Pass rate
73.6%
Below average — 1.2 pts ahead of the 72.4% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,449 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £44–£113
2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano MOT pass rate
- 2005
- People carrier
- typical 133,297 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
24.0% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2014 79.7% pass
- Avoid 2005 73.6% pass · this year
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 6.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 66.3%
- Typical mileage
- 133k mi
The 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano MOT pass rate is 73.6% of its MOT tests — 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.0% 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
Body & chassis: 1.9× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 10.7% of everything recorded on the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano, against 5.6% nationally — 5.1 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 24.0%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
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 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.4%, so this figure is 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 66.3%. The median 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano in this dataset had covered 133,297 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 73% of tests, with a 72.2% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 74.3% of the time, April–September 72.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 5.31% of tests.
- 1,449 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.6% overall pass rate, 66.3% 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
- 1,449
- Typical mileage (median)
- 133,297 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
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Viano MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (73% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Viano
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 471 | 74.5% |
| South West | 145 | 70.3% |
| East of England | 143 | 78.3% |
| North West | 139 | 69.1% |
| West Midlands | 132 | 81.1% |
| Yorkshire | 100 | 68.0% |
| East Midlands | 95 | 68.4% |
| Scotland | 80 | 65.0% |
| London | 69 | 89.9% |
| Wales | 53 | 66.0% |
| North East | 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 2005 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 2005 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 5.3% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 windscreen 4.7% 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 corrosion 3.0% 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.
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 2005 Viano through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £44–£113 — and 51% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £44–£113
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 51%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,449 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 2005 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 2005 people carriers with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2005 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 2005 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 4,360 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 | 1,063 | 24.00% | 20.89% | +3.11 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 763 | 17.20% | 12.21% | +4.99 |
| Suspension | 744 | 16.80% | 20.98% | −4.18 |
| Tyres | 479 | 10.80% | 19.76% | −8.96 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 473 | 10.70% | 5.57% | +5.13 |
| Visibility | 237 | 5.40% | 4.97% | +0.43 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 209 | 4.70% | 5.52% | −0.82 |
| Non-component advisories | 135 | 3.10% | 4.18% | −1.08 |
| Steering | 133 | 3.00% | 2.57% | +0.43 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 124 | 2.80% | 0.82% | +1.98 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.3% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.7% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £5–20 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.1% | £45–110 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 3.0% | £180–450 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.6% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.6% | £5–25 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.4% | £8–22 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 2.3% | £80–180 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.2% | £3–12 |
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 | 19.1% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.7% | £45–110 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 9.6% | £25–70 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.3% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.9% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 16 | 87.5% | 22,241 mi |
| 30-60k | 129 | 81.4% | 48,775 mi |
| 60-90k | 225 | 76.0% | 74,506 mi |
| 90-120k | 159 | 74.8% | 105,207 mi |
| 120k+ | 764 | 72.3% | 183,723 mi |
Source: 1,449 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.
2005 Viano MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano?
73.6% of the 1,449 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.4% for cars first used in 2005. First-attempt pass rate: 66.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (5.31%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (4.69%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.80%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.5% of the time, falling to 72.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano in this dataset had covered 133,297 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano?
Diesel: 72.2% pass rate across 1,055 tests. Petrol: 77.2% pass rate across 394 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 74.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 72.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.