Pass rate
82.3%
Around average — 5.1 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 96 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£89
2012 Smart Fortwo MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 43,955 mi
Only 96 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.
Most common fault
Tyres
29.5% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
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
- 78.8%
- Typical mileage
- 44k mi
The 2012 Smart Fortwo MOT pass rate is 82.3% of its MOT tests — 5.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 29.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Smart Fortwo does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.5× the national share
Tyres make up 29.5% of everything recorded on the 2012 Smart Fortwo, against 19.8% nationally — 9.7 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- 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 77.2% and this one manages 82.3% — 5.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 33% 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.
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 2012 Smart Fortwo compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 5.1 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 78.8%. The median 2012 Smart Fortwo in this dataset had covered 43,955 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 84.4% of the time, April–September 80.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Service brake performance excessively binding", noted on 4.17% of tests.
- 96 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.3% overall pass rate, 78.8% 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
- 96
- Typical mileage (median)
- 43,955 mi
- Make and model
- Smart Fortwo
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Servicing
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Fortwo MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Fortwo
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 33 | 78.8% |
| East of England | 28 | 82.1% |
| London | 17 | 88.2% |
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 2012 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 2012 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 exhaust and emissions 3.1% of tests
“emissions not tested unable to be completed”
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 suspension joints 3.1% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover 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 brakes 2.1% of tests
“brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
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 2012 Fortwo through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£89 — and 33% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£89
- Cheapest common item: headlamp lens slightly defective
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: emissions not tested unable to be completed
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 33%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 96 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 2012 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Toyota YARIS 82.0%
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque 81.9%
- Smart Mcc Fortwo 81.9%
- Honda Civic 82.7%
- BMW X5 82.7%
- BMW X6 82.7%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Smart Fortwo 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 9 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 139 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 41 | 29.50% | 19.76% | +9.74 |
| Brakes | 40 | 28.80% | 20.89% | +7.91 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 14 | 10.10% | 5.52% | +4.58 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 13 | 9.40% | 12.21% | −2.81 |
| Suspension | 10 | 7.20% | 20.98% | −13.78 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 8 | 5.80% | 5.57% | +0.23 |
| Visibility | 7 | 5.00% | 4.97% | +0.03 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 2.20% | 4.18% | −1.98 |
| Road Wheels | 3 | 2.20% | 0.75% | +1.45 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 4.2% | £60–150 |
| Emissions not tested unable to be completed Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.1% | £60–250 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 2.1% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £25–65 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.1% | £45–120 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.1% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.1% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.1% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 2.1% | £5–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 18.8% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 17.7% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 15.6% | £80–180 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.3% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 6.3% | £45–120 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 5.2% | £200–700 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 16 | 81.3% | 18,403 mi |
| 30-60k | 52 | 82.7% | 41,556 mi |
| 60-90k | 22 | 86.4% | 69,588 mi |
| 90-120k | 6 | 66.7% | 95,239 mi |
Source: 96 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.
2012 Fortwo MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Smart Fortwo?
82.3% of the 96 2012 Smart Fortwo tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 78.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Smart Fortwo?
The three most recorded items are service brake performance excessively binding (4.17%), emissions not tested unable to be completed (3.13%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (3.13%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Smart Fortwo MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 81.3% of the time, falling to 66.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Smart Fortwo in this dataset had covered 43,955 mi.
Does the season affect the 2012 Smart Fortwo MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 84.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.