Pass rate
81.2%
Around average — 4.0 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 19,827 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£81
2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk MOT pass rate
- 2012
- 3 trims combined
- typical 61,736 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
30.0% 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 →
5.3 pts down across model years — 6.1% in 2000, 0.8% in 2016.
Which year to buy
- Best 2016 87.2% pass
- Avoid 2004 75.8% pass
Across the 17 years on record, a spread of 11.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 77.3%
- Typical mileage
- 62k mi
The 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk MOT pass rate is 81.2% of its MOT tests — 4.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 30.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz Slk does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.4× the national share
Brakes make up 30.0% of everything recorded on the 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk, against 20.9% nationally — 9.1 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 77.2% and this one manages 81.2% — 4.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 0% 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 Slk? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Mercedes-Benz Slk first registered in 2012 is combined here — 3 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 4.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 77.3%. The median 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk in this dataset had covered 61,736 mi.
57% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 82.9% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 81.8% of the time, April–September 80.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 3.70% of tests.
- 19,827 recorded tests behind this page.
- 81.2% overall pass rate, 77.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz Slk, the average is 79.9% — best year 2016 (87.2%), worst 2004 (75.8%).
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
- 19,827
- Typical mileage (median)
- 61,736 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz Slk
- 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 Slk MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (57% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Slk
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 4,279 | 82.4% |
| South West | 2,613 | 80.1% |
| East of England | 2,453 | 82.7% |
| North West | 1,955 | 82.1% |
| West Midlands | 1,845 | 81.7% |
| Yorkshire | 1,694 | 81.3% |
| East Midlands | 1,439 | 80.3% |
| Scotland | 1,218 | 75.9% |
| Wales | 977 | 79.1% |
| North East | 780 | 79.4% |
| London | 572 | 86.7% |
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 2012 Slk
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 2012 Slk
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 3.7% 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 suspension joints 3.2% 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.
-
Check the windscreen 2.5% 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 2012 Slk through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£81 — and 0% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£81
- Cheapest common item: linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust…
- £18–£45
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 0%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 19,827 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 Slk, side by side
17 model years on record, from 2000 to 2016. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.8% to 87.2% — a spread of 11.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 80.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2001 80.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2002 81.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2003 78.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2004 75.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2005 76.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2006 76.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2007 76.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2008 77.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2009 77.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 78.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 82.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 81.2%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 81.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 83.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 85.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2016 87.2% coil spring fractured or broken
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 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Discovery 81.2%
- Volvo V70 81.2%
- Honda Accord 81.2%
- Toyota Avensis 81.1%
- MINI COOPER D 81.1%
- Audi A4 81.0%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk 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 25,107 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 | 7,575 | 30.00% | 20.89% | +9.11 |
| Tyres | 6,753 | 26.70% | 19.76% | +6.94 |
| Suspension | 6,444 | 25.50% | 20.98% | +4.52 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,181 | 4.70% | 12.21% | −7.51 |
| Visibility | 928 | 3.70% | 4.97% | −1.27 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 909 | 3.60% | 5.52% | −1.92 |
| Non-component advisories | 528 | 2.10% | 4.18% | −2.08 |
| Road Wheels | 355 | 1.40% | 0.75% | +0.65 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 224 | 0.90% | 5.57% | −4.67 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 210 | 0.80% | 1.76% | −0.96 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £25–65 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.7% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.5% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 1.6% | £80–180 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 16.4% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 12.0% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.5% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 6.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.2% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 4.1% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,398 | 91.1% | 22,367 mi |
| 30-60k | 7,980 | 84.4% | 47,016 mi |
| 60-90k | 7,279 | 78.7% | 73,121 mi |
| 90-120k | 2,532 | 74.4% | 101,719 mi |
| 120k+ | 636 | 75.8% | 137,050 mi |
Source: 19,827 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.
2012 Slk MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk?
81.2% of the 19,827 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 77.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (3.70%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.21%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (2.66%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.1% of the time, falling to 75.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk in this dataset had covered 61,736 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk?
Petrol: 82.9% pass rate across 11,205 tests. Diesel: 79.1% pass rate across 8,622 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Mercedes-Benz Slk MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 81.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.