Smart ForTwo MOT reliability

Smart ForTwos passed their MOT first time 67% of the time across 6,546 tests in 2025. 52,017 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

67%

MOTs analysed

6,546

Still licensed (GB)

52,017

Body type

Hatchback

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

2011 petrol

551 MOTs

Passed first time 72%. Typical mileage 60,855 (most between 45,174 and 78,849).

2013: 93% → 2014: 86% → 2015: 86% → 2016: 80% → 2017: 77% → 2018: 78% → 2019: 77% → 2020: 73% → 2021: 71% → 2022: 72% → 2023: 69% → 2024: 67% → 2025: 72%

Most common failures

Coil spring: fractured or broken (4.9%)
Position lamp: not working (4.9%)
Stop lamp: not working (3.6%)
Service brake performance: excessively binding (3.4%)
Headlamp: not working on dipped beam (2.5%)

2011 diesel

131 MOTs

Passed first time 62%. Typical mileage 73,125 (most between 59,180 and 90,665).

2011: 100% → 2012: 100% → 2013: 100% → 2014: 79% → 2015: 81% → 2016: 74% → 2017: 69% → 2018: 69% → 2019: 71% → 2020: 74% → 2021: 71% → 2022: 73% → 2023: 68% → 2024: 61% → 2025: 62%

Most common failures

Service brake performance: excessively binding (8.4%)
Coil spring: fractured or broken (7.6%)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (5.3%)
Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements (3.1%)
Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn (3.1%)

Where 2011 ForTwos fail

Lights & electrics

14.9%

Suspension & axles

7.6%

Brakes

5.8%

Wheels & tyres

5.1%

Visibility & wipers

3.8%

Body, structure & corrosion

2.7%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

2.7%

Steering

0.2%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB.