Mercedes A Class — MOT statistics 2024
The Mercedes A Class failed 18.83% of 585,107 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 91.3 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 9% less often than expected for its age.
Age-adjusted peer: Audi A1 (index 91.3) — the two published results are 0.0 index points apart.
Mercedes A Class common problems: what actually fails the MOT
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment stand out at 8.8 per 100 tests, against 23.5 per 100 tests nationally.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
family vs national — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg.
Component-group comparison table
| Group | This family | National | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 12.7 | 19.9 | 0.64× |
| Visibility | 11.1 | 12.0 | 0.93× |
| Tyres | 11.0 | 10.3 | 1.07× |
| Lamps & electrical | 8.8 | 23.5 | 0.37× |
| Brakes | 8.0 | 14.3 | 0.56× |
| Body & structure | 2.9 | 8.4 | 0.35× |
| What failed | per 100 tests (this family) | per 100 tests (UK average) | ratio family / UK | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension joint dust cover severely deterioratedA suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated | 4.86 | 3.45 | 1.41× | Listen for knocks over bumps — worn suspension joints are common |
| Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged | 3.99 | 3.29 | 1.21× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Wiper blade defectiveWiper blade defective | 2.59 | 2.04 | 1.27× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer…A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc | 2.47 | 2.25 | 1.10× | Listen for knocks over bumps — worn suspension joints are common |
| Windscreen washers not working or not providing…Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen | 2.14 | 2.03 | 1.05× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mma brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm | 2.52 | 2.45 | 1.03× | Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive |
| Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged | 2.06 | 2.00 | 1.03× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements | 3.86 | 3.82 | 1.01× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view | 4.28 | 4.27 | 1.00× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Spring or spring component fractured or seriously…A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened | 2.71 | 2.72 | 1.00× | Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened |
Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.
Mercedes A Class MOT advisories: what gets flagged
Tyres are highest at 88.2 per 100 tests; Road Wheels are lowest at 2.2 per 100 tests — the gap is 86 per 100 tests.
higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests
Advisory rates table
| Group | Advisories per 100 |
|---|---|
| Tyres | 88.2 |
| Brakes | 63.3 |
| Suspension | 12.6 |
| Non-component advisories | 10.4 |
| Identification | 2.9 |
| Road Wheels | 2.2 |
Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.
How does the Mercedes A Class perform as it gets older?
At age 20 stands out at 45.5%, against 37.5% for all cars of the same age.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–49%.
Takeaway: a 10-year-old A Class has roughly a 25% chance of failing its MOT; from about age 18 it stays above the national age curve.
Data table
| Age | Mercedes A Class | All cars | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8.3% | 10.9% | -2.6 pp |
| 4 | 9.2% | 11.6% | -2.4 pp |
| 5 | 11.8% | 13.5% | -1.6 pp |
| 6 | 14.2% | 15.6% | -1.5 pp |
| 7 | 17.3% | 18.2% | -0.9 pp |
| 8 | 19.3% | 21.3% | -2.0 pp |
| 9 | 22.9% | 24.4% | -1.5 pp |
| 10 | 24.7% | 27.7% | -3.0 pp |
| 11 | 25.0% | 30.6% | -5.6 pp |
| 12 | 31.2% | 33.4% | -2.2 pp |
| 13 | 33.9% | 36.0% | -2.1 pp |
| 14 | 36.4% | 38.6% | -2.3 pp |
| 15 | 39.0% | 39.9% | -0.9 pp |
| 16 | 40.6% | 41.5% | -0.9 pp |
| 17 | 41.0% | 41.5% | -0.5 pp |
| 18 | 43.1% | 42.4% | +0.6 pp |
| 19 | 42.5% | 42.2% | +0.3 pp |
| 20 | 45.5% | 37.5% | +8.0 pp |
Is a Mercedes A Class ULEZ compliant?
The share of classifiable 2024 Mercedes A Class MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 81.8%.
Based on 585,105 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.
higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class
| Vehicle age at test | Likely ULEZ-compliant share | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 164 |
| 3–5 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 187,048 |
| 6–7 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 144,112 |
| 8 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 66,894 |
| 9 years | 51.2% Check a registration with TfL | n = 47,590 |
| 10–14 years | 33.2% Check a registration with TfL | n = 94,238 |
| 15–17 years | 73.2% Check a registration with TfL | n = 27,539 |
| 18 years | 71.4% Check a registration with TfL | n = 6,433 |
| 19 years | 0.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 4,222 |
| 20+ years | 0.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 6,865 |
How dangerous are Mercedes A Class MOT failures?
