2012 Mercedes-Benz B-Class: MOT pass rate and reliability

74.6% of 2012 Mercedes-Benz B-Class pass the MOT first time, measured across 5,795 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 84,389 miles.

How the 2012 compares

  • Against all Mercedes-Benz B-Class (75.2%, 63,625 tests): -0.6 points
  • Against all 2012 cars (70.8%): +3.8 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Mercedes-Benz B-Class model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2012 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Mercedes-Benz B-Class:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2005 65.6% 407 103,173
2006 63.5% 2,057 102,760
2007 63.7% 2,696 100,932
2008 61.9% 3,513 100,008
2009 64.3% 4,328 95,531
2010 65.2% 4,581 90,019
2011 65.1% 3,587 83,403
2012 74.6% 5,795 84,389
2013 76% 7,124 78,661
2014 78.4% 8,265 73,060
2015 82.1% 5,653 64,381
2016 83.7% 5,374 55,936
2017 85.7% 5,715 48,331
2018 87.9% 3,919 38,463
2019 91.5% 585 30,096

What this means if you are buying a 2012 B-Class

The 2012 sits close to the Mercedes-Benz B-Class average, so there is no strong model-year signal either way. Judge the individual car on its own history. Check the exact car with the free MOT history checker before you buy, and run its VIN and mileage through our free VIN decoder and clocking check.

What a 14-year-old car fails on

A 2012 car is 14 years old now, and age drives the failure mix more than the badge does. Across all cars tested, these are the categories that actually cause failures:

  • Lights and electrical: 10.36% of all cars tested
  • Suspension: 8.65% of all cars tested
  • Tyres: 6.23% of all cars tested
  • Brakes: 6.1% of all cars tested
  • Visibility: wipers, washers, glass: 4.65% of all cars tested
  • Body, chassis and structure: 3.18% of all cars tested

That is above average, the point where suspension bushes, drop links and exhaust corrosion start showing up as advisories before they become failures. On a 2012 Mercedes-Benz B-Class the average at test was 84,389 miles, so treat anything far above that as a car that has worked harder than its peers, and anything far below as one worth checking for the faults that come from standing still.

The strongest year for this model is 2019 at 91.5%, and the weakest in our data is 2008 at 61.9%. That 29.6 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2012 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Mercedes-Benz B-Class MOT data · Every model