Pass rate
85.2%
Above average — 12.6 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 7,908 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£71
2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl MOT pass rate
- 2003
- 3 trims combined
- typical 75,407 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 →
6.4 pts down across model years — 7.4% in 2000, 1.0% in 2015.
Which year to buy
- Best 2020 93.7% pass
- Avoid 2010 84.9% pass
Across the 22 years on record, a spread of 8.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 83.4%
- Typical mileage
- 75k mi
The 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl MOT pass rate is 85.2% of its MOT tests — 12.6 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 Sl 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 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl, 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 72.6% and this one manages 85.2% — 12.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 29% 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 Sl? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Mercedes-Benz Sl first registered in 2003 is combined here — 3 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 12.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 83.4%. The median 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl in this dataset had covered 75,407 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 85.0% of the time, April–September 85.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 3.06% of tests.
- 7,908 recorded tests behind this page.
- 85.2% overall pass rate, 83.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz Sl, the average is 87.2% — best year 2020 (93.7%), worst 2010 (84.9%).
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
- 7,908
- Typical mileage (median)
- 75,407 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz Sl
- 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 Sl MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 72% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Sl
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 2,335 | 86.0% |
| East of England | 1,070 | 84.8% |
| South West | 800 | 82.5% |
| West Midlands | 668 | 86.5% |
| North West | 605 | 87.4% |
| Yorkshire | 564 | 84.6% |
| East Midlands | 520 | 82.7% |
| London | 499 | 87.4% |
| Scotland | 367 | 84.7% |
| Wales | 271 | 78.6% |
| North East | 207 | 90.8% |
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 2003 Sl
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 2003 Sl
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 3.1% 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 windscreen 2.0% 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 lights 1.8% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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.
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 2003 Sl through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£71 — and 29% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£71
- 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
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 29%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 7,908 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 Sl, side by side
22 model years on record, from 2000 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 84.9% to 93.7% — a spread of 8.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 86.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2001 87.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2002 85.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 85.2%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 86.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 86.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2006 85.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2007 85.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2008 86.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2009 85.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 84.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 88.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 86.2% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2013 86.2% malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2014 88.8% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2015 89.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 91.4% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2017 92.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 92.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 93.5% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2020 93.7% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 88.5% 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 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Porsche 911 85.5%
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- BMW M3 87.7%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
- Subaru Impreza 80.0%
- Jaguar Xj 78.8%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl 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 10,954 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 | 3,002 | 26.80% | 20.89% | +5.91 |
| Suspension | 2,642 | 23.60% | 20.98% | +2.62 |
| Tyres | 1,943 | 17.30% | 19.76% | −2.46 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 966 | 8.60% | 12.21% | −3.61 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 649 | 5.80% | 5.52% | +0.28 |
| Visibility | 522 | 4.70% | 4.97% | −0.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 434 | 3.90% | 4.18% | −0.28 |
| Steering | 346 | 3.10% | 2.57% | +0.53 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 269 | 2.40% | 5.57% | −3.17 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 181 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.1% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.0% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.8% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 1.8% | £5–20 |
| Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £3–15 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 1.4% | £3–12 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.1% | £30–75 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.1% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £80–180 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.99% | £45–95 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.9% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 10.3% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.4% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 7.3% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 7.1% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 5.5% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 458 | 91.5% | 22,599 mi |
| 30-60k | 2,038 | 88.7% | 47,200 mi |
| 60-90k | 2,927 | 84.9% | 75,354 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,755 | 82.5% | 102,534 mi |
| 120k+ | 680 | 80.4% | 141,522 mi |
Source: 7,908 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.
2003 Sl MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl?
85.2% of the 7,908 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 83.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.06%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.02%), ball joint excessively worn (1.82%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.5% of the time, falling to 80.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl in this dataset had covered 75,407 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Mercedes-Benz Sl MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 85.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.