Major defects stand out at 32.2 per 100 tests, against 63.3 per 100 tests nationally.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
Severity table
| Severity | This family /100 | National /100 | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor | 16.93 | 24.38 | 0.69× |
| Major | 32.18 | 63.26 | 0.51× |
| Dangerous | 11.78 | 12.89 | 0.91× |
Chart values: Minor 16.9 · Major 32.2 · Dangerous 11.8.
Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 24.4 · Major 63.3 · Dangerous 12.9 per 100.
Does the month of a Mercedes A Class MOT matter?
Nov is highest at 20.2%; Mar is lowest at 17.5% — the gap is 2.7 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart scale: 16%–29%.
bars: Mercedes A Class · dashed: all class-4 cars
Month-by-month table
| Month | Mercedes A Class | All cars | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 19.09% | 27.37% | -8.3 pp |
| Feb | 18.77% | 26.14% | -7.4 pp |
| Mar | 17.45% | 24.75% | -7.3 pp |
| Apr | 18.69% | 26.01% | -7.3 pp |
| May | 18.56% | 25.01% | -6.5 pp |
| Jun | 18.44% | 25.01% | -6.6 pp |
| Jul | 18.42% | 26.04% | -7.6 pp |
| Aug | 18.52% | 25.79% | -7.3 pp |
| Sep | 18.64% | 25.19% | -6.6 pp |
| Oct | 19.99% | 27.13% | -7.1 pp |
| Nov | 20.19% | 27.2% | -7.0 pp |
| Dec | 19.53% | 26.29% | -6.8 pp |
Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 2.7 percentage points — booking month barely matters for this family. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.
Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 19.5% of these cars were first registered in March with another17% in September — 37% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. Peaks here mark when cars are tested, not when they are worse.
Mercedes A Class average mileage by age
At age 8, the middle half of A Classs runs from 50,760 miles to 81,554 miles, against 65,125 miles as the median.
further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75
Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–118k mi.
Does high mileage mean more Mercedes A Class MOT failures?
Same age band (6–14 years), split by odometer — this separates wear from age: 12% of the lowest-mileage cars failed versus 32.3% of the highest.
| Odometer | % failing | Tests | Gap vs lowest-mileage band |
|---|---|---|---|
| <40k miles | 12% | 58,718 | +0.0 pp |
| 40-70k miles | 18% | 150,636 | +6.0 pp |
| 70-100k miles | 24.5% | 96,676 | +12.5 pp |
| 100-140k miles | 29.8% | 39,001 | +17.8 pp |
| 140k+ miles | 32.3% | 7,507 | +20.3 pp |
line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)
Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
| Age | p25 | Median | p75 | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 17,209 | 23,907 | 32,376 | 34,948 |
| 4 | 21,534 | 29,781 | 40,240 | 55,400 |
| 5 | 28,214 | 38,048 | 50,065 | 96,700 |
| 6 | 34,768 | 45,665 | 58,642 | 73,129 |
| 7 | 42,735 | 55,414 | 70,265 | 70,983 |
| 8 | 50,760 | 65,125 | 81,554 | 66,894 |
| 9 | 58,096 | 73,785 | 92,589 | 47,590 |
| 10 | 65,805 | 83,252 | 103,041 | 42,307 |
| 11 | 67,976 | 88,894 | 111,747 | 28,113 |
| 12 | 49,626 | 69,053 | 92,708 | 7,611 |
| 13 | 50,645 | 69,287 | 90,687 | 7,439 |
| 14 | 53,348 | 74,805 | 98,093 | 8,768 |
| 15 | 59,838 | 80,743 | 103,299 | 9,588 |
| 16 | 64,893 | 85,542 | 108,468 | 9,379 |
| 17 | 66,289 | 88,154 | 110,603 | 8,574 |
| 18 | 68,474 | 88,973 | 112,288 | 6,433 |
| 19 | 64,025 | 84,679 | 105,908 | 4,222 |
| 20+ | 61,476 | 80,201 | 100,341 | 6,865 |
A typical 8-year-old A Class has ~65,125 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.
Where in Britain the Mercedes A Class fails its MOT most
Salisbury area is highest at 28.6%; Blackburn area is lowest at 13.6% — the gap is 15.1 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Toughest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Salisbury (SP) | 28.64% | +9.8 pp |
| Canterbury (CT) | 27.42% | +8.6 pp |
| Bournemouth (BH) | 26.87% | +8.0 pp |
| Bristol (BS) | 24.6% | +5.8 pp |
| Bath (BA) | 24.22% | +5.4 pp |
| Easiest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Blackburn (BB) | 13.59% | -5.2 pp |
| Carlisle (CA) | 13.67% | -5.2 pp |
| Motherwell (ML) | 14.8% | -4.0 pp |
| Shrewsbury (SY) | 14.8% | -4.0 pp |
| Bolton (BL) | 15.3% | -3.5 pp |
Why do areas differ?
