Pass rate
77.4%
Around average — 5.2 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 62 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £16–£47
2004 Smart City Brabus MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 72,890 mi
Only 62 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
25.2% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2004 77.4% pass · this year
- Avoid 2004 77.4% pass · this year
Across the 1 years on record, a spread of 0 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 72.0%
- Typical mileage
- 73k mi
The 2004 Smart City Brabus MOT pass rate is 77.4% of its MOT tests — 5.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Steering: 3.1× the national share
Steering accounts for 7.9% of everything recorded on the 2004 Smart City Brabus, against 2.6% nationally — 5.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 25.2%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Ask for the steering to be checked for play with the wheels on the ground, not on a jack.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 72.2% and this one manages 77.4% — 5.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 61% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 Smart City Brabus? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Smart City Brabus compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 5.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.0%. The median 2004 Smart City Brabus in this dataset had covered 72,890 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning", noted on 9.68% of tests.
- 62 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.4% overall pass rate, 72.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Smart City Brabus, the average is 77.4% — best year 2004 (77.4%), worst 2004 (77.4%).
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
- 62
- Typical mileage (median)
- 72,890 mi
- Make and model
- Smart City Brabus
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Stop Light Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the City Brabus MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 63% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the City Brabus
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 22 | 77.3% |
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 2004 City Brabus
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 2004 City Brabus
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 9.7% of tests
“stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning”
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 wipers and washers 6.5% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the coil springs 4.8% 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 2004 City Brabus through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £16–£47 — and 61% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £16–£47
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp with a multiple light source up to…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: pins
- £40–£150
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 61%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 62 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 2004 Smart City Brabus 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 2004 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Smart City Brabus 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 148 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 | 38 | 25.20% | 20.89% | +4.31 |
| Suspension | 26 | 17.20% | 20.98% | −3.78 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 21 | 13.90% | 12.21% | +1.69 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 14 | 9.30% | 5.52% | +3.78 |
| Tyres | 12 | 7.90% | 19.76% | −11.86 |
| Steering | 12 | 7.90% | 2.57% | +5.33 |
| Visibility | 11 | 7.30% | 4.97% | +2.33 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 8 | 5.30% | 5.57% | −0.27 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 2.00% | 4.18% | −2.18 |
| Road Wheels | 3 | 2.00% | 0.75% | +1.25 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 9.7% | £3–12 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 6.5% | £8–22 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.8% | £25–65 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.8% | £8–25 |
| Ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.2% | £40–150 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £45–110 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £45–110 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 3.2% | £3–12 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.2% | £3–12 |
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 | 19.4% | £80–180 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 17.7% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.5% | £45–110 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Advisory | 12.9% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 11.3% | £18–45 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 9.7% | £25–70 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 8 | 87.5% | 19,105 mi |
| 30-60k | 10 | 80.0% | 46,189 mi |
| 60-90k | 35 | 74.3% | 76,753 mi |
| 90-120k | 7 | 71.4% | 109,413 mi |
| 120k+ | 2 | 100.0% | 123,827 mi |
Source: 62 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.
2004 City Brabus MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Smart City Brabus?
77.4% of the 62 2004 Smart City Brabus tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 72.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Smart City Brabus?
The three most recorded items are stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning (9.68%), wipers blade defective (6.45%), coil spring fractured or broken (4.84%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Smart City Brabus MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.5% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Smart City Brabus in this dataset had covered 72,890 mi.