Pass rate
75.7%
Around average — 3.5 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 985 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £51–£130
2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano MOT pass rate
- 2004
- People carrier
- typical 103,240 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
21.2% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2014 79.7% pass
- Avoid 2005 73.6% pass
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 6.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 70.3%
- Typical mileage
- 103k mi
The 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano MOT pass rate is 75.7% of its MOT tests — 3.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mercedes-Benz Viano does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 18.0% of everything recorded on the 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano, against 12.2% nationally — 5.8 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 21.2%, but at 20.9% 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 people carriers have been driven, the expected pass rate is 72.2% and this one manages 75.7% — 3.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 Viano? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, 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 70.3%. The median 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano in this dataset had covered 103,240 mi.
54% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 73.9% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 76.4% of the time, April–September 75.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 7.92% of tests.
- 985 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.7% overall pass rate, 70.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz Viano, the average is 77.4% — best year 2014 (79.7%), worst 2005 (73.6%).
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
- 985
- Typical mileage (median)
- 103,240 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz Viano
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Viano 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. Diesel is the most common here (54% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Viano
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 320 | 79.4% |
| South West | 131 | 69.5% |
| North West | 101 | 73.3% |
| East of England | 98 | 70.4% |
| West Midlands | 69 | 75.4% |
| London | 64 | 84.4% |
| East Midlands | 52 | 71.2% |
| Scotland | 48 | 75.0% |
| Yorkshire | 43 | 81.4% |
| North East | 37 | 75.7% |
| Wales | 22 | 72.7% |
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 2004 Viano
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 2004 Viano
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 lights 7.9% 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.
-
Check corrosion 4.4% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the windscreen 3.9% 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 2004 Viano through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £51–£130 — and 51% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £51–£130
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 51%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 985 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 Viano, side by side
12 model years on record, from 2004 to 2015. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.6% to 79.7% — a spread of 6.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 75.7%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2005 73.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 75.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 77.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 76.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 77.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 79.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 77.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 78.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 78.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 79.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 79.4% windscreen damaged but not…
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 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano 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 2004 people carriers with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2004 people carriers with at least 200 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. Full rankings: best people carriers and worst people carriers.
The full DVSA record for the 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano 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 2,781 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 | 601 | 21.20% | 20.89% | +0.31 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 510 | 18.00% | 12.21% | +5.79 |
| Suspension | 450 | 15.90% | 20.98% | −5.08 |
| Tyres | 323 | 11.40% | 19.76% | −8.36 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 287 | 10.10% | 5.57% | +4.53 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 153 | 5.40% | 5.52% | −0.12 |
| Visibility | 140 | 4.90% | 4.97% | −0.07 |
| Steering | 125 | 4.40% | 2.57% | +1.83 |
| Non-component advisories | 101 | 3.60% | 4.18% | −0.58 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 91 | 3.20% | 0.82% | +2.38 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.9% | £5–20 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.4% | £180–450 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.3% | £5–25 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 4.2% | £3–12 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.9% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.5% | £30–80 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.3% | £80–180 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.1% | £8–22 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.0% | £18–45 |
| Integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.9% | £180–450 |
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 | 18.5% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 15.2% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.8% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 9.8% | £200–700 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 8.9% | £25–70 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 5.9% | £120–300 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 10 | 100.0% | 20,884 mi |
| 30-60k | 186 | 82.3% | 47,037 mi |
| 60-90k | 182 | 75.3% | 74,075 mi |
| 90-120k | 149 | 76.5% | 104,111 mi |
| 120k+ | 376 | 74.5% | 179,001 mi |
Source: 985 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.
2004 Viano MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano?
75.7% of the 985 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 70.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.92%), component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (4.37%), headlamp lens slightly defective (4.26%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 74.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano in this dataset had covered 103,240 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano?
Diesel: 73.9% pass rate across 532 tests. Petrol: 77.9% pass rate across 453 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 76.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 75.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.