Makes / Mercedes-Benz / Sprinter
Sprinter
Mercedes-Benz · on record 1997 to 2025
The Sprinter is recorded under Mercedes Benz, but it is a van whose ownership pattern is governed by commercial or specialist use. This model sits within Mercedes Benz's light commercial range, widely used for deliveries, trades, minibuses, camper conversions and specialist bodies rather than ordinary passenger car duties. Later life for the Sprinter depends strongly on whether its working or specialist role still justifies maintenance once normal fleet replacement would have removed an equivalent vehicle.
GROWING
Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.
260,033
licensed vehicles
2025 census
2025 census
99.2% of the peak fleet remains licensed
54,030
declared SORN
total surviving
peak 262,207 in 2024 · +719 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.
Licensed
SORN
Latest census observation
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.
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 2020.
Pass rate by year
| Failure reason | Failures | Share of all tests |
|---|---|---|
| A rigid brake pipe excessively chafed, corroded or damaged | 11,046 | 4.5% |
| A wiper blade insecure, missing or in such a condition that it does not clear the windscreen effectively to give the driver an adequate view of the road (through the windscreen) to the left and right sides of the vehicle, as well as to the front | 8,221 | 3.4% |
| A stop lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating | 7,700 | 3.1% |
| The calculated parking brake efficiency is too low | 7,625 | 3.1% |
| A rear registration plate lamp with any lamp not working | 7,558 | 3.1% |
| An obligatory lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating | 6,142 | 2.5% |
| Excessive play in a suspension ball joint | 5,949 | 2.4% |
| A mandatory rear fog lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating | 5,599 | 2.3% |
Counted across every recorded test, 2005 to 2020. Advisories are excluded.
Where the Sprinter remains
Based on MOT test locations, 2020. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.
| Postcode area | Vehicles tested | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| BS | 161 | 72% |
| B | 116 | 73% |
| PO | 91 | 77% |
| BN | 90 | 63% |
| BA | 83 | 70% |
| S | 75 | 84% |
| EX | 75 | 60% |
| EH | 75 | 75% |
| SO | 73 | 77% |
| BH | 73 | 73% |
| RG | 73 | 82% |
| M | 71 | 79% |
| GL | 70 | 81% |
| NE | 68 | 76% |
| SA | 67 | 69% |
| G | 66 | 77% |
| PE | 64 | 84% |
| CF | 64 | 77% |
| ST | 63 | 71% |
| TR | 62 | 65% |
| PL | 61 | 66% |
| NG | 61 | 80% |
| WF | 60 | 72% |
| LL | 58 | 72% |
| PR | 58 | 78% |
| TN | 57 | 79% |
| CV | 56 | 75% |
| ME | 54 | 80% |
| LE | 51 | 84% |
| BB | 50 | 78% |
| OX | 49 | 78% |
| DE | 49 | 86% |
| NN | 49 | 84% |
| DN | 49 | 78% |
| AB | 48 | 81% |
| SN | 47 | 70% |
| TS | 47 | 74% |
| TQ | 47 | 62% |
| CT | 47 | 79% |
| GU | 47 | 81% |
| IP | 46 | 87% |
| NR | 46 | 83% |
| L | 44 | 89% |
| NW | 44 | 82% |
| DL | 42 | 67% |
| SE | 42 | 83% |
| HU | 39 | 67% |
| OL | 39 | 79% |
| BD | 38 | 74% |
| WA | 38 | 79% |
| NP | 37 | 81% |
| BL | 36 | 78% |
| RH | 36 | 89% |
| CA | 36 | 81% |
| CM | 35 | 86% |
| YO | 34 | 74% |
| CH | 33 | 79% |
| KT | 33 | 94% |
| KY | 33 | 70% |
| PA | 33 | 79% |
| LS | 33 | 82% |
| DH | 32 | 88% |
| LA | 32 | 72% |
| KA | 32 | 66% |
| RM | 32 | 88% |
| SY | 32 | 81% |
| CB | 32 | 72% |
| SK | 32 | 78% |
| DT | 32 | 81% |
| SW | 31 | 87% |
| LN | 31 | 74% |
| SS | 31 | 84% |
| IV | 31 | 68% |
| TA | 30 | 77% |
| MK | 30 | 77% |
| CR | 30 | 90% |
| CO | 30 | 73% |
| N | 28 | 100% |
| HR | 27 | 78% |
| HA | 27 | 78% |
| DY | 26 | 62% |
| FY | 25 | 80% |
| SG | 25 | 72% |
| HP | 24 | 83% |
| SL | 22 | 86% |
| E | 22 | 91% |
| UB | 21 | 86% |
| WR | 20 | 70% |
| CW | 20 | 90% |
| DD | 19 | 68% |
| SR | 19 | 74% |
| WS | 19 | 84% |
| ML | 18 | 78% |
| PH | 18 | 61% |
| HD | 18 | 78% |
| TW | 17 | 88% |
| DG | 17 | 82% |
| FK | 17 | 76% |
| SP | 16 | 62% |
| IG | 16 | 75% |
| EN | 16 | 88% |
| TF | 15 | 67% |
| WN | 14 | 79% |
| LU | 14 | 79% |
| WV | 13 | 77% |
| DA | 13 | 85% |
| TD | 11 | 82% |
| HX | 10 | 90% |
| WD | 10 | 60% |
| HG | 7 | 71% |
| BR | 6 | 100% |
| W | 4 | 100% |
| AL | 4 | 100% |
| LD | 3 | 67% |
| ZE | 3 | 67% |
| KW | 3 | 100% |
| HS | 2 | 50% |
| SM | 1 | 100% |
How this record was calculated
LATEST CENSUS2025
POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 annual
HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013
MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2020
FAMILY DEFINITIONMERCEDES SPRINTER
PROCESSED20 Sep 2026
Full methodology
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.