Pass rate
69.6%
Below average — 3.3 pts behind the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 184 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £22–£79
2002 Mcc Smart MOT pass rate
- 2002
- typical 73,629 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
20.3% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2002 69.6% pass · this year
- Avoid 2003 68.9% pass
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 0.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 61.8%
- Typical mileage
- 74k mi
The 2002 Mcc Smart MOT pass rate is 69.6% of its MOT tests — 3.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 20.3% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Mcc Smart does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.6× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 14.3% of everything recorded on the 2002 Mcc Smart, against 5.5% nationally — 8.8 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 20.3%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 72.9%; this one manages 69.6% — 3.3 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- Based on a small sample. 184 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Mcc Smart? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2002 Mcc Smart compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 3.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 61.8%. The median 2002 Mcc Smart in this dataset had covered 73,629 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 67.9% of the time, April–September 71.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 7.61% of tests.
- 184 recorded tests behind this page.
- 69.6% overall pass rate, 61.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mcc Smart, the average is 69.3% — best year 2002 (69.6%), worst 2003 (68.9%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 184
- Typical mileage (median)
- 73,629 mi
- Make and model
- Mcc Smart
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Smart MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 51% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Smart
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 47 | 66.0% |
| South East | 35 | 82.9% |
| West Midlands | 27 | 74.1% |
| East of England | 23 | 60.9% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2002 Smart
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2002 Smart
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the lights 7.6% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 6.5% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
-
Check the coil springs 4.3% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2002 Smart through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £22–£79 — and 46% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £22–£79
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp with a multiple light source up to…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 46%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 184 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the Smart, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2002 to 2003. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.9% to 69.6% — a spread of 0.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 69.6%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2003 68.9% washers provides insufficient…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2002 Mcc Smart with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2002 cars with a similar record
- Honda Cr-V 69.5%
- Fiat Punto 69.5%
- Suzuki Wagon-R+ 69.7%
- Volvo V40 69.4%
- MINI Mini 69.9%
- Citroen Saxo 70.0%
Closest pass rates among 2002 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2002 Mcc Smart 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 588 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 121 | 20.30% | 20.98% | −0.68 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 116 | 19.50% | 12.21% | +7.29 |
| Brakes | 94 | 15.80% | 20.89% | −5.09 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 85 | 14.30% | 5.52% | +8.78 |
| Tyres | 68 | 11.40% | 19.76% | −8.36 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 41 | 6.90% | 5.57% | +1.33 |
| Visibility | 19 | 3.20% | 4.97% | −1.77 |
| Non-component advisories | 18 | 3.00% | 4.18% | −1.18 |
| Steering | 13 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 13 | 2.20% | 1.76% | +0.44 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 7.6% | £5–20 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 6.5% | £60–250 |
| Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.5% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.4% | £30–80 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.3% | £25–65 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.3% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.3% | £60–250 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 19.6% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 19.6% | £80–180 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 15.2% | £25–65 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 15.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 13.6% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.0% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1 | 100.0% | 23,174 mi |
| 30-60k | 69 | 78.3% | 47,506 mi |
| 60-90k | 66 | 66.7% | 77,614 mi |
| 90-120k | 44 | 59.1% | 100,555 mi |
| 120k+ | 4 | 75.0% | 173,695 mi |
Source: 184 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2002 Smart MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 Mcc Smart?
69.6% of the 184 2002 Mcc Smart tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 61.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 Mcc Smart?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.61%), catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (6.52%), stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning (6.52%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 Mcc Smart MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 75.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Mcc Smart in this dataset had covered 73,629 mi.
Does the season affect the 2002 Mcc Smart MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 67.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.