Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Mercedes-Benz GLE 2021: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 87 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre tread depth (rear).

Summary

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 4,258 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
87 in every 100
Did not pass first time
13 in every 100550 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
4 yearsabout 39,786 miles
First tests counted
4,258

What failed most often

  1. Tyre tread depth (rear)34 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (front)20 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Tyres

One wear pattern: tyre tread depth (rear), 9.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 550 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Tyre tread depth (rear)

Failed on 185 first tests9.1 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

Only primary grooves count when tread depth is assessed: those holding the wear indicators, or cut as deep as those when new. Shallower secondary grooves are ignored. Tread depth below the minimum for the vehicle is Dangerous, and so is a pattern not visible over the whole tread, but that second row applies only to vehicles that need the lower minimum.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 127 first tests, 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Suspension

One fault: suspension arm ball joint (front), 5.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm ball joint (front)

Failed on 37 first tests5.7 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A suspension arm ball joint is failed under the general suspension pin, bush or joint wording. Excessively worn is Major, and likely to become detached is graded Dangerous.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 28 first tests, 6.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Number plates and VIN

Two faults. The strongest is the number plates (front): 4.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Number plates (front)

Failed on 21 first tests4.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A number plate that is missing, illegible, showing an incorrect registration or so insecure that it is likely to fall off is Major. Testers do not measure the characters or their spacing and reject them only if they are obviously incorrect. Delamination and the position of fixing screws or bolts get particular attention, as they can prevent number plate recognition cameras identifying the vehicle.

Number plates (rear)

Failed on 20 first tests3.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A number plate that is missing, illegible, showing an incorrect registration or so insecure that it is likely to fall off is Major. Testers do not measure the characters or their spacing and reject them only if they are obviously incorrect. Delamination and the position of fixing screws or bolts get particular attention, as they can prevent number plate recognition cameras identifying the vehicle.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Non-component advisories (front)

Noted on 28 first tests3.6 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
87in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
1in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
12in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 87.1% of 4,258 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 88.3%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 1 fixed and the 12 not fixed make the 13 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel3,24239,548 miles8887
Other fuel95141,848 miles8585

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

40608010020152016201720182019202020212022Older carsNewer cars
4060801002021Older cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 88 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
201589 in every 1001,200
201686 in every 1005,138
201786 in every 1004,298
201886 in every 1005,485
201987 in every 1003,269
202088 in every 1004,588
2021 This car87 in every 1004,258
202287 in every 1003,302

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE.

Of 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE vehicles with under 28,000 miles, 92 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 54,000 miles or more, 83 in every 100 did.

Under 28,000839 tests
92
28,000–36,000855 tests
87
36,000–44,000 Typical car903 tests
86
44,000–54,000802 tests
87
54,000 and over859 tests
83

Which fuel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Diesel39,548 miles8887
Other fuel41,848 miles8585

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Diesel cars look better on the raw figures only because other-fuel cars have done more miles (typically 41,848 against 39,548). At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 28,00036,000–44,00054,000 and over
Tyre tread depth (rear)2.15.25.1
Tyre condition (front)2.32.43.1

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

55in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

13in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

7in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre tread depth (rear), about 34 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 87.1% of 4,258 first MOTs on the 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 88.3%. Among 550 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm ball joint (front) appears more often than on similar cars (6.7% of those tests; 37 observed failures; about 5.7× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE at the first attempt were Tyre tread depth (rear) (33.6%) and Tyre condition (front) (20.0%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Suspension arm ball joint (front) (6.7% of those tests; 37 observed failures; about 5.7× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm ball joint (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (6.7% of those tests; 37 observed failures; about 5.7× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE include Suspension arm ball joint (front), Number plates (front). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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