Does the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter fail the MOT on noise, emissions and leaks more than it should?

The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter records 3.12 noise, emissions and leaks failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 4.35 expected for a lcv of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−1.23, 95% interval −1.35 to −1.11). It ranks 469 of 678 models on noise, emissions and leaks (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on noise, emissions and leaks · check a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter by registration

What exactly fails on noise, emissions and leaks?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is “Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction”, recorded 1,411 times in 2019–2024.

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter: most frequent noise, emissions and leaks defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction	1,411	1.21
Smoke opacity levels exceed the manufacturer's specified limit	864	0.74
Emissions test unable to be completed	424	0.36
Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users	233	0.20
Smoke opacity levels exceed default limit	136	0.12

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 116,788 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

If a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter gets a noise, emissions and leaks advisory, how often does it fail next time?

5.9% of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter MOTs with a noise, emissions and leaks advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12.1 months and 4,592 miles later (5,022 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 5,022 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

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Does the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter fail the MOT on noise, emissions and leaks more than it should?

What exactly fails on noise, emissions and leaks?

If a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter gets a noise, emissions and leaks advisory, how often does it fail next time?

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Other pages for this model