Pass rate
89.6%
Above average — 12.4 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 67 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £21–£57
2012 Mercedes-Benz V350 MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 49,992 mi
Only 67 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Suspension
25.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2011 98.3% pass
- Avoid 2007 77.0% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 21.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.5%
- Typical mileage
- 50k mi
The 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350 MOT pass rate is 89.6% of its MOT tests — 12.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz V350 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.9× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 22.7% of everything recorded on the 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350, against 12.2% nationally — 10.5 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 25.0%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- 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 89.6% — 12.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 13% 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 V350? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 12.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.5%. The median 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350 in this dataset had covered 49,992 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 88.6% of the time, April–September 90.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt", noted on 4.48% of tests.
- 67 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.6% overall pass rate, 88.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz V350, the average is 87.7% — best year 2011 (98.3%), worst 2007 (77.0%).
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
- 67
- Typical mileage (median)
- 49,992 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz V350
- 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 V350 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 68% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the V350
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 60 | 90.0% |
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 V350
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 V350
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 4.5% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
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 lights 3.0% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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.
-
Check the number plates 3.0% of tests
“registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements”
Check both plates are present, legible and correctly spaced, with the postcode of the supplier and the BS AU 145e mark. A private plate in the wrong style is a fail before the car is even looked at.
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 V350 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £21–£57 — and 13% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £21–£57
- Cheapest common item: wipers blade defective
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep…
- £45–£95
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 13%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 67 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 V350, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2007 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 77.0% to 98.3% — a spread of 21.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2007 77.0% srs malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2008 86.1% linkage ball joint dust cover…
- 2009 90.4% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2010 85.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2011 98.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2012 89.6%linkage ball joint dust cover…
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 V350 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
- Honda Fit 89.3%
- Audi A8 90.2%
- Toyota Estima 88.3%
- Lexus Rx 88.3%
- Lexus RX450H 88.0%
- Porsche Boxster 91.6%
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 V350 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 9 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 44 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 11 | 25.00% | 20.98% | +4.02 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 10 | 22.70% | 12.21% | +10.49 |
| Brakes | 9 | 20.50% | 20.89% | −0.39 |
| Tyres | 4 | 9.10% | 19.76% | −10.66 |
| Visibility | 3 | 6.80% | 4.97% | +1.83 |
| Non-component advisories | 2 | 4.50% | 4.18% | +0.32 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 4.50% | 1.76% | +2.74 |
| Road Wheels | 2 | 4.50% | 0.75% | +3.75 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 1 | 2.30% | 0.82% | +1.48 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 4.5% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.0% | £30–80 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.0% | £18–45 |
| Registration plates does not conform to the specified requirements Identification of the vehicle | Major | 3.0% | £20–80 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 3.0% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.5% | £18–45 |
| Fixing missing Road Wheels | Major | 1.5% | £20–55 |
| Fixing missing Road Wheels | Rectified | 1.5% | £20–55 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too far to the right Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.5% | £30–80 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 6.0% | £40–150 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.5% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 4.5% | £60–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 4.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 3.0% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 3.0% | £120–300 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 100.0% | 26,752 mi |
| 30-60k | 48 | 93.8% | 45,194 mi |
| 60-90k | 17 | 76.5% | 69,650 mi |
Source: 67 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 V350 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350?
89.6% of the 67 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 88.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350?
The three most recorded items are linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (4.48%), headlamp aim too low (2.99%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (2.99%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 76.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350 in this dataset had covered 49,992 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 Mercedes-Benz V350 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 88.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 90.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.