2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc MOT pass rate

2016
3 trims combined
typical 38,189 mi

Pass rate

87.5%

Above average — 3.5 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 7,493 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £36–£84

Most common fault

Tyres

46.1% 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 →

1.1 pts down across model years — 5.4% in 2016, 4.3% in 2020.

Every failure, with what it costs →

Which year to buy

Best 2021 93.9% pass
Avoid 2016 87.5% pass · this year

Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 6.4 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass: 85.9%
Typical mileage: 38k mi

The 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc MOT pass rate is 87.5% of its MOT tests — 3.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 46.1% of what testers record.

Check your postcode

MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz Slc does in your corner of the country.

How one model's pass rate varies by postcode →

Expert verdict

Tyres: 2.3× the national share

Tyres make up 46.1% of everything recorded on the 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc, against 19.8% nationally — 26.3 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.

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 84.0% and this one manages 87.5% — 3.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
When it fails, it costs. Only 12% 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

Every Mercedes-Benz Slc first registered in 2016 is combined here — 3 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.

How does the 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 3.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 85.9%. The median 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc in this dataset had covered 38,189 mi.

50% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 86.0% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 87.8% of the time, April–September 87.3%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 2.23% of tests.

7,493 recorded tests behind this page.
87.5% overall pass rate, 85.9% on a first attempt.
Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz Slc, the average is 89.1% — best year 2021 (93.9%), worst 2016 (87.5%).

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: 7,493
Typical mileage (median): 38,189 mi
Make and model: Mercedes-Benz Slc
Updated: 2026-11-05

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.

Top part to budget for

Coil Spring

Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.

Does mileage affect the Slc MOT pass rate?

0-30k 91.7%

30-60k 86.6%

60-90k 82.8%

90-120k 80.8%

120k+ 71.4%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 63% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Diesel 86.0%

Petrol 89.1%

Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (50% of tests).

Regional pass rates for the Slc

Region	Tests	Pass rate
South East	1,654	88.4%
East of England	968	86.8%
South West	883	87.9%
West Midlands	701	87.6%
North West	698	88.8%
Yorkshire	692	87.1%
East Midlands	539	87.4%
Scotland	484	84.5%
Wales	344	86.9%
North East	313	85.9%
London	217	90.3%

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 2016 Slc

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.

Tyres 46.1%

+26.3 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices

Brakes 17.9%

−3.0 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts

Suspension 16.4%

−4.6 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts

Visibility 4.4%

−0.6 pts vs national national 5.0% Order bulbs & wipers

Show the other 6 fault categories

Lamps & electrics 3.9%
Advisories 3.2%
Road wheels 3.2%
Emissions & leaks 2.6%
Identification 1.3%
Body & chassis 0.3%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2016 Slc

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 coil springs 2.2% of tests

“coil spring fractured or broken”

Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
Check the windscreen 1.8% 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 1.3% of tests

“linkage ball joint dust cover 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.

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 2016 Slc through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £36–£84 — and 12% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items: £36–£84
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: 12%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 7,493 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 Slc, side by side

6 model years on record, from 2016 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 87.5% to 93.9% — a spread of 6.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

2016 87.5%
coil spring fractured or broken
2017 87.6% has a cut in excess of the…
2018 91.2% has a cut in excess of the…
2019 92.8% has a cut in excess of the…
2020 92.9% has a cut in excess of the…
2021 93.9% 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 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc 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.

Compare 2016 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2016 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc 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 5,438 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	2,518	46.10%	19.76%	+26.34
Brakes	980	17.90%	20.89%	−2.99
Suspension	894	16.40%	20.98%	−4.58
Visibility	242	4.40%	4.97%	−0.57
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	215	3.90%	12.21%	−8.31
Non-component advisories	177	3.20%	4.18%	−0.98
Road Wheels	177	3.20%	0.75%	+2.45
Noise, emissions and leaks	144	2.60%	5.52%	−2.92
Identification of the vehicle	73	1.30%	1.76%	−0.46
Body, chassis, structure	18	0.30%	5.57%	−5.27

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 7,493 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item	Severity	Tests	Est. cost	Part
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension	Major	2.2%	£25–65	Coil Spring →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility	Minor	1.8%	£80–200	Windscreen →
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres	Major	1.6%	£45–95	Tyres →
Has ply or cords exposed Tyres	Major	1.4%	£45–95	Tyres →
Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension	Minor	1.3%	£18–45	Ball Joint →
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres	Major	0.99%	£45–95	Tyres →
Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks	Major	0.85%	£3–12	Indicator Bulb →
Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension	Minor	0.83%	£18–45	Ball Joint →
Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes	Major	0.59%	£3–15	Bulb →
Ball joint excessively worn Suspension	Major	0.55%	£18–45	Ball Joint →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item	Severity	Tests	Est. cost
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres	Advisory	15.1%	£45–95
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres	Advisory	6.0%	£45–95
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes	Advisory	5.0%	£45–110
Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres	Advisory	3.2%	£45–95
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes	Advisory	3.1%	£18–45
Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension	Advisory	2.7%	£20–55

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage	Tests	Pass rate	Median odometer
0-30k	2,457	91.7%	20,796 mi
30-60k	3,793	86.6%	43,152 mi
60-90k	1,055	82.8%	70,766 mi
90-120k	167	80.8%	100,202 mi
120k+	21	71.4%	146,661 mi

Source: 7,493 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.

2016 Slc MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc?

87.5% of the 7,493 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 85.9%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc?

The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (2.23%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.79%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.56%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.7% of the time, falling to 71.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc in this dataset had covered 38,189 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc?

Diesel: 86.0% pass rate across 3,766 tests. Petrol: 89.1% pass rate across 3,727 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2016 Mercedes-Benz Slc MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 87.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 87.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.