Mercedes-Benz Clc MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Recorded pass rate

We are not publishing a ranking for the Clc. The examples tested do not cover a wide enough spread of ages and mileages to compare it fairly, and an unadjusted pass rate mostly sorts models by how recently they were bought rather than how well they were built. The failure and advisory patterns below come from the same 7,925 tests and are worth reading on their own terms.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Mercedes-Benz Clc tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn34.6%

   1,019 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

2. 2.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened25.2%

   741 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained

3. 3.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements14.2%

   417 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

4. 4.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc11.7%

   346 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

5. 5.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded11.5%

   340 occurrencesBrake pipe corroded explained

6. 6.A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play10.5%

   310 occurrencesBall joint worn explained

7. 7.Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement9.4%

   278 occurrencesParking brake efficiency too low explained

8. 8.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn9.3%

   275 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

9. 9.Lamp emitted colour, position or intensity not in accordance with the requirements8.1%

   239 occurrencesLamp of the wrong colour, position or intensity explained

10. 10.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning7.9%

    232 occurrencesLamp not working explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Mercedes-Benz Clc tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1. 1.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded29.8%

   2,365 testsBrake pipe corroded explained

2. 2.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements27.1%

   2,147 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

3. 3.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn14.5%

   1,153 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

4. 4.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured12.5%

   987 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

5. 5.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn10.4%

   827 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

6. 6.A wheel bearing with excessive play10.1%

   801 testsWheel bearing has excessive play or is rough explained

7. 7.A tyre seriously damaged9.3%

   741 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

8. 8.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm7.9%

   629 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

What gets tested

The Clc fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

103,210

Across examples of every age, so this is a description of the fleet rather than an annual figure.

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol66.4%

Diesel33.6%

Compare within the range

Other Mercedes-Benz models

• Mercedes-Benz A-Class — 73.3% adjusted
• Mercedes-Benz C-Class — 77.0% adjusted
• Mercedes-Benz E-Class — 78.5% adjusted
• Mercedes-Benz GLA — 82.3% adjusted
• Mercedes-Benz Vito — 71.0% adjusted
• Mercedes-Benz GLC — 85.9% adjusted
• All Mercedes-Benz models →

Common questions

How reliable is the Mercedes-Benz Clc compared with other cars?

We do not publish a comparison for the Mercedes-Benz Clc, because the cars of this model that have been tested do not cover a wide enough range of ages and mileages. Its raw pass rate is 55.8% across 7,925 tests, but comparing a raw rate between models mostly ranks them by how new they are rather than how good they are. The failure and advisory patterns further down the page are still drawn from real tests and are worth reading.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Mercedes-Benz Clc?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn", which appears in 34.6% of failed Mercedes-Benz Clc tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Mercedes-Benz Clc?

The most common advisory is "Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded", noted on 29.8% of all Mercedes-Benz Clc tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Mercedes-Benz Clc usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 103,210 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Are most Mercedes-Benz Clc models petrol or diesel?

Of the Mercedes-Benz Clc cars tested, 66% are petrol, 34% are diesel. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. No adjusted rate is shown because this model's tested examples do not cover enough of the national age and mileage range for standardisation to mean anything.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.

Further reading

Make sense of the numbers

• How to judge reliability from evidence rather than reputation
• What counts as high or low mileage for a car’s age
• The most common MOT failures and how to avoid them
• What to check before buying a used Mercedes-Benz