Pass rate
91.1%
Above average — 0.1 pts behind the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 190 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£87
2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate
- 2021
- typical 30,303 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
44.1% 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
- 90.2%
- Typical mileage
- 30k mi
The 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate is 91.1% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 44.1% 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: 2.2× the national share
Tyres make up 44.1% of everything recorded on the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, against 19.8% nationally — 24.3 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 32% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 190 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-Class? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 0.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 90.2%. The median 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class in this dataset had covered 30,303 mi.
49% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 90.4% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 92.1% of the time, April–September 89.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords", noted on 2.11% of tests.
- 190 recorded tests behind this page.
- 91.1% overall pass rate, 90.2% 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
- 190
- Typical mileage (median)
- 30,303 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
Tyres
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 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (49% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the S-Class
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 67 | 94.0% |
| North West | 31 | 80.6% |
| South West | 21 | 85.7% |
| London | 16 | 93.8% |
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 2021 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 2021 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 2.1% 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.
-
Check the wipers and washers 1.6% 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 brakes 1.1% 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.
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 2021 S-Class through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£87 — and 32% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£87
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 32%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 190 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 2021 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 2021 cars with a similar record
- Audi A3 91.1%
- BMW 320I 91.1%
- Vauxhall Mokka Ultimate 91.1%
- SEAT Ibiza 91.0%
- Audi E-Tron 91.0%
- Land Rover Range Rover Velar 91.0%
Closest pass rates among 2021 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 2021 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 93 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 | 41 | 44.10% | 19.76% | +24.34 |
| Brakes | 21 | 22.60% | 20.89% | +1.71 |
| Visibility | 10 | 10.80% | 4.97% | +5.83 |
| Non-component advisories | 6 | 6.50% | 4.18% | +2.32 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 4 | 4.30% | 5.52% | −1.22 |
| Suspension | 3 | 3.20% | 20.98% | −17.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3 | 3.20% | 12.21% | −9.01 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 3.20% | 1.76% | +1.44 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 1 | 1.10% | 0.82% | +0.28 |
| Road Wheels | 1 | 1.10% | 0.75% | +0.35 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 2.1% | £45–95 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.1% | £80–200 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.6% | £8–22 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £18–45 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.1% | £3–12 |
| Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility | Minor | 1.1% | £3–15 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Rectified | 0.53% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads worn down to wear indicator Brakes | Major | 0.53% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.53% | £60–250 |
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 | 10.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.3% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 3.7% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 3.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 2.6% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.6% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 93 | 92.5% | 18,848 mi |
| 30-60k | 66 | 89.4% | 42,328 mi |
| 60-90k | 17 | 94.1% | 72,936 mi |
| 90-120k | 6 | 100.0% | 108,105 mi |
| 120k+ | 8 | 75.0% | 163,856 mi |
Source: 190 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.
2021 S-Class MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
91.1% of the 190 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 90.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
The three most recorded items are has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.11%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.11%), wipers blade defective (1.58%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.5% of the time, falling to 75.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class in this dataset had covered 30,303 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class?
Petrol: 90.4% pass rate across 94 tests. Diesel: 93.2% pass rate across 73 tests. Hybrid: 87.0% pass rate across 23 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2021 Mercedes-Benz S-Class MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 92.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 89.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.