Mercedes-Benz S-Class: no years to avoid

Based on 20,284 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 2014 is the strongest, failing 50% less often than average.

Found a Mercedes-Benz S-Class 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 S-Class 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 S-Class
Registered	MOT tests	Fail rate	vs same-age cars
2006	1,176	19.6%	46% better
2007	1,445	22.0%	38% better
2008	1,066	21.4%	39% better
2012	1,269	19.7%	30% better
2013	1,039	18.7%	27% better
2014	1,699	11.5%	50% better
2015	2,261	11.4%	42% better
2016	2,786	10.2%	40% better
2017	2,539	10.5%	27% better
2018	2,507	7.4%	39% better
2019	2,497	6.0%	42% better

How this is worked out

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