Pass rate
72.4%
Below average — 0.6 pts behind the 73.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 170 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £21–£65
2007 Smart Fortwo MOT pass rate
- 2007
- typical 74,626 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
27.1% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2013 83.4% pass
- Avoid 2006 71.2% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 12.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 64.1%
- Typical mileage
- 75k mi
The 2007 Smart Fortwo MOT pass rate is 72.4% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 27.1% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.3× the national share
Brakes make up 27.1% of everything recorded on the 2007 Smart Fortwo, against 20.9% nationally — 6.2 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 62% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 170 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 Fortwo? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2007 Smart Fortwo compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.0%, so this figure is 0.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 64.1%. The median 2007 Smart Fortwo in this dataset had covered 74,626 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 77.1% of the time, April–September 67.8%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 5.29% of tests.
- 170 recorded tests behind this page.
- 72.4% overall pass rate, 64.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Smart Fortwo, the average is 79.7% — best year 2013 (83.4%), worst 2006 (71.2%).
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
- 170
- Typical mileage (median)
- 74,626 mi
- Make and model
- Smart Fortwo
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 Fortwo MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Smart Fortwo is most common
Across all Fortwo model years on record (2004–2013): 1,180 Smart Fortwo cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 2,683 tests. Enfield (EN) has the most, with 51 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Enfield (EN) | 51 | 86.3% |
| 2 | Chelmsford (CM) | 42 | 86.2% |
| 3 | Romford (RM) | 42 | 92.4% |
| 4 | London (N) | 34 | 85.9% |
| 5 | London (E) | 32 | 84.7% |
| 6 | Brighton (BN) | 28 | 73.7% |
| 7 | Portsmouth (PO) | 28 | 77.3% |
| 8 | Birmingham (B) | 28 | 78.6% |
| 9 | London (SE) | 24 | 81.8% |
| 10 | Bristol (BS) | 23 | 72.3% |
| 11 | Nottingham (NG) | 23 | 78.2% |
| 12 | Guildford (GU) | 23 | 87.8% |
| 13 | Hayes (UB) | 23 | 90.2% |
| 14 | Ilford (IG) | 22 | 80.0% |
| 15 | Stevenage (SG) | 21 | 78.7% |
| 16 | Ashford (TN) | 19 | 72.0% |
| 17 | London (NW) | 19 | 82.5% |
| 18 | Peterborough (PE) | 18 | 83.7% |
| 19 | Basildon (SS) | 18 | 71.4% |
| 20 | Wembley (HA) | 18 | 84.2% |
The twenty areas with the most Smart Fortwo cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Fortwo
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 51 | 72.5% |
| South West | 29 | 75.9% |
| North West | 29 | 65.5% |
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 2007 Fortwo
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 2007 Fortwo
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 5.3% 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 windscreen 4.7% 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.
-
Check the coil springs 4.1% 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 2007 Fortwo through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £21–£65 — and 62% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £21–£65
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 62%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 170 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 Fortwo, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2004 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.2% to 83.4% — a spread of 12.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 72.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 73.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 71.2% headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2007 72.4%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 72.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2009 75.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 82.3% service brake performance…
- 2013 83.4% service brake performance…
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 2007 Smart Fortwo 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 2007 cars with a similar record
- Skoda Octavia 72.4%
- Mitsubishi Shogun 72.4%
- Honda Civic 72.5%
- Mercedes-Benz B-Class 72.3%
- Volvo XC90 72.6%
- Toyota Hilux 72.6%
Closest pass rates among 2007 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 2007 Smart Fortwo 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 433 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 | 118 | 27.10% | 20.89% | +6.21 |
| Suspension | 77 | 17.70% | 20.98% | −3.28 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 68 | 15.60% | 12.21% | +3.39 |
| Tyres | 42 | 9.70% | 19.76% | −10.06 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 37 | 8.50% | 5.52% | +2.98 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 36 | 8.30% | 5.57% | +2.73 |
| Visibility | 25 | 5.70% | 4.97% | +0.73 |
| Steering | 14 | 3.20% | 2.57% | +0.63 |
| Non-component advisories | 12 | 2.80% | 4.18% | −1.38 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 4 | 0.90% | 1.76% | −0.86 |
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 | 5.3% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.3% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.7% | £80–200 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.1% | £25–65 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 4.1% | £3–12 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.5% | £5–25 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.5% | £8–25 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 3.5% | £5–15 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.9% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 25.9% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.6% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 10.0% | £200–700 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 9.4% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 7.1% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 7.1% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 3 | 100.0% | 17,274 mi |
| 30-60k | 36 | 69.4% | 46,054 mi |
| 60-90k | 88 | 71.6% | 73,860 mi |
| 90-120k | 38 | 73.7% | 96,880 mi |
| 120k+ | 5 | 80.0% | 132,699 mi |
Source: 170 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.
2007 Fortwo MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2007 Smart Fortwo?
72.4% of the 170 2007 Smart Fortwo tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.0% for cars first used in 2007. First-attempt pass rate: 64.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2007 Smart Fortwo?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (5.29%), position lamp not working (5.29%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (4.71%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2007 Smart Fortwo MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 80.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2007 Smart Fortwo in this dataset had covered 74,626 mi.
Does the season affect the 2007 Smart Fortwo MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 77.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 67.8%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.