,718 | 40.50% | 19.76% | +20.74 |
| Brakes | 11,624 | 25.20% | 20.89% | +4.31 |
| Non-component advisories | 3,852 | 8.30% | 4.18% | +4.12 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3,104 | 6.70% | 12.21% | −5.51 |
| Visibility | 2,760 | 6.00% | 4.97% | +1.03 |
| Suspension | 2,082 | 4.50% | 20.98% | −16.48 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1,574 | 3.40% | 5.57% | −2.17 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 879 | 1.90% | 5.52% | −3.62 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 762 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
| Steering | 512 | 1.10% | 2.57% | −1.47 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.9% | £80–250 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.2% | £8–22 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.1% | £80–200 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.92% | £3–12 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.87% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 0.69% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 0.69% | £80–250 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.63% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.1% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.2% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 6.0% | £45–110 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 3.7% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.9% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 11,381 | 93.1% | 22,454 mi |
| 30-60k | 31,243 | 88.8% | 43,921 mi |
| 60-90k | 9,408 | 84.8% | 70,789 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,391 | 82.6% | 99,915 mi |
| 120k+ | 259 | 82.6% | 137,841 mi |
Source: 53,697 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.
2018 Gla MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla?
88.8% of the 53,697 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 87.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (1.90%), tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.27%), wipers blade defective (1.24%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.1% of the time, falling to 82.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla in this dataset had covered 43,260 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla?
Petrol: 88.5% pass rate across 28,239 tests. Diesel: 89.2% pass rate across 25,458 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2018 Mercedes-Benz Gla MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 89.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 88.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.