For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.
In areas with the highest frost days this model fails 3.9 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.37, n=114 areas with ≥800 tests).
In areas with the highest road-salt proxy this model fails 3.0 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.37, n=114 areas with ≥800 tests).
In areas with the highest income deprivation this model fails 2.6 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.29, n=97 areas with ≥800 tests).
| Factor | Low Q | High Q | Gap | Correlation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost days | 21.4% | 17.5% | -3.9 pp | r=-0.37 |
| Road-salt proxy | 20.5% | 17.5% | -3.0 pp | r=-0.37 |
| Income deprivation | 20.3% | 17.7% | -2.6 pp | r=-0.29 |
Factors that only mean something combined
Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.
| Composite | Built from | Tested against | r | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Underbody corrosion | frost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1) | share of tests with a corrosion defect | +0.42 | holds (116 areas) |
| Tyre wear | rain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisory | share of tests failing on tyres | +0.45 | holds (116 areas) |
| Overnight corrosion | terraced housing × cars per household × frost days | share with a corrosion defect | +0.41 | holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index |
| Deferred maintenance | deprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour rate | cars repeating the same advisory | −0.26 | fails (118 areas) |
| Powertrain stress | engine capacity ÷ kerb weight | suspension, brake and emissions failures | −0.16 | fails (22 models) |
The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.
All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
| Factor | r | n areas | Low-Q fail % | High-Q fail % | Gap pp | Low-Q factor | High-Q factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost days (days/year) | -0.371 | 114 | 21.4 | 17.5 | -3.9 | 11.6 | 38.1 |
| Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr) | -0.367 | 114 | 20.5 | 17.5 | -3.0 | 221.2 | 675.1 |
| Income deprivation (score) | -0.288 | 97 | 20.3 | 17.7 | -2.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Distance to coast (km) | -0.255 | 114 | 20.7 | 18.3 | -2.4 | 6.2 | 79.5 |
| Urban share (0–1) | -0.106 | 114 | 19.4 | 18.0 | -1.4 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Terrain gradient (% grade) | 0.085 | 67 | 18.9 | 20.4 | +1.5 | 0.5 | 3.7 |
| MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles) | 0.003 | 114 | 18.7 | 19.0 | +0.4 | 5 | 8.7 |
Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.
Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.
Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 15%–25% failing.
Mercedes A Class survival: which cars are still on the road
By age 19 stands out at 5.6%, against 100% at the ages 4–6 reference level.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.
Survival vs fail rate by age
| Age | Tests | Survival vs ages 4–6 | Fail % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 34,948 | 46.5% | 8.27% |
| 4 | 55,400 | 73.8% | 9.2% |
| 5 | 96,700 | 100% | 11.85% |
| 6 | 73,129 | 97.4% | 14.16% |
| 7 | 70,983 | 94.5% | 17.3% |
| 8 | 66,894 | 89.1% | 19.31% |
| 9 | 47,590 | 63.4% | 22.86% |
| 10 | 42,307 | 56.4% | 24.73% |
| 11 | 28,113 | 37.4% | 24.96% |
| 12 | 7,611 | 10.1% | 31.2% |
| 13 | 7,439 | 9.9% | 33.92% |
| 14 | 8,768 | 11.7% | 36.35% |
| 15 | 9,588 | 12.8% | 38.95% |
| 16 | 9,379 | 12.5% | 40.55% |
| 17 | 8,574 | 11.4% | 41.05% |
| 18 | 6,433 | 8.6% | 43.07% |
| 19 | 4,222 | 5.6% | 42.52% |
DfT licensed stock: peak 378,535 (2026 Q1) → latest 378,535 (100% of peak).
By age 19, only about 6% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈75,076); survivors still fail at 42.5% vs 9.2% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left. DfT licensed stock is 100% of its 2026 Q1 peak (378,535 → 378,535).
How many miles does a Mercedes A Class last?
100,000+ miles is highest at 10.5%; 150,000+ miles is lowest at 1.1% — the gap is 9.5 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Odometer | Tests ≥ threshold | Share of sample |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000+ miles | 61,445 | 10.53% |
| 150,000+ miles | 6,269 | 1.07% |
Of 583,574 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 10.5% had already reached 100k miles, 1.1% reached 150k, and 0.1% reached 200k — a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.
How many years is a Mercedes A Class likely to last?
