The Mercedes Benz E Class is Mercedes Benz's long running medium executive saloon and estate family, central to private, fleet, taxi and long distance use across many generations. The E Class was chosen for greater comfort, status and long distance ability than smaller models in the range. The E Class often began life with private or company owners covering substantial mileage, while later survival depends increasingly on condition, value and access to specialist maintenance.
DECLINING
Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.
211,996licensed vehicles 2025 census
82.1% of the peak fleet remains licensed
42,033
declared SORN
total surviving
peak 258,115 in 2019 ·
−10,183 vehicles a year, five year trend
Population history
Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. The filters below apply to the family population, MOT and registration figures. They do not alter the generation history above.
LicensedSORNLatest census observationSOURCE DVLA VEH0120 / VEH0220
At the average decline recorded over the latest five years, the licensed fleet would reach zero around 2045.
Illustrative projection only; vehicle populations rarely decline linearly. Late fleets typically flatten as surviving examples enter preservation.
Inside the surviving fleet
AutoCensus parses every DVLA variant description, so the fleet can be read by fuel and specification rather than as one number.
Fuel · share of licensed fleet
First registrations by year
When surviving examples first joined the British fleet.
New registrations
Vehicles first registered each year. A fleet still being sold shows here; a finished one shows only imports.
MOT reliability
DVSA test results for this family, 2005 to 2025.
Pass rate by year
Failure reason
Failures
Share of all tests
The grooves of the tread pattern are not at least 1.6mm throughout a continuous band comprising the central three-quarters of the breadth of tread, and round the entire outer circumference of the tyre
60
5.4%
Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded
26
2.3%
A stop lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating
17
1.5%
Excessive play in a ball joint
14
1.3%
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
13
1.2%
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
12
1.1%
Excessive play in a front wheel bearing
11
1.0%
An obligatory lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating
11
1.0%
Counted across every recorded test, 2005 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.
Where the E Class remains
Based on MOT test locations, 2025. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.
Population history combines DVLA VEH0120 Q4 census observations through 2013 with the annual VEH0220 census from 2014 onward. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Historical VEH0120 is used only when its overlapping UK observations reconcile to the current canonical family definition. Vehicles are grouped into this family using the DVLA GenModel together with durable routing rules for known inconsistencies.
Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Configuration is only assigned where the model description explicitly identifies it; a blank configuration is not treated as a two door Wrangler. Blank transmission fields are shown as manual because DVLA records the field for automatic vehicles.
MOT figures count tests, not vehicles, and geographic figures count each vehicle at its most recent test location. The decline projection is a straight line fitted to the latest five years and is illustrative only.