Common problems

Smart Fortwo body and structure problems

How often MOT testers find body and structure faults on the Smart Fortwo at each age, against all cars of the same age, and which items come up most. From 255,596 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 14 years, the most tested age

Body and structure fails per 100 MOTs (n=20,567)3.1

All cars at 14 years (n=6,054,526)5.9

Body and structure advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=20,567)3.4

All cars, same age (n=6,054,526)9.7

What stands out

At 14 years, 3.1 of every 100 MOTs of the Smart Fortwo found a body and structure fail (n=20,567), against 5.9 for all cars of that age (n=6,054,526).
It is level with or below the all-car rate at every age with at least 1,000 tests.
The gap is widest at 23 years: 4.5 per 100 MOTs against 9.5 for all cars.
The body and structure fail item recorded most often at 14 years: fuel cap/sealing device: ineffective, on 0.9 per 100 MOTs.
The most common body and structure advisory or minor defect: exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases, on 1.4 per 100 MOTs.

Body and structure fails by age

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

Smart Fortwo: body and structure fails and advisories per 100 MOTs, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
3 years	3,800	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.3
4 years	6,662	0.1	0.3	0.1	0.5
5 years	10,711	0.1	0.5	0.2	0.8
6 years	15,887	0.5	0.8	0.4	1.2
7 years	16,164	0.7	1.3	0.8	1.6
8 years	16,607	1.8	1.8	1.9	2.2
9 years	16,407	2.1	2.3	2.7	2.9
10 years	15,419	2.1	2.9	3.0	3.9
11 years	17,243	2.4	3.5	3.5	5.1
12 years	19,227	2.4	4.3	3.5	6.5
13 years	20,535	2.2	5.0	3.6	8.0
14 years	20,567	3.1	5.9	3.4	9.7
15 years	19,221	3.8	6.7	4.1	11.2
16 years	15,642	4.8	7.6	5.1	12.6
17 years	11,415	5.3	8.3	5.8	13.9
18 years	8,588	5.9	8.7	6.3	14.7
19 years	7,467	6.2	9.0	6.5	15.2
20 years	6,110	6.0	9.2	7.4	15.6
21 years	4,358	6.2	9.3	6.7	16.0
22 years	2,448	6.5	9.4	8.2	16.3
23 years	1,118	4.5	9.5	8.0	16.6

Body and structure fail items at 14 years

Body and structure fail items on the Smart Fortwo at 14 years (n=20,567), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=6,054,526).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars
Fuel cap/sealing device: ineffective	0.9	0.1

Body and structure advisories and minor defects at 14 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Body and structure advisories and minor defects on the Smart Fortwo at 14 years (n=20,567), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=6,054,526).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases	1.4	3.7	£182 to £263 per section
Engine mounting condition: damaged but not to excess	1.1	0.1

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

What to check on a viewing

On the Smart Fortwo, the body and structure items testers fail most are fuel cap/sealing device: ineffective.

Look underneath at the sills, floor, subframes and jacking points for corrosion, or for fresh underseal that may hide it.
Check that doors, bonnet and boot open, close and latch properly.
Look for loose trim, sharp edges or damage around the bumpers and wheel arches.

Ask for the car's MOT history: a body and structure advisory that repeats from year to year has not been fixed. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the common body and structure problems on the Smart Fortwo?

At 14 years (20,567 MOTs), the body and structure fail items testers record most often are fuel cap/sealing device: ineffective (0.9 per 100 MOTs). The most common body and structure advisories or minor defects are exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases (1.4) and engine mounting condition: damaged but not to excess (1.1).

Does the Smart Fortwo have more body and structure problems than other cars?

At 14 years it has 3.1 body and structure fails per 100 MOTs against 5.9 for all cars of the same age (2.8 fewer). It is level with or below the all-car rate at every age with enough tests.

Body and structure problems on other Smart models

Smart Forfour (before 2014) body and structure problems

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.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Smart Fortwo?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

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Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

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 28 September 2026.

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