Mercedes-Benz Viano: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Mercedes-Benz Viano fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 6 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 5,397 individual Mercedes-Benz Viano tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 70.7% first-time pass rate means roughly 29 in every 100 Mercedes-Benz Vianos presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average Mercedes-Benz Viano tested had covered 149,200 miles and was built around 2010.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Mercedes-Benz Viano bought as a repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific Mercedes-Benz Viano rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see what damaged Mercedes-Benz Vianos actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Mercedes-Benz Viano

1. Parking brake efficiency less than 50% of the required value, 1.8% of tests (6.58x the national rate for this defect)
2. A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 3% of tests (6.2x the national rate for this defect)
3. An SRS malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) indicates a system malfunction, 1.9% of tests (6.18x the national rate for this defect)
4. Lamp emitted colour, position or intensity not in accordance with the requirements, 1.7% of tests (4.01x the national rate for this defect)
5. Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 3.1% of tests (3.17x the national rate for this defect)
6. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 1.9% of tests (2.53x the national rate for this defect)
7. Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake, 1.7% of tests (2.24x the national rate for this defect)
8. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 1.7% of tests (2.04x the national rate for this defect)
9. A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 2.6% of tests (1.92x the national rate for this defect)
10. The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements, 2.7% of tests (1.56x the national rate for this defect)

From 9,202 DVSA-tracked Mercedes-Benz Viano tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 4.63% of these flagged Mercedes-Benz Viano defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Mercedes-Benz Viano pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each Mercedes-Benz Viano year:

• 2004 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 70.6% first-time pass, 269 tests
• 2005 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 65.9% first-time pass, 384 tests
• 2006 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 65% first-time pass, 374 tests
• 2007 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 69.9% first-time pass, 459 tests
• 2008 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 69.3% first-time pass, 486 tests
• 2009 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 69.1% first-time pass, 431 tests
• 2010 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 75.6% first-time pass, 434 tests
• 2011 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 71.6% first-time pass, 497 tests
• 2012 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 71.7% first-time pass, 580 tests
• 2013 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 73.1% first-time pass, 662 tests
• 2014 Mercedes-Benz Viano - 76.2% first-time pass, 661 tests

Mercedes-Benz Viano by fuel type

Diesel and petrol versions of the same car fail on different things, so the fuel type moves the number:

• Diesel Mercedes-Benz Viano - 70.9% first-time pass, 4,855 tests
• Petrol Mercedes-Benz Viano - 75% first-time pass, 535 tests

Other Mercedes-Benz models

• Mercedes-Benz C - 77.4%
• Mercedes-Benz A-Class - 78.7%
• Mercedes-Benz E - 79.2%
• Mercedes-Benz A - 89.5%
• Mercedes-Benz Vito - 72.7%
• Mercedes-Benz Gla - 85.2%
• Mercedes-Benz Glc - 87.8%
• Mercedes-Benz B-Class - 74.7%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Chrysler 300 - 70.9%
• Volkswagen Transporter - 70.8%
• Skoda Roomster - 70.8%
• Mazda Rx-8 - 70.7%
• Volkswagen Motor Caravan - 70.7%
• Rover 216 - 70.7%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate