Mercedes-Benz SL MOT reliability

Mercedes-Benz SLs passed their MOT first time 83% of the time across 21,094 tests in 2025.

First-time pass rate

83%

MOTs analysed

21,094

Still licensed (GB)

–

Body type

Roadster

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

2020 petrol

220 MOTs

Passed first time 92%. Typical mileage 18,623 (most between 12,706 and 26,299).

2021: 86% → 2022: 100% → 2023: 93% → 2024: 93% → 2025: 92%

Most common failures

Condition: has ply or cords exposed (3.2%)
Condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (2.7%)
Condition: has a bulge, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (0.9%)
Condition: has a lump, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure (0.5%)
Headlamp aim: too high (0.5%)

2020 hybrid

1 MOT

These figures come from only 1 MOT test. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 0%. Typical mileage 10,512 (most between 10,512 and 10,512).

2023: 100% → 2024: 100% → 2025: 0%

Most common failures

Side repeaters: not working (100.0%)

Where 2020 SLs fail

Wheels & tyres

7.7%

Lights & electrics

0.9%

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.