All generations and engines together · 78,810 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 65k
Middling among SUVs, by age and by mileage. Watch suspension and corrosion. A fair used buy, provided its MOT history has no repeating suspension advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
On early GLC and GLC Coupe models, roughly 2016-2019, the front wheels can judder and hop when turning tightly at low speed or reversing, worse in cold weather. Mercedes first blamed winter tyres, then offered a free switch to all-season rubber, and later fitted a revised steering knuckle to persistent cases. It can show up from new and doesn't reliably clear itself with a tyre change alone.
Cars fitted with the optional Airmatic system can develop a leak in the compressor, valve block or air springs, leaving one corner sitting low or the whole car refusing to rise off its bump stops. It tends to surface from around 60-80k miles, and a repair runs into four figures if a corner needs replacing outright. Suspension is the standout MOT fault category for this model in the measured data too, so the general pattern owners describe lines up with what actually turns up at test time, even if the exact failed part varies car to car.
The 2.1-litre diesel (220d/250d, the OM651 engine) fitted to early GLCs can develop a rattly timing chain on cold start as the tensioner and guides wear, and some cars suffer piezo injector or fuel pump failures that cause misfires or a sudden loss of power. Mercedes did recall a batch of early OM651 diesels over chain tensioner sealing-ring tolerances, though most of the chain and injector wear owners report falls outside that recall and is an out-of-warranty repair rather than a free fix. Left to fail rather than caught early, it's a four-figure repair.
Owners of early cars report the nine-speed automatic occasionally hunting for the right gear or shunting into first at low speed, particularly in stop-start traffic. There's no public recall or acknowledged manufacturer fix, so it sits as a recurring owner complaint rather than a confirmed fault. Where it's bad enough to need attention, a transmission fluid and filter service is usually tried before anyone talks about the mechatronic unit itself.
The COMAND system can freeze, reboot itself or drop Bluetooth/CarPlay pairing, and a number of owners report a flat battery after the car has sat for a few days, put down to modules failing to sleep properly. Neither is dangerous but both are a nuisance to live with, and the usual fix is a dealer software reflash rather than a hardware swap. There's no manufacturer bulletin owners point to, so treat it as a known irritation rather than something with an official cure.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 48,694 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Family & large SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.