Bought at age 12 is highest at 7.6 years; Bought at age 10 is lowest at 2.6 years — the gap is 5 years.
bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve
| Age now | Typical mileage (p50) | Expected years left |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 38,048 | 5.7 |
| 8 | 65,125 | 3.2 |
| 10 | 83,252 | 2.6 |
| 12 | 69,053 | 7.6 |
| 15 | 80,743 | 3.5 |
estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family (~83,252 miles median) has about 2.6 expected years of further MOT-present life on the 2024 survival curve. Derived from how many cars of each age still appear for test, not from a longitudinal panel.
Mercedes A Class faults that come together
Emissions & leaks + Seatbelts & SRS stand out at 12.13×, against 1× if the faults were independent.
above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less
| Group A | Group B | Together | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 623 | 12.13× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 2,123 | 11× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Noise, emissions and leaks | 749 | 10.32× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,651 | 9.48× |
| Brakes | Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,427 | 9.43× |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 1,152 | 8.43× |
| Body, chassis, structure | Brakes | 1,357 | 8.09× |
| Brakes | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3,217 | 7.99× |
Defects in «Noise, emissions and leaks» and «Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems» appear together 12.13× more often than chance (623 co-occurrences in the same test; lift≥1.3, n≥300).
Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. Thresholds: lift ≥ 1.3, co-occurrences ≥ 300.
Is low mileage better for a Mercedes A Class?
Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year stands out at 11.1%, against 20.5% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Band | Fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| <5k miles/year | 11.07% | 69,177 |
| 8–12k miles/year | 20.49% | 161,690 |
| Gap (low − normal) | -9.42 pp | — |
By fuel and age
Diesel
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 7.43 | 3,377 | 13.93 | 14,415 | -6.5 pp |
| 6 | 10.76 | 3,532 | 17.18 | 14,784 | -6.42 pp |
| 7 | 11.28 | 4,326 | 19.55 | 20,430 | -8.27 pp |
| 8 | 12.74 | 3,790 | 21.6 | 22,259 | -8.85 pp |
| 9 | 13.13 | 2,993 | 25.51 | 16,971 | -12.38 pp |
| 10 | 17.75 | 2,107 | 28.26 | 15,676 | -10.51 pp |
| 11 | 17.64 | 1,304 | 29.3 | 9,404 | -11.66 pp |
| 12 | 26.55 | 1,051 | 36.59 | 921 | -10.04 pp |
| 13 | 27.84 | 923 | 39.6 | 548 | -11.75 pp |
| 14 | 29.56 | 893 | 46.74 | 614 | -17.18 pp |
Petrol
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 6.84 | 14,028 | 13.85 | 16,979 | -7 pp |
| 6 | 8.89 | 8,261 | 14.85 | 10,318 | -5.96 pp |
| 7 | 9.47 | 4,902 | 19.12 | 5,947 | -9.65 pp |
| 8 | 10.86 | 3,673 | 17.85 | 4,548 | -6.99 pp |
| 9 | 11.87 | 2,191 | 23.04 | 2,157 | -11.17 pp |
| 10 | 11.4 | 1,938 | 24.41 | 2,155 | -13 pp |
| 11 | 11.09 | 2,642 | 26.05 | 1,862 | -14.96 pp |
| 12 | 25.61 | 1,894 | 41.68 | 523 | -16.08 pp |
| 13 | 26.62 | 2,385 | 46.38 | 511 | -19.75 pp |
| 14 | 28.28 | 2,967 | 49.24 | 654 | -20.96 pp |
At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 11.1% vs 20.5% for 8–12k miles/year — 9.4 pp lower (n_low=69,177, n_normal=161,690). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 13.5% low-use vs 22.6% normal (-9.1 pp).
Mercedes A Class real MPG against official fuel economy
petrol/electric (2023) real-world fuel use stands out at +493%, against 0% for an exact match to the official figure.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Year | Fuel | Real | Official | Gap | Vehicles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | diesel | 7.16 l | 6.16 l | +16.18% | 137,711 |
| 2021 | diesel/electric | 6.01 l | 1.39 l | +331.72% | 47,220 |
| 2021 | petrol | 9.65 l | 8.09 l | +19.25% | 74,866 |
| 2021 | petrol/electric | 5.85 l | 1.47 l | +298.22% | 51,849 |
| 2022 | diesel | 7.21 l | 6.2 l | +16.37% | 125,656 |
| 2022 | diesel/electric | 6.32 l | 1.33 l | +376.11% | 29,011 |
| 2022 | petrol | 9.24 l | 7.79 l | +18.66% | 70,550 |
| 2022 | petrol/electric | 5.98 l | 1.32 l | +352.41% | 33,293 |
Since 2021 every new car in Europe records its own fuel use, and the regulator publishes what those meters say next to the laboratory figure the car was sold on. For this manufacturer the worst gap is 20.6% — petrol cars of 2023 burning 9.6 litres per 100 km against an official 7.96, with CO₂ higher by the same proportion.
