Pass rate
75.5%
Around average — 3.1 pts ahead of the 72.4% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 294 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £17–£47
2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate
- 2005
- typical 93,861 mi
Most common fault
Lamps & electrics
24.8% of faults · 12.2% nationally
Part only £6–£18 for Registration plate lamp inoperative (multiple lamps). What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2007 78.1% pass
- Avoid 2004 73.4% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 4.7 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 68.7%
- Typical mileage
- 94k mi
The 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate is 75.5% of its MOT tests — 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Lamps & electrics is the biggest single reason it fails, at 24.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 2.0× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 24.8% of everything recorded on the 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto, against 12.2% nationally — 12.6 points above. 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.
- 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 72.4% and this one manages 75.5% — 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 294 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 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.4%, so this figure is 3.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 68.7%. The median 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto in this dataset had covered 93,861 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.5% of the time, April–September 80.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 10.88% of tests.
- 294 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.5% overall pass rate, 68.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto, the average is 76.2% — best year 2007 (78.1%), worst 2004 (73.4%).
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
- 294
- Typical mileage (median)
- 93,861 mi
- Make and model
- Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Forfour Passion Semi-Auto
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 114 | 75.4% |
| South West | 38 | 68.4% |
| East of England | 34 | 79.4% |
| London | 29 | 86.2% |
| Yorkshire | 24 | 70.8% |
| Wales | 17 | 64.7% |
| East Midlands | 15 | 73.3% |
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 2005 Forfour Passion Semi-Auto
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 2005 Forfour Passion Semi-Auto
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 10.9% 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 7.5% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely 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.
-
Check the windscreen 2.7% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
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 2005 Forfour Passion Semi-Auto through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £17–£47 — and 53% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £17–£47
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp with a multiple light source up to…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 53%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 294 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 Forfour Passion Semi-Auto, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2004 to 2007. Across them the pass rate runs from 73.4% to 78.1% — a spread of 4.7 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 73.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2005 75.5%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 77.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2007 78.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
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 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto 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 2005 cars with a similar record
- BMW Z4 75.5%
- Toyota Avensis 75.4%
- Vauxhall Agila 75.4%
- Volkswagen Touareg 75.6%
- Land Rover Discovery 75.7%
- BMW 118 75.2%
Closest pass rates among 2005 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 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto 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 833 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 209 | 24.80% | 12.21% | +12.59 |
| Suspension | 178 | 21.10% | 20.98% | +0.12 |
| Brakes | 148 | 17.50% | 20.89% | −3.39 |
| Tyres | 112 | 13.30% | 19.76% | −6.46 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 43 | 5.10% | 5.57% | −0.47 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 41 | 4.90% | 5.52% | −0.62 |
| Steering | 36 | 4.30% | 2.57% | +1.73 |
| Visibility | 31 | 3.70% | 4.97% | −1.27 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 19 | 2.30% | 1.76% | +0.54 |
| Non-component advisories | 16 | 1.90% | 4.18% | −2.28 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 10.9% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 7.5% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.1% | £5–20 |
| Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 6.1% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.1% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.4% | £5–25 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 4.4% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.7% | £45–110 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.7% | £80–200 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of… Steering | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 17.0% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 16.0% | £25–65 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 13.9% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.6% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.5% | £18–45 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.5% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 100.0% | 28,805 mi |
| 30-60k | 36 | 77.8% | 50,400 mi |
| 60-90k | 96 | 78.1% | 73,164 mi |
| 90-120k | 89 | 77.5% | 106,026 mi |
| 120k+ | 66 | 69.7% | 136,881 mi |
Source: 294 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.
2005 Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto?
75.5% of the 294 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.4% for cars first used in 2005. First-attempt pass rate: 68.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (10.88%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (7.48%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.12%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 69.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto in this dataset had covered 93,861 mi.
Does the season affect the 2005 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.