How often does the Mercedes-Benz Vito fail its MOT?

14.3% of 126 first-time tests in 2024 were failures, against 12.0% for all electric cars.

What does the Mercedes-Benz Vito most often fail on?

Body, 37.7% of failing defects. The single most common defect was: A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc.

Mercedes-Benz · Fully electric · 126 inspections in 2024 · Rank 61 of 81DVSA MOT analysis

Body and structure defects fail the Mercedes-Benz Vito 9.2× as often as they fail a petrol or diesel car

126 inspections in a single year make the VITO a modestly documented electric car in the data. Body cause 37.7% of its failures; body take 9.2× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.

FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSMercedes-Benz Vito

Top three failure systems, annotated from 18 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.

First-time test findings

The four-year picture

AT FOUR YEARS OLD17.2%

VITO failure rate. Petrol cars of the same age fail 8.9%.

ALL ELECTRIC CARS12.0%

All electric cars in the data.

The Mercedes-Benz Vito fails 14.3% of first-time inspections. Body cause 37.7% of its failures.

FIGURE 2 // SILL AND UNDERBODY17 certificates in 2024

Corrosion where it should not be yet

Body take 37.7% of the defects that fail this car, 9.2× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc", recorded 17 times in 2024.

SECTION // BODY CONCENTRATIONYear 4 crossover

Where the curve bends

The crossover with petrol happens around year 4. From there the VITO's failure rate climbs faster than the petrol fleet, and the defect list explains why.

DEFECT CONCENTRATION IN FAILED TESTS:

VITO body share37.7%

Petrol and diesel average4.1%

The single most common item on a VITO certificate is "A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc", recorded 17 times.

Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.

Buyer's protocolPre-purchase checklist

What to check

Check tyre age and tread across the full width, inner edge included. Electric cars wear tyres faster; a cheap mismatched set on a used car tells you how it was run. Trivial to fix, but a car advertised with worn wipers and a fresh failure certificate tells you how it was maintained. Ask when the brakes were last stripped and cleaned. Regenerative braking barely wears the pads, so discs and calipers corrode and seize instead. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.

3 inspection points:

✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age

✓ Wipers and washers

✓ Rear caliper drag and disc lip

FIGURE 3 // FAILURE RATE BY AGEvs petrol, diesel and all electric cars

Points hidden where fewer than 50 cars of that age were tested. Dashed lines are the same-age petrol and diesel fleets.

Data sheet

Inspections: 126
Passed: 99
Failed: 18
Passed after repair: 9
Failure rate: 14.3% (all EV 12.0%)
Average age: 4.2 years
Best year: 4 yrs · 17.2%
Worst year: 4 yrs · 17.2%
Top cause: Body 37.7%

TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects

System	Share	vs petrol/diesel
Tyres	28.3%	in line
Suspension	0.0%	in line
Brakes	5.7%	3.3× less
Visibility	20.8%	1.7× more
Lighting	3.8%	4.3× less
Steering	3.8%	in line
Body	37.7%	9.2× more

TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE

A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc17
A tyre seriously damaged7
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen5
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement3
Obligatory mirror or device slightly damaged or loose3
A transmission joint, belt or chain excessively worn2

Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.

Where it holds up

Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 13.6%)
Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (5.7% of defects vs 18.7%)
Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (3.8% of defects vs 16.5%)

Where it fails

Visibility take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (20.8% vs 11.9%)
Body take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (37.7% vs 4.1%)

VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded

VITO126

OWNER REPORTS // MATCHED TO RECORDED DEFECTS0 read · 0 matched

No owner discussion has been matched to this car's recorded defects yet. Reports are re-collected every quarter; the figures on this page do not depend on them.

Summaries written by us, never quotes; every entry links to its source. Owner reports have no denominator and never feed the failure rate.

SIMILAR CARS IN THE DATAclosest rate and age, other brands

Tesla Model 314.6% fail · 67,849 tests Vauxhall Corsa14.7% fail · 8,595 tests Peugeot 20813.4% fail · 7,252 tests Citroen e-C414.2% fail · 1,413 tests

OTHER MERCEDES-BENZ ELECTRIC CARS

Mercedes-Benz B-Class15.6% fail first time Mercedes-Benz EQA10.1% fail first time Mercedes-Benz EQB4.7% fail first time Mercedes-Benz EQC14.7% fail first time

Three things the data shows

126 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
Body take 9.2× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
It ranks 61 of 81 electric cars by first-time failure rate.

LIMITS // WHAT THE INSPECTION DOES NOT TELL YOU

No battery health, no motor, no charging performance. The test covers brakes, suspension, steering, tyres, lights, visibility and structure. A car with a badly degraded battery passes as long as it stops and steers. Read this page as evidence about the chassis, not the powertrain. Cars are tested from their third year, so the newest model years are missing; every figure carries its sample size for that reason. Full methodology.