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MOT fail rates

Smart Fortwo MOT fail rate by age

How often the Smart Fortwo fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 255,596 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 14 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 14 (n=20,567)34.7%
All cars at 14 years (n=6,054,526)40.3%
Median mileage at test62,709
All cars, median mileage96,840

89 of 280 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 14 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Smart Fortwo fails 8.0% of MOTs (3,800 tests), 4.1 points below the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 23 years it fails 42.0% (1,118 tests), 2.4 points above the 39.6% average.
  • It moves from below to above the all-car rate between 22 and 23 years.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 14 years: Coil spring broken, at 6.8 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 23 years 47.6%

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Smart Fortwo: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
AgeMOT fail rateTests (n)All carsDifferenceMedian mileage
3 years8.0%3,80012.1%−4.1 pts10,152 miles
4 years12.0%6,66213.4%−1.3 pts15,023 miles
5 years14.0%10,71115.3%−1.3 pts20,641 miles
6 years16.2%15,88717.8%−1.6 pts25,923 miles
7 years18.4%16,16420.6%−2.2 pts30,544 miles
8 years21.2%16,60723.8%−2.6 pts35,448 miles
9 years23.0%16,40727.1%−4.2 pts39,479 miles
10 years24.7%15,41930.3%−5.6 pts43,753 miles
11 years27.6%17,24333.3%−5.7 pts48,713 miles
12 years31.1%19,22736.0%−4.9 pts54,424 miles
13 years32.7%20,53538.3%−5.5 pts58,888 miles
14 years34.7%20,56740.3%−5.6 pts62,709 miles
15 years36.6%19,22141.6%−5.0 pts64,593 miles
16 years37.8%15,64242.6%−4.7 pts65,694 miles
17 years39.3%11,41543.1%−3.8 pts66,803 miles
18 years40.7%8,58843.3%−2.6 pts66,414 miles
19 years40.4%7,46743.2%−2.8 pts66,850 miles
20 years40.1%6,11042.8%−2.7 pts68,066 miles
21 years40.0%4,35842.1%−2.1 pts67,441 miles
22 years39.8%2,44841.0%−1.2 pts67,531 miles
23 years42.0%1,11839.6%+2.4 pts65,404 miles

Most common fail items at 14 years

Split into structural or mechanical items and wear items. Wear items (tyres, brake pads, wipers, bulbs) say more about upkeep than about the design.

Structural and mechanical

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Coil spring broken Major6.8
Service brake performance: excessively binding Major3.8
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded Major2.5
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction Major2.5

Out of 20,567 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Side/position light not working Major4.9
Brake light not working Major3.5
Dipped headlight not working Major3.4
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous2.8
Wipers not clearing screen Major2.4
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major2.2

Out of 20,567 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 14 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Ford Fiesta43.8%334,30240.3%
Ford Focus42.1%239,31340.3%
Vauxhall Corsa44.8%223,33540.3%

MOT fail rate by first-use year

Each year has its own page: the fail rate for cars first used that year at each MOT from 2022 to 2025 with at least 1,000 tests, the most common faults at that age, and the car tax and ULEZ rules for that year.

First-use year data updated .

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First usedAge at testMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
200221 years in 202342.1%1,06142.1%
200322 years in 202540.0%1,17541.0%
200421 years in 202537.0%1,48942.1%
200520 years in 202539.9%1,26742.8%
200619 years in 202541.5%1,64143.2%
200718 years in 202539.3%2,59043.3%
200817 years in 202537.3%4,55343.1%
200916 years in 202536.4%5,56542.6%
201015 years in 202534.4%5,20241.6%
201114 years in 202531.4%3,82340.3%
201213 years in 202528.5%4,59138.3%
201312 years in 202529.1%4,45736.0%
201411 years in 202525.2%3,73333.3%
201510 years in 202524.0%2,20830.3%
20169 years in 202523.0%5,72727.1%
20178 years in 202519.7%4,80923.8%
20187 years in 202516.9%3,38320.6%
20196 years in 202514.1%1,87917.8%

More on the Smart Fortwo

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

Looking at one Smart Fortwo?

These are figures for the model, not for one car. The VetTheCar Buying Report looks at a single car: its MOT tests, defects, advisories and mileage readings.

See an example report Browse the car tools

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources