Photo: Alexander Migl, CC BY-SA 4.0
Mercedes Benz
1,779 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where Sprinter 314 Premium Cdis pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.
That's 4.5 points below the UK fleet average across our 1,984 tracked models — buyers should expect more first-time fails than the typical UK car.
Pass
73.0%
Pass-after-fix
3.0%
Fail
23.3%
Avg miles
62,389
Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%
Diesel cars registered from September 2015 generally meet Euro 6 — compliant in London ULEZ, Birmingham CAZ, Bristol CAZ, and Glasgow LEZ.
Performance by cohort
2 year bands · 1,779 tests
Pass rate drops 9.4 points across the cohorts — recent Sprinter 314 Premium Cdi examples are doing worse than the early cars at the same tested age.
Pass
80.2%
Fail
16.4%
PRS
3.1%
Avg mileage at test
85,479 mi
Pass
70.8%
Fail
25.4%
PRS
3.0%
Avg mileage at test
55,331 mi
Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.
The picture
Across 1,779 MOT tests, the Sprinter 314 Premium Cdi returns 73.0% first-time pass — below the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is a missing CV-joint boot. Windscreen damage and a weak handbrake round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 62,389, which is the lens to read those failure rankings through. If you own one and the next test is close, the ranked list below is a sensible pre-test checklist.
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A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc
161 occurrences · 9.1% of tests
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
117 occurrences · 6.6% of tests
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement
89 occurrences · 5.0% of tests
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
74 occurrences · 4.2% of tests
A tyre seriously damaged
59 occurrences · 3.3% of tests
Wiper blade defective
53 occurrences · 3.0% of tests
A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated
53 occurrences · 3.0% of tests
Parking brake lever has excessive movement indicating incorrect adjustment
33 occurrences · 1.9% of tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
28 occurrences · 1.6% of tests
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
22 occurrences · 1.2% of tests
Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.
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Year-band analysis
First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 9.4-point gap between bands means the year you buy Mercedes Benz Sprinter 314 Premium Cdi has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.
Best band to buy
80.2%
2018–2020 registration
the 2018–2020 band climbs to 80.2% — a 9.4-point improvement. Failures here are mostly wear items: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, efficiency below requirements — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band.
Band to be cautious about
70.8%
2021+ registration
On the 2021-on band, the data shows a 70.8% pass rate against a fleet average of 80.2% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no…, damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, and efficiency below requirements. Average mileage on test for this band is 55,331 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.
Best band to buy: 2018-2020 (80.2% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: 2021+ (70.8% pass). That's a 9.4-point spread across 1,365 older tests and 414 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.
Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.
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Mobile mechanic · UK-wide
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Owner reports · Honest John
Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.
What's good
**The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter remains the benchmark by which all other large vans should be judged. Easy to drive, comfortable and capable of shifting gargantuan loads, this Sprinter follows the successful trend of its predecessors while also setting new standards for usability, technology and driver safety.**
Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.
If you own a Sprinter 314 Premium Cdi and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.
