Mercedes-Benz C-Class 2012: MOT failure rate for its age

27.6% of 167,665 MOT tests of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class first registered in 2012 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 106.2 (95% CI 105.3–107.2; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class fails more often than other build years of the same model at the same age.

Mercedes-Benz C-Class built in 2012 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	27.6	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	167665
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 105.3–107.2)	106.2	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	167665
Rank among this model's 23 build years	22	of 23	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	167665
Tested in 2024	27311	tests	median 99,234 miles	2024	27311

Built 2012 against Mercedes-Benz C-Class normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 7: 22.2% vs 20.6%; age 8: 24.4% vs 21.7%; age 9: 26.8% vs 24.5%; age 10: 29.1% vs 26.8%; age 11: 30.2% vs 29.9%; age 12: 32.3% vs 31.9%. Axis from 0% to 40%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class by registration · All Mercedes-Benz C-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 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class fail at each age?

Cars built in 2012 were tested at ages 7 to 12 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 C-Class built 2012: 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)
7	27,294	22.2	21.7–22.7	20.6	107.5
8	25,246	24.4	23.8–24.9	21.7	112.3
9	29,881	26.8	26.3–27.3	24.5	109.8
10	29,413	29.1	28.6–29.6	26.8	108.8
11	28,520	30.2	29.7–30.8	29.9	101.1
12	27,311	32.3	31.7–32.9	31.9	101.4

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 167,665 (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 2012 Mercedes-Benz C-Class?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2012 is suspension: 20 items per 100 first tests, against 16.4 across all build years of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2012 were tested at ages 7 to 12.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Mercedes-Benz C-Class built 2012 against the Mercedes-Benz C-Class in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2012, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Suspension	20	16.4	33,565
Brakes	17.4	10.6	29,115
Tyres	11.6	10.5	19,385
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	5.9	9.2	9,933
Visibility	5.4	6.2	9,051

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 167,665 (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 2012 compare with the years around it?

Among the 23 published build years of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, 2012 ranks 22 (1 = fails least for its age). 2011: index 99.9. 2013: index 105.2.

Mercedes-Benz C-Class build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
1998	83.9	77.7–90.1	better (rough estimate)	2,061
1999	89.6	84.6–94.5	better (rough estimate)	3,506
2000	93.6	88.9–98.2	better	4,182
2001	100.3	97.0–103.6	no different	8,626
2002	99.8	97.7–102.0	no different	19,524
2003	105.1	103.5–106.7	worse	35,652
2004	107.1	105.7–108.5	worse	47,394
2005	105.4	104.1–106.7	worse	58,804
2006	102.8	101.6–104.1	worse	63,597
2007	101.3	100.2–102.5	worse	76,358
2008	98.7	97.6–99.8	better	85,264
2009	100.7	99.6–101.9	no different	83,898
2010	100.7	99.6–101.9	no different	93,206
2011	99.9	98.9–100.9	no different	132,283
2012	106.2	105.3–107.2	worse	167,665
2013	105.2	104.1–106.4	worse	139,585
2014	95.6	94.5–96.7	better	148,901
2015	98.8	97.8–99.8	better	214,864
2016	100.3	99.3–101.3	no different	230,659
2017	95.4	94.3–96.5	better	217,306
2018	96.4	94.9–97.9	better	117,729
2019	94.9	92.9–96.9	better	74,577
2020	103.2	98.5–107.9	no different	15,237

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 2,040,878 (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 C-Class 2012 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-c-class/2012/

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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