Mercedes-Benz A-Class 2020: MOT failure rate for its age

10.9% of 58,994 MOT tests of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class first registered in 2020 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 90.7 (95% CI 88.5–92.9; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class fails less often than other build years of the same model at the same age.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class built in 2020 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	10.9	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	58994
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 88.5–92.9)	90.7	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	58994
Rank among this model's 23 build years	1	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	58994
Tested in 2024	29283	tests	median 29,997 miles	2024	29283

Built 2020 against Mercedes-Benz A-Class normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 3: 10.9% vs 11.4%; age 4: 10.8% vs 12.6%. Axis from 0% to 20%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class by registration · All Mercedes-Benz A-Class MOT statistics · Download the build-year table (CSV)

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · full dataset (v5).

How does the 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class fail at each age?

Cars built in 2020 were tested at ages 3 to 4 between 2019 and 2024. Each row compares their first-time failure share with what this model normally shows at that age, after allowing for the overall failure level of each test year.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class built 2020: first-time MOT failure by age, against the model's normal rate at that age (2019–2024)
Age	Tests	Failed, %	95% interval	Normal for this model at that age, %	Index (100 = normal)
3	29,711	10.9	10.6–11.3	11.4	95.5
4	29,283	10.8	10.5–11.2	12.6	86.3

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 58,994 (initial tests) · Method: normal rate = this model's first-time failure share at that age across its build years (cells of 400+ tests), adjusted for each test year's overall level; cells of 30+ tests, under 500 marked rough · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

What fails most on the 2020 Mercedes-Benz A-Class?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2020 is tyres: 6.6 items per 100 first tests, against 8.7 across all build years of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2020 were tested at ages 3 to 4.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Mercedes-Benz A-Class built 2020 against the Mercedes-Benz A-Class in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2020, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Tyres	6.6	8.7	3,989
Visibility	4.4	6.7	2,621
Brakes	2.4	6.9	1,426
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	1.2	7.7	752
Suspension	0.8	6.4	467

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 60,208 (initial tests of this build year) · Method: failure items grouped by DVSA's top-level defect groups, per 100 initial tests; groups with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How does 2020 compare with the years around it?

Among the 23 published build years of the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, 2020 ranks 1 (1 = fails least for its age). 2019: index 101.1.

Mercedes-Benz A-Class build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	105.9	86.4–125.5	no different (rough estimate)	219
1999	102.5	95.2–109.8	no different (rough estimate)	1,532
2000	101.6	96.2–107.0	no different (rough estimate)	2,836
2001	100.8	97.2–104.3	no different	6,635
2002	106.2	103.4–109.1	worse	11,270
2003	104.0	101.6–106.5	worse	15,091
2004	107.4	104.7–110.1	worse	12,814
2005	98.1	96.2–99.9	better	25,137
2006	101.0	99.4–102.6	no different	35,201
2007	99.6	98.0–101.1	no different	40,053
2008	101.7	100.1–103.2	worse	41,744
2009	98.4	96.8–100.0	no different	41,716
2010	98.3	96.5–100.0	no different	36,775
2011	96.0	94.1–98.0	better	32,122
2012	103.1	100.9–105.2	worse	31,022
2013	101.9	100.5–103.3	worse	82,444
2014	106.5	105.3–107.7	worse	132,394
2015	104.7	103.6–105.9	worse	162,933
2016	101.0	100.0–102.0	no different	231,111
2017	99.1	98.0–100.2	no different	216,951
2018	98.2	96.9–99.5	better	166,490
2019	101.1	99.7–102.5	no different	156,006
2020	90.7	88.5–92.9	better	58,994

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,541,490 (initial tests) · Method: observed failures against those expected for the same model at the same ages, test-year level adjusted; verdict follows the printed one-decimal bound · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How to cite this page

MOT Risk Index (2026). Mercedes-Benz A-Class 2020 MOT statistics (data release dvsa-2024-v2; full dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22975051), updated 30 September 2026. motriskindex.co.uk/cars/mercedes-a-class/2020/

How every figure is calculated: methodology. Age, test year and build year are tied together (age = test year − build year), so the test-year level is taken as observed, not estimated.

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