Pass rate
74.7%
Below average — 2.1 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 154 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£100
2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 74,246 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
22.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2003 74.7% pass · this year
- Avoid 2003 74.7% pass · this year
Across the 1 years on record, a spread of 0 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.8%
- Typical mileage
- 74k mi
The 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch MOT pass rate is 74.7% of its MOT tests — 2.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.5× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 17.8% of everything recorded on the 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch, against 12.2% nationally — 5.6 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 22.1%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 30% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
- Based on a small sample. 154 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 Passion S-Touch? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 2.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.8%. The median 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch in this dataset had covered 74,246 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.0% of the time, April–September 74.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits", noted on 8.44% of tests.
- 154 recorded tests behind this page.
- 74.7% overall pass rate, 67.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch, the average is 74.7% — best year 2003 (74.7%), worst 2003 (74.7%).
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
- 154
- Typical mileage (median)
- 74,246 mi
- Make and model
- Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Emissions Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Smart Passion S-Touch MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 57% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Smart Passion S-Touch
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 55 | 65.5% |
| South East | 33 | 78.8% |
| West Midlands | 21 | 85.7% |
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 2003 Smart Passion S-Touch
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 2003 Smart Passion S-Touch
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 exhaust and emissions 8.4% 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 lights 6.5% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 suspension joints 5.8% of tests
“track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated,”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
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 2003 Smart Passion S-Touch through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£100 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£100
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- 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
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 154 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 →
Compare the 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Land Cruiser 74.7%
- BMW 525 74.7%
- Saab 9-3 74.6%
- Audi A6 74.5%
- BMW X5 74.3%
- Jaguar S-Type 74.3%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch 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 386 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 88 | 22.10% | 20.89% | +1.21 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 71 | 17.80% | 12.21% | +5.59 |
| Suspension | 54 | 13.60% | 20.98% | −7.38 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 43 | 10.80% | 5.52% | +5.28 |
| Tyres | 42 | 10.60% | 19.76% | −9.16 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 30 | 7.50% | 5.57% | +1.93 |
| Visibility | 24 | 6.00% | 4.97% | +1.03 |
| Steering | 16 | 4.00% | 2.57% | +1.43 |
| Non-component advisories | 11 | 2.80% | 4.18% | −1.38 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 7 | 1.80% | 0.82% | +0.98 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 8.4% | £60–250 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.5% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 5.8% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.5% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £5–25 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 3.3% | £5–15 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £25–65 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Major | 2.6% | £25–70 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.0% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.4% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 10.4% | £200–700 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 10.4% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.7% | £45–95 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 8.4% | £25–70 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 9 | 77.8% | 15,294 mi |
| 30-60k | 33 | 84.8% | 48,981 mi |
| 60-90k | 82 | 65.9% | 75,897 mi |
| 90-120k | 20 | 85.0% | 105,038 mi |
| 120k+ | 6 | 100.0% | 144,540 mi |
Source: 154 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.
2003 Smart Passion S-Touch MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch?
74.7% of the 154 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 67.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch?
The three most recorded items are catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (8.44%), headlamp lens slightly defective (6.49%), track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (5.84%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 77.8% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch in this dataset had covered 74,246 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Mcc Smart Passion S-Touch MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 74.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.