Mercedes-Benz CLS MOT reliability

Mercedes-Benz CLSs passed their MOT first time 75% of the time across 22,341 tests in 2025.

First-time pass rate

75%

MOTs analysed

22,341

Still licensed (GB)

–

Body type

Sedan

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

2019 diesel

906 MOTs

Passed first time 82%. Typical mileage 49,478 (most between 36,369 and 64,861).

2021: 92% → 2022: 86% → 2023: 83% → 2024: 85% → 2025: 82%

Most common failures

Condition: fractured (3.9%)
Ball joint excessively worn (3.3%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (2.2%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (2.2%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.9%)

2019 petrol

98 MOTs

These figures come from 98 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

Passed first time 88%. Typical mileage 43,210 (most between 30,365 and 55,765).

2021: 89% → 2022: 80% → 2023: 79% → 2024: 81% → 2025: 88%

Most common failures

Condition: fractured (4.1%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (3.1%)
Ball joint excessively worn (3.1%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (2.0%)
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (1.0%)

2019 hybrid

69 MOTs

These figures come from 69 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

Passed first time 81%. Typical mileage 38,030 (most between 30,362 and 51,722).

2021: 80% → 2022: 83% → 2023: 85% → 2024: 76% → 2025: 81%

Most common failures

Condition: fractured (4.3%)
Condition: has ply or cords exposed (4.3%)
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (4.3%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.9%)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (1.4%)

Where 2019 CLSs fail

Wheels & tyres

11.9%

Suspension & axles

3.9%

Body, structure & corrosion

1.5%

Brakes

0.9%

Visibility & wipers

0.9%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

0.8%

Lights & electrics

0.4%

Seat belts & other equipment

0.1%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB.