Pass rate
77.5%
Around average — 5.0 pts ahead of the 72.5% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 160 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £17–£49
2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate
- 2006
- typical 83,173 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
23.3% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
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
- 73.5%
- Typical mileage
- 83k mi
The 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate is 77.5% of its MOT tests — 5.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.3% 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: 1.8× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 21.4% of everything recorded on the 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto, against 12.2% nationally — 9.2 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 23.3%, but at 21.0% 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.
- 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 72.5% and this one manages 77.5% — 5.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- Based on a small sample. 160 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 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.5%, so this figure is 5.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 73.5%. The median 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto in this dataset had covered 83,173 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.5% of the time, April–September 76.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 8.75% of tests.
- 160 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.5% overall pass rate, 73.5% 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
- 160
- Typical mileage (median)
- 83,173 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 63% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Forfour Passion Semi-Auto
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 52 | 82.7% |
| East of England | 21 | 66.7% |
| West Midlands | 17 | 76.5% |
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 2006 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 2006 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 8.8% 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 3.1% 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 2006 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–£49 — and 54% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £17–£49
- Cheapest common item: mirrors slightly damaged
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 54%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 160 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 2006 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 2006 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Range Rover 77.4%
- BMW 1 Series 77.3%
- Mitsubishi Lancer 77.2%
- Toyota Hiace 77.2%
- Nissan 350 Z 77.9%
- Toyota Corolla 78.0%
Closest pass rates among 2006 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 2006 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 424 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 | 100 | 23.30% | 20.98% | +2.32 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 92 | 21.40% | 12.21% | +9.19 |
| Brakes | 91 | 21.20% | 20.89% | +0.31 |
| Tyres | 49 | 11.40% | 19.76% | −8.36 |
| Visibility | 29 | 6.70% | 4.97% | +1.73 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 25 | 5.80% | 5.57% | +0.23 |
| Steering | 13 | 3.00% | 2.57% | +0.43 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 10 | 2.30% | 1.76% | +0.54 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 8 | 1.90% | 5.52% | −3.62 |
| Non-component advisories | 7 | 1.60% | 4.18% | −2.58 |
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 | 8.8% | £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 | 6.3% | £5–20 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 5.0% | £18–45 |
| Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility | Minor | 3.8% | £3–15 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.1% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.1% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.1% | £45–110 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £80–200 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.5% | £25–65 |
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 | 18.1% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 13.8% | £25–65 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 13.1% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.9% | £45–95 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 8.8% | £30–75 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.9% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 27 | 77.8% | 50,837 mi |
| 60-90k | 66 | 80.3% | 74,962 mi |
| 90-120k | 32 | 78.1% | 98,639 mi |
| 120k+ | 35 | 71.4% | 139,269 mi |
Source: 160 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.
2006 Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto?
77.5% of the 160 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.5% for cars first used in 2006. First-attempt pass rate: 73.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (8.75%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (7.50%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (6.25%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 77.8% of the time, falling to 71.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto in this dataset had covered 83,173 mi.
Does the season affect the 2006 Smart Forfour Passion Semi-Auto MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.