Pass rate
75.9%
Around average — 2.1 pts ahead of the 73.8% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 87 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £24–£61
2000 Mercedes-Benz S MOT pass rate
- 2000
- 2 trims combined
- typical 89,678 mi
Only 87 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
23.2% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2024 98.7% pass
- Avoid 2000 75.9% pass · this year
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 22.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 70.0%
- Typical mileage
- 90k mi
The 2000 Mercedes-Benz S MOT pass rate is 75.9% of its MOT tests — 2.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz S does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 11.8% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- Based on a small sample. 87 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 S? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Mercedes-Benz S first registered in 2000 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2000 Mercedes-Benz S compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.8%, so this figure is 2.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 70.0%. The median 2000 Mercedes-Benz S in this dataset had covered 89,678 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.0% of the time, April–September 78.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 6.90% of tests.
- 87 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.9% overall pass rate, 70.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz S, the average is 93.7% — best year 2024 (98.7%), worst 2000 (75.9%).
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
- 87
- Typical mileage (median)
- 89,678 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz S
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the S MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the S
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 27 | 81.5% |
| East of England | 17 | 70.6% |
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 2000 S
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 2000 S
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 6.9% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
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 lights 5.8% of tests
“srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault”
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 wipers and washers 4.6% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
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.
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 2000 S through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £24–£61 — and 47% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £24–£61
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 47%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 87 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 S, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2000 to 2024. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.9% to 98.7% — a spread of 22.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 75.9%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2019 92.7% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2020 91.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 94.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 95.4% has ply or cords exposed
- 2023 95.3% has ply or cords exposed
- 2024 98.7% has a tear, caused by separation…
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 2000 Mercedes-Benz S 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 2000 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Discovery 75.7%
- BMW 3 Series 76.5%
- Honda Civic 75.3%
- Saab 9-3 76.6%
- Toyota Corolla 76.7%
- MG Mgf 75.0%
Closest pass rates among 2000 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 2000 Mercedes-Benz S 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 267 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 | 63 | 23.20% | 20.89% | +2.31 |
| Suspension | 53 | 19.50% | 20.98% | −1.48 |
| Tyres | 32 | 11.80% | 19.76% | −7.96 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 31 | 11.40% | 12.21% | −0.81 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 22 | 8.10% | 5.57% | +2.53 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 21 | 7.70% | 5.52% | +2.18 |
| Non-component advisories | 13 | 4.80% | 4.18% | +0.62 |
| Steering | 12 | 4.40% | 2.57% | +1.83 |
| Visibility | 11 | 4.00% | 4.97% | −0.97 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 9 | 3.30% | 0.82% | +2.48 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 6.9% | £18–45 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 5.8% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.6% | £5–25 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 4.6% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility | Minor | 3.5% | £3–15 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 2.3% | £180–450 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 2.3% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.3% | £30–80 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 17.2% | £25–70 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 17.2% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 14.9% | £200–700 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 14.9% | £120–300 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.6% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1 | 100.0% | 15,109 mi |
| 30-60k | 1 | 100.0% | 55,799 mi |
| 60-90k | 39 | 74.4% | 77,723 mi |
| 90-120k | 18 | 77.8% | 108,500 mi |
| 120k+ | 20 | 75.0% | 159,486 mi |
Source: 87 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.
2000 S MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2000 Mercedes-Benz S?
75.9% of the 87 2000 Mercedes-Benz S tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.8% for cars first used in 2000. First-attempt pass rate: 70.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2000 Mercedes-Benz S?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (6.90%), srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault (5.75%), headlamp lens slightly defective (4.60%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2000 Mercedes-Benz S MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 75.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2000 Mercedes-Benz S in this dataset had covered 89,678 mi.
Does the season affect the 2000 Mercedes-Benz S MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 78.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.