Mercedes-Benz CLK: which years to avoid

Based on 31,964 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 2001 is the strongest, failing 26% less often than average.

Found a Mercedes-Benz CLK 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 CLK 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 CLK
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
1999	1,022	25.9%	20% better
2000	1,342	26.5%	22% better
2001	1,603	25.8%	26% better
2002	1,923	28.7%	19% better
2003	3,483	32.3%	about average
2004	4,532	34.5%	about average
2005	4,518	32.5%	about average
2006	3,630	33.7%	about average
2007	4,066	34.1%	about average
2008	2,796	33.3%	about average
2009	3,049	35.4%	about average

How this is worked out

Every MOT test recorded by DVSA in 2023 on a Mercedes-Benz CLK, 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.