Mercedes-Benz C: which years to avoid

Based on 382,508 real MOT tests from DVSA records. Each year is compared against every other car first registered the same year — otherwise the numbers would only tell you that older cars fail more, which you knew.

The short answer

No model year stands out as one to avoid. Every year sits within 15% of the failure rate for cars of the same age. The 1998 is the strongest, failing 29% less often than average.

Found a Mercedes-Benz C you like?

Averages tell you what to expect. Its registration tells you what actually happened — every MOT, every advisory, and whether the mileage adds up.

Every C model year

Shaded rows are the years that differ most from other cars of the same age — worse, better.

MOT failure rate by registration year for the Mercedes-Benz C
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
1998	1,124	22.1%	29% better
1999	1,020	23.0%	29% better
2001	1,689	29.5%	15% better
2002	3,256	31.0%	about average
2003	5,769	35.5%	about average
2004	8,163	36.0%	about average
2005	10,841	35.1%	about average
2006	11,886	34.3%	about average
2007	14,554	32.6%	about average
2008	15,861	30.2%	about average
2009	15,024	29.8%	about average
2010	15,588	27.7%	about average
2011	21,762	26.5%	about average
2012	28,519	26.4%	about average
2013	25,293	23.5%	about average
2014	26,545	18.7%	18% better
2015	35,499	16.8%	about average
2016	37,942	15.5%	about average
2017	40,471	13.8%	about average
2018	29,036	11.7%	about average
2019	24,901	9.8%	about average
2020	7,765	10.5%	about average

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Mercedes-Benz C, grouped by the year the car was first registered. Retests are excluded, so a car that failed and was fixed still counts as a failure. Each year's rate is then divided by the rate for all cars first registered that year — so 120 means 20% more failures than its contemporaries, not 20% more than a brand new car.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.