This is the manufacturer, not the model. The regulator aggregates by legal manufacturer (MERCEDES-BENZ AG), so these figures are context for the badge rather than a measurement of this particular car — a point we would rather state plainly than let a reader assume otherwise. The gap itself is not a scandal, it is the known distance between a standardised laboratory cycle and real roads, but it is the distance you actually pay for at the pump. The plug-in hybrid rows are not a data error and deserve a sentence of their own: an official figure of 1.39 litres assumes the car spends most of its life on the battery, and the meters say these ones burned 6.01. Owners are not plugging them in, and a plug-in hybrid that is never charged is simply a heavy petrol car. Source: European Environment Agency (EEA), Real-world CO2 emissions from new cars and vans, reporting year 2024, v3, 2023_Cars_Aggregated.csv, CC BY 4.0 — copyright holder: European Environment Agency (EEA).
Which Mercedes A Class engine is best?
diesel 1.2–1.5 is highest at 110.7; petrol 1.8–2.0 is lowest at 77.9 — the gap is 32.8 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
| Fuel | Capacity | vs own age norm | Raw fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| petrol | 1.8–2.0 litre | 77.9 | 12.66% | 47,077 |
| petrol | 1.5–1.8 litre | 91.6 | 21.35% | 80,943 |
| petrol | 1.2–1.5 litre | 96.8 | 15.7% | 147,787 |
| diesel | over 2.0 litre | 100.5 | 19.74% | 70,457 |
| diesel | 1.5–1.8 litre | 102.4 | 29.17% | 16,264 |
| diesel | 1.8–2.0 litre | 104 | 21.45% | 38,294 |
| diesel | 1.2–1.5 litre | 110.7 | 20.02% | 184,154 |
Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel 1.2–1.5 runs at 110.7 against this model's own age norm while the petrol 1.8–2.0 runs at 77.9 — a spread of 32.8 points between two cars that share a name.
Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 5,000 tests are not shown.
Best year for a Mercedes A Class, and the years to avoid
Build year 2014 is highest at 108.3; Build year 2020 is lowest at 84.3 — the gap is 24.0 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected
Every build year with its confidence interval
| Build year | vs own age norm | 95% CI | Raw fail % | Tests | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 84.3 | 82.5–86.1 | 9.8% | 85,111 | better |
| 2019 | 96.9 | 95.6–98.1 | 12.16% | 201,515 | better |
| 2018 | 97.1 | 96–98.3 | 13.4% | 198,356 | better |
| 2017 | 99.7 | 98.7–100.7 | 14.88% | 247,272 | no different |
| 2016 | 102.4 | 101.4–103.3 | 16.83% | 260,060 | worse |
| 2015 | 106.8 | 105.7–107.9 | 20.06% | 183,751 | worse |
| 2014 | 108.3 | 107.1–109.4 | 23.21% | 151,612 | worse |
| 2013 | 103.7 | 102.4–105.1 | 24.67% | 95,927 | worse |
| 2012 | 107.4 | 105.2–109.6 | 28.24% | 33,469 | worse |
| 2011 | 100.4 | 98.4–102.3 | 29.26% | 34,150 | no different |
| 2010 | 101.4 | 99.7–103.2 | 32.39% | 39,421 | no different |
| 2009 | 101 | 99.4–102.6 | 34.93% | 44,420 | no different |
| 2008 | 102.8 | 101.3–104.4 | 38.12% | 44,488 | worse |
| 2007 | 99.8 | 98.3–101.4 | 39.3% | 42,627 | no different |
| 2006 | 101.5 | 99.9–103 | 41.67% | 37,293 | no different |
| 2005 | 98.7 | 96.9–100.6 | 41.98% | 26,494 | no different |
| 2004 | 107.8 | 105.2–110.4 | 47.29% | 13,474 | worse |
| 2003 | 104.8 | 102.4–107.2 | 47.05% | 15,706 | worse |
| 2002 | 107.2 | 104.5–110 | 49.08% | 11,722 | worse |
| 2001 | 100.9 | 97.4–104.5 | 47.29% | 6,635 | no different |
The best build year here is 2020 and the weakest is 2014. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 12 of 20 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.
Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution. And for cars built before about 2005, a good score says more about which examples survived to be tested than about how that year was built: survivors are self-selected for care.
Mercedes A Class MOT repair costs
The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £57.08 to £108.45, against £54.85 for the test itself.
bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only
| Component | Fails per 100 tests | Typical repair | Its price | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 12.7 (nat. 19.9) | Suspension coil spring (single corner) | £180 | £22.86 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 8.8 (nat. 23.52) | Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid) | £140 | £12.32 |
| Brakes | 8.0 (nat. 14.34) | Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback) | £150 | £12.00 |
| Tyres | 11.0 (nat. 10.27) | Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted) | £90 | £9.90 |
Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £57 to £108, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.
Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.
For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.
Mercedes A Class running costs for a fleet
Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 25%, against 12% at age 5 in the same 100-vehicle fleet.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
| Age | Fails | Median odometer | Tests | Gap vs age 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8.27% | 23,907 | 34,948 | -3.6 pp |
| 4 | 9.2% | 29,781 | 55,400 | -2.7 pp |
| 5 | 11.85% | 38,048 | 96,700 | +0.0 pp |
| 6 | 14.16% | 45,665 | 73,129 | +2.3 pp |
| 7 | 17.3% | 55,414 | 70,983 | +5.5 pp |
| 8 | 19.31% | 65,125 | 66,894 | +7.5 pp |
| 9 | 22.86% | 73,785 | 47,590 | +11.0 pp |
| 10 | 24.73% | 83,252 | 42,307 | +12.9 pp |
| 11 | 24.96% | 88,894 | 28,113 | +13.1 pp |
| 12 | 31.2% | 69,053 | 7,611 | +19.4 pp |
| 13 | 33.92% | 69,287 | 7,439 | +22.1 pp |
| 14 | 36.35% | 74,805 | 8,768 | +24.5 pp |
| 15 | 38.95% | 80,743 | 9,588 | +27.1 pp |
| 16 | 40.55% | 85,542 | 9,379 | +28.7 pp |
| 17 | 41.05% | 88,154 | 8,574 | +29.2 pp |
| 18 | 43.07% | 88,973 | 6,433 | +31.2 pp |
| 19 | 42.52% | 84,679 | 4,222 | +30.7 pp |
The number a fleet manager needs is not the failure rate, it is the year the car starts costing more. Between age 11 and 12 the failure rate of this model jumps by 6.24 percentage points — the steepest single step in its life, and the natural planning point for replacement.
Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.
Mercedes A Class rust problems: where they corrode
Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility stands out at 1.56×, against 1× for the national age-standardised rate.
above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less
This Mercedes A Class fails on corrosion more often than average once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are about typical for the models we publish.
Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.
Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.
Does a Mercedes A Class advisory become a failure?
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 26.1%; Identification of the vehicle is lowest at 2.9% — the gap is 23.2 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now
| Component | Fails next time | Typical lead time | Miles of warning | Advisories tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 26.1% | 12 months | 3,780 | 5,621 |
| Suspension | 18.5% | 12 months | 4,663 | 43,630 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 15.6% | 12 months | 4,348 | 7,720 |
| Brakes | 9.8% | 12 months | 5,299 | 204,031 |
| Visibility | 9.5% | 12 months | 6,670 | 1,246 |
| Tyres | 8.8% | 12 months | 7,155 | 281,478 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5.7% | 12.1 months | 5,424 | 7,615 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4.3% | 12 months | 5,741 | 4,240 |
| Steering | 2.9% | 12 months | 4,316 | 6,297 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2.9% | 12.1 months | 5,624 | 16,187 |
This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.
Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 26 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 3,780 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.
What will fail next on a Mercedes A Class?
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 20+ are highest at 30.1%; Brakes after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 1.5% — the gap is 28.6 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
| Age | Last test | Most likely next failures | Cars tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| <3 | passed | Tyres 4.9% · Visibility 3.4% · Brakes 1.5% | 106,769 |
| <3 | advisory | Tyres 5.9% · Visibility 4.4% · Brakes 2.3% | 31,564 |
| <3 | failure | Tyres 6.6% · Visibility 5.1% | 17,329 |
| 3-5 | passed | Tyres 5.8% · Visibility 3.6% · Brakes 2.0% | 306,204 |
| 3-5 | advisory | Tyres 8.0% · Visibility 5.2% · Brakes 3.3% | 129,899 |
| 3-5 | failure | Tyres 8.6% · Visibility 6.1% · Brakes 3.6% | 74,417 |
| 6-8 | passed | Suspension 7.0% · Tyres 6.1% · Visibility 4.4% | 135,780 |
| 6-8 | advisory | Suspension 8.7% · Tyres 8.6% · Visibility 6.1% | 77,070 |
| 6-8 | failure | Suspension 9.7% · Tyres 9.5% · Visibility 7.8% | 60,410 |
| 9-11 | passed | Suspension 8.8% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 8.2% · Visibility 5.6% | 44,207 |
| 9-11 | advisory | Suspension 11.5% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.2% · Brakes 8.5% | 31,212 |
| 9-11 | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.2% · Suspension 12.4% · Brakes 10.2% | 32,799 |
| 12-14 | passed | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.2% · Body, chassis, structure 8.6% · Suspension 8.2% | 28,862 |
| 12-14 | advisory | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 15.6% · Suspension 12.4% · Brakes 12.1% | 28,421 |
| 12-14 | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 19.8% · Body, chassis, structure 14.8% · Brakes 14.6% | 34,116 |
| 15-19 | passed | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.2% · Suspension 10.9% · Body, chassis, structure 10.2% | 16,772 |
| 15-19 | advisory | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.1% · Suspension 15.4% · Body, chassis, structure 12.7% | 20,855 |
| 15-19 | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 25.5% · Suspension 18.7% · Brakes 15.9% | 27,607 |
| 20+ | advisory | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 24.4% | 2,169 |
| 20+ | failure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 30.1% · Suspension 22.6% | 2,859 |
The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.
