Mercedes-Benz 290GD MOT reliability

Mercedes-Benz 290GDs passed their MOT first time 75% of the time across 4 tests in 2025.

Example photo of a Mercedes-Benz 290GD — Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

These figures come from only 4 MOT tests. 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.

First-time pass rate

75%

MOTs analysed

4

Still licensed (GB)

–

Body type

–

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

1996 diesel

2 MOTs

Passed first time 50%. Typical mileage 64,912 (most between 64,911 and 64,913).

2007: 100% → 2008: 0% → 2009: 100% → 2010: 0% → 2011: 100% → 2012: 0% → 2013: 0% → 2014: 100% → 2015: 100% → 2016: 0% → 2017: 100% → 2019: 0% → 2020: 0% → 2021: 0% → 2022: 100% → 2023: 100% → 2024: 100% → 2025: 50%

Most common failures

Chassis condition: or chassis has excessive corrosion to the extent that overall security or stability of the body is impaired (50.0%)
Load sensing valves: linkage defective and function impaired (50.0%)
Exhaust system: has a major leak of exhaust gases (50.0%)

Where 1996 290GDs fail

Body, structure & corrosion

50.0%

Brakes

50.0%

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.