Pass rate
83.1%
Around average — 10.9 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,121 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £24–£66
2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate
- 2004
- 2 trims combined
- typical 119,634 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
26.8% 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 →
8.0 pts down across model years — 8.5% in 2001, 0.5% in 2014.
Which year to buy
- Best 2020 94.4% pass
- Avoid 2001 79.7% pass
Across the 22 years on record, a spread of 14.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 80.7%
- Typical mileage
- 120k mi
The 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate is 83.1% of its MOT tests — 10.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 26.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz S-Class does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 26.8% of everything recorded on the 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, against 20.9% nationally — 5.9 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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 72.2% and this one manages 83.1% — 10.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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-Class? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Mercedes-Benz S-Class first registered in 2004 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 10.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 80.7%. The median 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class in this dataset had covered 119,634 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 53% of tests, with a 85.7% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 82.6% of the time, April–September 83.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 3.82% of tests.
- 2,121 recorded tests behind this page.
- 83.1% overall pass rate, 80.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, the average is 87.1% — best year 2020 (94.4%), worst 2001 (79.7%).
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
- 2,121
- Typical mileage (median)
- 119,634 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class
- 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-Class MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 73% 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 S-Class
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 699 | 83.8% |
| London | 233 | 91.0% |
| East of England | 223 | 82.5% |
| North West | 191 | 82.7% |
| West Midlands | 188 | 83.5% |
| South West | 150 | 77.3% |
| East Midlands | 144 | 85.4% |
| Yorkshire | 125 | 79.2% |
| Wales | 59 | 76.3% |
| Scotland | 55 | 83.6% |
| North East | 53 | 67.9% |
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 2004 S-Class
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 2004 S-Class
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 3.8% 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 3.6% 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.
-
Check the windscreen 3.2% 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 2004 S-Class through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £24–£66 — and 48% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £24–£66
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 48%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,121 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-Class, side by side
22 model years on record, from 2000 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 79.7% to 94.4% — a spread of 14.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 80.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2001 79.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 80.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 81.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 83.1%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2005 80.2% ball joint excessively worn
- 2006 83.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2007 81.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2008 81.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 80.9% ball joint excessively worn
- 2010 83.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 84.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 84.3% ball joint excessively worn
- 2013 85.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 90.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 89.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 89.4% ball joint excessively worn
- 2017 89.9% ball joint excessively worn
- 2018 92.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 93.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 94.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 91.1% has a cut in excess of the…
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 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Subaru Impreza 82.2%
- Porsche Boxster 81.5%
- Porsche Cayenne 81.1%
- Honda S2000 86.7%
- Toyota Alphard 79.2%
- Porsche 911 87.2%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 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 4,420 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 | 1,209 | 26.80% | 20.89% | +5.91 |
| Suspension | 879 | 19.50% | 20.98% | −1.48 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 641 | 14.20% | 12.21% | +1.99 |
| Tyres | 630 | 13.90% | 19.76% | −5.86 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 298 | 6.60% | 5.52% | +1.08 |
| Visibility | 231 | 5.10% | 4.97% | +0.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 158 | 3.50% | 4.18% | −0.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 155 | 3.40% | 5.57% | −2.17 |
| Steering | 131 | 2.90% | 2.57% | +0.33 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 88 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.2% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.1% | £5–20 |
| Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility | Minor | 2.5% | £3–15 |
| Side repeaters not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £5–25 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 1.7% | £3–12 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.7% | £40–150 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 17.0% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.8% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 11.2% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.4% | £45–110 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 9.5% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.4% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 34 | 100.0% | 19,354 mi |
| 30-60k | 151 | 88.7% | 49,692 mi |
| 60-90k | 385 | 83.6% | 77,284 mi |
| 90-120k | 483 | 81.6% | 105,089 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,033 | 82.2% | 162,571 mi |
Source: 2,121 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.
2004 S-Class MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
83.1% of the 2,121 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 80.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.82%), ball joint excessively worn (3.77%), headlamp lens slightly defective (3.63%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 82.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class in this dataset had covered 119,634 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
Petrol: 85.7% pass rate across 1,132 tests. Diesel: 80.2% pass rate across 987 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2004 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 82.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 83.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.