The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.
Mercedes A Class ownership: what six years of MOTs show
The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 49.3%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 2.4% — the gap is 46.9 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 244,273 failures followed through to their re-test, 48.25% were repaired and passed the same day and 49.33% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 495,517 defect items were cleared in the process.
Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.313 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 6,123 miles a year across 335,966 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.
Two populations hide inside one model. 42.31% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 19.99% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.
Odometer anomalies: 1.381% of 336,217 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 16,313 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.
Mercedes A Class safety recalls and how to check yours
DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 100, against 2.64 campaigns per 10,000 licensed cars after fleet size is accounted for.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
recall campaigns launched per year
| Reference | Launched | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|
R/2021/376 | 29/11/2021 | 50,390 | The behaviour of the emergency call system might not meet specifications.… |
R/2021/376 | 29/11/2021 | 50,390 | The behaviour of the emergency call system might not meet specifications.… |
R/2021/082 | 30/03/2021 | 24 | The communication module may be deactivated… |
R/2021/083 | 30/03/2021 | 36 | The software of certain communication modules may not meet specifications.… |
R/2020/221 | 30/09/2020 | 20,536 | Condensation water from the air conditioning might enter the passenger compartment… |
All 8 campaigns
| Reference | Launched | Build dates | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
R/2021/376 | 29/11/2021 | 04/01/2016 – 29/01/2021 | 50,390 | The behaviour of the emergency call system might not meet specifications.… |
R/2021/376 | 29/11/2021 | 04/01/2016 – 29/01/2021 | 50,390 | The behaviour of the emergency call system might not meet specifications.… |
R/2021/082 | 30/03/2021 | 03/05/2016 – 02/07/2020 | 24 | The communication module may be deactivated… |
R/2021/083 | 30/03/2021 | 03/02/2017 – 11/03/2020 | 36 | The software of certain communication modules may not meet specifications.… |
R/2020/221 | 30/09/2020 | 25/01/2018 – 10/02/2019 | 20,536 | Condensation water from the air conditioning might enter the passenger compartment… |
R/2019/217 | 30/07/2019 | 01/07/2018 – 28/02/2019 | 1,209 | Under certain circumstances it might not be possible to shift into Drive or Reverse mode.… |
R/2013/053 | 30/05/2013 | 01/06/2012 – 31/12/2012 | 111 | The laser perforation of the instrument panel (i.e. the predetermined fracture point intended for the unfolding of an airbag from the inside) for the front passenger airbag may not have been performed correctly. If this … |
R/2010/123 | 30/09/2010 | 147 | It is possible on some fuel tanks that the vent pipe is not to specification. This can lead to a small leak into the charcoal canister and if not rectified can over a period of time result in a fuel leak.… |
DVSA lists 100 safety recall campaigns for the Mercedes A Class — 2.64 campaigns per 10,000 of these cars licensed in Great Britain, covering roughly 122,843 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.
Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.
Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.
Mercedes A Class technical service bulletins: what dealers are told
NHTSA manufacturer communications are 285.
bigger number = more recorded dealer communicationsnot affected vehicles or confirmed faults
These are the issues the manufacturer fixes quietly: service communications sent to dealers without a public recall campaign. They show what the service network has been told even when the issue never became news.
United States · NHTSA manufacturer communications
| Communication year | Bulletins | Leading subjects across all years |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 22 |
|
| 2020 | 40 | |
| 2021 | 24 | |
| 2022 | 30 | |
| 2023 | 13 | |
| 2024 | 42 | |
| 2025 | 75 | |
| 2026 | 39 |
Caveat worth stating plainly: this is NHTSA data about US-specification cars. British cars sold under the same name often use different gearboxes, engines and equipment, so a bulletin may describe a component that was never fitted here. The file counts dealer communications, not affected vehicles or confirmed failures, and it cannot tell you whether an individual UK car has the issue. A communication can carry more than one subject tag, so topic counts do not have to add up to the total. Source: NHTSA Manufacturer Communications API (US-market vehicles; queried model years 2015-2022). Licence: U.S. Government work / public domain · retrieved 2026-08-03.
