Pass rate
70.2%
Below average — 2.2 pts behind the 72.4% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 7,594 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £55–£143
2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito MOT pass rate
- 2005
- typical 148,406 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
25.0% 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 →
7.7 pts down across model years — 8.8% in 2002, 1.1% in 2014.
Which year to buy
- Best 2025 100.0% pass
- Avoid 2003 64.9% pass
Across the 26 years on record, a spread of 35.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 61.7%
- Typical mileage
- 148k mi
The 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito MOT pass rate is 70.2% of its MOT tests — 2.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes 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 Vito does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.0× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 11.3% of everything recorded on the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito, against 5.6% nationally — 5.7 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 25.0%, 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.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 35% 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 Vito? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.4%, so this figure is 2.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 61.7%. The median 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito in this dataset had covered 148,406 mi.
100% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 70.2% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.3% of the time, April–September 70.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 6.97% of tests.
- 7,594 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.2% overall pass rate, 61.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mercedes-Benz Vito, the average is 78.5% — best year 2025 (100.0%), worst 2003 (64.9%).
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
- 7,594
- Typical mileage (median)
- 148,406 mi
- Make and model
- Mercedes-Benz Vito
- 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 Vito MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (100% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Vito
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,450 | 73.2% |
| South West | 1,394 | 63.8% |
| North West | 911 | 69.9% |
| West Midlands | 843 | 72.6% |
| East of England | 754 | 73.5% |
| East Midlands | 584 | 71.9% |
| Yorkshire | 571 | 71.8% |
| Wales | 418 | 63.9% |
| Scotland | 283 | 66.4% |
| London | 216 | 80.1% |
| North East | 170 | 70.6% |
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 Vito
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 Vito
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 7.0% 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 6.7% 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 5.9% 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 Vito through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £55–£143 — and 35% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £55–£143
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- 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
- 35%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 7,594 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 Vito, side by side
26 model years on record, from 2000 to 2025. Across them the pass rate runs from 64.9% to 100.0% — a spread of 35.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 67.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 67.6% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 68.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 64.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2004 69.1% component mounting prescribed…
- 2005 70.2%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 71.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 72.8% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2008 73.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 74.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 75.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2011 75.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 76.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2013 77.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2014 78.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 79.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 79.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 82.3% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 82.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 83.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 83.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 85.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2022 89.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2023 93.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2024 92.8% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2025 100.0% no single leading item
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 Vito 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 cars with a similar record
- Vauxhall Astra 70.2%
- Vauxhall Astravan 70.2%
- Peugeot 107 70.3%
- Nissan Navara 70.3%
- Vauxhall Vectra 70.1%
- Vauxhall Zafira 70.0%
Closest pass rates among 2005 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 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito 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 27,114 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 | 6,921 | 25.00% | 20.89% | +4.11 |
| Suspension | 4,825 | 17.40% | 20.98% | −3.58 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4,614 | 16.70% | 12.21% | +4.49 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 3,131 | 11.30% | 5.57% | +5.73 |
| Tyres | 2,589 | 9.30% | 19.76% | −10.46 |
| Visibility | 1,548 | 5.60% | 4.97% | +0.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,299 | 4.70% | 5.52% | −0.82 |
| Steering | 925 | 3.30% | 2.57% | +0.73 |
| Non-component advisories | 734 | 2.60% | 4.18% | −1.58 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 528 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
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 | 7.0% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 6.7% | £80–200 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.6% | £5–20 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 5.9% | £180–450 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.8% | £80–250 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.7% | £80–180 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.5% | £45–110 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.4% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.1% | £5–25 |
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 | 27.1% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 19.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.6% | £45–110 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 10.3% | £25–70 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 10.0% | £200–700 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 8.2% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 34 | 76.5% | 12,181 mi |
| 30-60k | 176 | 78.4% | 47,977 mi |
| 60-90k | 580 | 73.6% | 76,659 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,154 | 72.2% | 106,388 mi |
| 120k+ | 5,319 | 69.2% | 175,242 mi |
Source: 7,594 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 Vito MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito?
70.2% of the 7,594 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.4% for cars first used in 2005. First-attempt pass rate: 61.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (6.97%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (6.68%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.62%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 76.5% of the time, falling to 69.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito in this dataset had covered 148,406 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito?
Diesel: 70.2% pass rate across 7,564 tests. Petrol: 80.0% pass rate across 30 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Vito MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 70.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.