MOT cost .
Mercedes Benz Sprinter
MOT 2024

Wikimedia Commons — CC-BY-SA (image-specific)

Mercedes Benz

Sprinter

364,201 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where Sprinters pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 4.8 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

72.7%

Pass-after-fix

6.1%

Fail

20.1%

Avg miles

155,063

Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%

Van & commercial →

Trim variants

315 Progressive CDI 78.7% 20,123 314 Progressive CDI 81.5% 12,213 316 Progressive CDI 75.0% 1,884 314 Premium CDI 73.0% 1,779

Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 364,201 tests

Pass rate climbs 8.5 points across the cohorts — newer Sprinter examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 260,582

Pass

70.4%

Fail

21.9%

PRS

6.5%

Avg mileage at test

172,123 mi

2018–2020 cohort 98,339

Pass

78.7%

Fail

15.5%

PRS

5.0%

Avg mileage at test

115,568 mi

2021+ cohort 5,280

Pass

78.9%

Fail

15.0%

PRS

4.7%

Avg mileage at test

58,707 mi

Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.

Generations on file · 3

Mercedes Benz Sprinter · UK market

Mercedes Benz Sprinter 1995-2006

1995–2006

Mercedes Benz Sprinter 2006-2018

2006–2018

Mercedes Benz Sprinter 2018-now

2018–now

Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.

The picture

Mercedes Benz Sprinter: mixed MOT record across 257,122 tests

The Mercedes Benz Sprinter is a diesel-powered van sold in the UK market across multiple generations, covering a broad date range in the test population.

MOT data from 257,122 tests puts this van on a 72.0% first-time pass rate, below the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 149,135 miles. The most common fail item is cracked or discoloured windscreen, followed by parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement.

Huge carrying capacity. Wide range of bodystyles. Easy to drive. Efficient.

Buyers weighing up a used Sprinter should treat the failure breakdown as a pre-purchase checklist. The pass rate is reasonable, but the gap between first attempt and a clean sheet narrows with age and mileage.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 30–42

A high-group car — insurance costs will be significantly above average. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.

Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →

30–42

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

  1. 01

    Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

    25,646 occurrences · 7.0% of tests

  2. 02

    Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement

    15,577 occurrences · 4.3% of tests

  3. 03

    Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded

    8,939 occurrences · 2.5% of tests

  4. 04

    A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

    8,672 occurrences · 2.4% of tests

  5. 05

    Parking brake efficiency less than 50% of the required value

    7,584 occurrences · 2.1% of tests

  6. 06

    A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

    6,973 occurrences · 1.9% of tests

  7. 07

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    6,827 occurrences · 1.9% of tests

  8. 08

    Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

    5,997 occurrences · 1.6% of tests

  9. 09

    Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction

    5,831 occurrences · 1.6% of tests

  10. 10

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    5,533 occurrences · 1.5% 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.

Worst-case fix budget · top 2 failures

£48–£125

If every one of this Sprinter's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →

Try the calculator

Build your own retest budget.

Year-band analysis

Best year to buy. Worst to avoid.

First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 8.5-point gap between bands means the year you buy Mercedes Benz Sprinter has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

78.9%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 78.9% — a 8.5-point improvement. Tests in this band average 58,707 miles — roughly 113K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. 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. Post-2020 examples are early in their MOT life and generally show the cleanest records.

Band to be cautious about

70.4%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 70.4% pass rate against a fleet average of 78.9% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, efficiency below requirements, and excessively corroded. Average mileage on test for this band is 172,123 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: 2021+ (78.9% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (70.4% pass). That's a 8.5-point spread across 260,582 older tests and 5,280 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.

Year-spread leaderboard →

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

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.

Item 01 · Amazon UK

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Denso W14E Spark Plug (Single)

Denso

Denso W14E Spark Plug (Single)

£1.09

View at My Motor World →

Denso W16EX-U Spark Plug (Single)

Denso

Denso W16EX-U Spark Plug (Single)

£1.09

View at My Motor World →

Denso W16FSR Spark Plug (Single)

Denso

Denso W16FSR Spark Plug (Single)

£1.09

View at My Motor World →

Denso W9LM-US Spark Plug (Single)

Denso

Denso W9LM-US Spark Plug (Single)

£1.09

View at My Motor World →

Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Mobile mechanic · UK-wide

Book a mechanic at your door.

Fixed-price quotes upfront. No garage needed. Click Mechanic sends a vetted local mechanic to you — home, work, or roadside.

Get a quote →

Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

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.**

Buying or keeping a Sprinter?

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 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.