Pass rate
92.5%
Above average — 4.6 pts ahead of the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 7,389 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £43–£102
2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 60,384 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
40.2% 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 →
0.6 pts down across model years — 5.0% in 2000, 4.4% in 2019.
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
- 92.0%
- Typical mileage
- 60k mi
The 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate is 92.5% of its MOT tests — 4.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 40.2% 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
Tyres: 2.0× the national share
Tyres make up 40.2% of everything recorded on the 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, against 19.8% nationally — 20.4 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 87.9% and this one manages 92.5% — 4.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 16% 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 S-Class? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 4.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 92.0%. The median 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class in this dataset had covered 60,384 mi.
74% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 92.6% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 92.2% of the time, April–September 92.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 2.44% of tests.
- 7,389 recorded tests behind this page.
- 92.5% overall pass rate, 92.0% 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
- 7,389
- Typical mileage (median)
- 60,384 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
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the S-Class MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 82% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (74% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the S-Class
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,432 | 93.5% |
| London | 1,534 | 95.1% |
| East of England | 692 | 91.9% |
| North West | 630 | 90.8% |
| West Midlands | 513 | 92.2% |
| Yorkshire | 384 | 91.9% |
| East Midlands | 357 | 87.1% |
| South West | 304 | 85.9% |
| Scotland | 283 | 89.8% |
| North East | 143 | 92.3% |
| Wales | 117 | 93.2% |
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 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 2018 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 windscreen 2.4% 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 suspension joints 1.4% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
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 tyre tread 0.9% 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.
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 S-Class through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £43–£102 — and 16% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £43–£102
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 16%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 7,389 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 2018 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Suzuki Celerio 92.5%
- Jaguar F-Type 92.5%
- Volkswagen T-Roc 92.3%
- Honda Cr-V 92.7%
- Kia Venga 92.7%
- BMW 730 92.7%
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 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 3,785 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 | 1,543 | 40.20% | 19.76% | +20.44 |
| Brakes | 905 | 23.50% | 20.89% | +2.61 |
| Suspension | 434 | 11.30% | 20.98% | −9.68 |
| Visibility | 296 | 7.70% | 4.97% | +2.73 |
| Non-component advisories | 173 | 4.50% | 4.18% | +0.32 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 131 | 3.40% | 5.52% | −2.12 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 106 | 2.80% | 12.21% | −9.41 |
| Road Wheels | 72 | 1.90% | 0.75% | +1.15 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 70 | 1.80% | 1.76% | +0.04 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 55 | 1.40% | 5.57% | −4.17 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.4% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.96% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.95% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.74% | £3–12 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.54% | £45–95 |
| Has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Major | 0.34% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Rectified | 0.31% | £3–12 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.30% | £18–45 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Rectified | 0.28% | £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 | 11.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.9% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 3.5% | £45–110 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 2.7% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 2.1% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,180 | 93.6% | 20,288 mi |
| 30-60k | 2,476 | 90.9% | 44,664 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,682 | 92.4% | 73,358 mi |
| 90-120k | 978 | 94.5% | 103,787 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,065 | 93.6% | 157,154 mi |
Source: 7,389 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 S-Class MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
92.5% of the 7,389 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 92.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.44%), ball joint excessively worn (1.42%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (0.96%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.6% of the time, falling to 93.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class in this dataset had covered 60,384 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
Diesel: 92.6% pass rate across 5,474 tests. Petrol: 92.2% pass rate across 1,891 tests. Hybrid: 91.7% pass rate across 24 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2018 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 92.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 92.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.