Mercedes A Class owner complaints: what goes wrong
Lamps & electrical are highest at 24; Steering is lowest at 5 — the gap is 19.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
| Component | Complaints | Share | MOT fail items per 100 | MOT rank | Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps & electrical | 24 | 31.2% | 8.8 | #4 | complained about, fails occasionally |
| Engine (not MOT-tested) | 19 | 24.7% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Restraints | 7 | 9.1% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Transmission (not MOT-tested) | 7 | 9.1% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Steering | 5 | 6.5% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Suspension | 5 | 6.5% | 12.7 | #1 | complained about and fails often |
Two different populations answering two different questions: the MOT records what an inspector can measure once a year, the complaint file records what annoyed or frightened an owner on the road. A component high in one column and absent from the other is the interesting case — driver-assistance and electronics dominate complaints while almost never appearing as an MOT failure item.
What the reports actually say
I was driving home from work down the hwy, when the sun visor shade fell down and hit me in the head and covered my face, temporarily blinding me, like a blanket was pulled over my face. It's very difficult to see the road or other drivers when you are blinded at 70mph! Car only had 15,500 miles on it...
Thermostat failed making car over heat also sunroof failed due to cheap rolling up shade device getting stuck , when car was less than 4 years old with very little use.
US owners have filed 77 complaints about the equivalent Mercedes A Class to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 3 that mention a crash, 2 a fire and 3 an injury. These are owner reports, not verified findings — but they are the only large public record of what drivers themselves notice, and they cover the years between MOT tests.
Caveat worth stating plainly: US-specification cars, self-selected reporters, no denominator — complaint counts scale with how many cars were sold there and how motivated owners are to file. The mechanical gap matters as much as the statistical one: American cars of the same name often carry different gearboxes, engines and equipment — automatics where Britain buys manuals — so a drivetrain complaint filed in Ohio may describe a part that was never fitted here. Read the ranking inside a model, not between models, and treat drivetrain entries with particular caution. Source: NHTSA ODI consumer complaints (US market, public domain) — US-spec vehicles, indicative only.
Mercedes A Class inspection results in other countries
Netherlands APK stands out at 43.4%, against 50.9% nationally.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Country | Test | This model fails | National average | Position | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | MOT (class 4) | 18.83% | 26.01% | -7.2 pp | 585,107 |
| Netherlands | APK | 43.4% | 50.9% | -7.5 pp | 41,398 |
| Norway | PKK | 27.5% | 33.5% | -6 pp | 1,790 |
The verdict is consistent across every regime we can measure, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.
| Code | Fault | Recorded | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
210 | Tyre pressure not at the correct value | 7,590 | failure |
205 | Tyre with insufficient tread | 4,326 | failure |
516 | Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed | 3,105 | failure |
AC1 | Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread | 2,842 | advisory |
203 | Tyre damaged | 1,925 | failure |
AC5 | Mechanical brake parts showing wear | 1,429 | advisory |
391 | Wipers leave insufficient visibility | 1,124 | failure |
178 | Driveshaft gaiter split, no longer sealing | 1,033 | failure |
Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 0.976 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.
Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Mercedes A Class is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.
Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.; Statens vegvesen — Periodisk kjøretøykontroll (PKK) 2024, CC BY 4.0.
Mercedes A Class MOT: quick answers
Mercedes A Class MOT Risk Index stands out at 91.3, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
- What is the Mercedes A Class first-time MOT pass rate?
- 81.17% of first attempts passed in 2024 (585,107 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
- Why does this number differ from other sites?
- Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 18.83% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 585,107 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 91.3 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.
Compare the Mercedes A Class with other cars
Seat Leon is highest at 92.0; Mercedes A Class is lowest at 91.3 — the gap is 0.7 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
Head-to-head
Audi A3 head-to-headVolkswagen Golf head-to-headFord Focus head-to-headVauxhall Astra head-to-headHonda Civic head-to-head
Same brand
All Mercedes-Benz MOT statisticsMercedes C Class MOT statsMercedes E Class MOT stats
Similar risk
Audi A1 (index 91.3)Ford Kuga (index 91.3)Seat Leon (index 92.0)
Same size class
how Toyota Yaris compareshow Mercedes C Class compareshow Audi A3 compares
Data details & how to cite
Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v1, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:mercedes-a-class:dvsa-2024-v1. Full method: methodology.
Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Mercedes A Class MOT statistics 2024 (dvsa-2024-v1). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/mercedes-a-class/ · Published 2026-07-30.