Pass rate
77.9%
Around average — 3.9 pts ahead of the 74.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,343 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£89
2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd MOT pass rate
- 2009
- typical 61,115 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
25.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2013 82.0% pass
- Avoid 2008 75.8% pass
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 6.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 72.3%
- Typical mileage
- 61k mi
The 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd MOT pass rate is 77.9% of its MOT tests — 3.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
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 74.0% and this one manages 77.9% — 3.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 Passion Mhd? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 74.0%, so this figure is 3.9 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 72.3%. The median 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd in this dataset had covered 61,115 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 77.3% of the time, April–September 78.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 4.84% of tests.
- 1,343 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.9% overall pass rate, 72.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd, the average is 80.6% — best year 2013 (82.0%), worst 2008 (75.8%).
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
- 1,343
- Typical mileage (median)
- 61,115 mi
- Make and model
- Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Fortwo Passion Mhd MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Fortwo Passion Mhd
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 465 | 76.3% |
| East of England | 244 | 82.0% |
| South West | 203 | 70.9% |
| London | 156 | 84.0% |
| East Midlands | 65 | 83.1% |
| North West | 58 | 77.6% |
| West Midlands | 57 | 77.2% |
| Wales | 39 | 79.5% |
| Yorkshire | 21 | 81.0% |
| Scotland | 18 | 83.3% |
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 2009 Fortwo Passion Mhd
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 2009 Fortwo Passion Mhd
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 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.
-
Check the lights 3.0% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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 3.0% 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 2009 Fortwo Passion Mhd through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£89 — and 41% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£89
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 41%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,343 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 Passion Mhd, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2008 to 2014. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.8% to 82.0% — a spread of 6.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2008 75.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2009 77.9%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 78.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 80.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 81.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 82.0% service brake performance…
- 2014 80.6% coil spring fractured or broken
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 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd 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 2009 cars with a similar record
- Land Rover Defender 77.9%
- Toyota Rav-4 77.9%
- Saab 9-5 77.9%
- Audi Q5 78.0%
- Nissan Pixo 78.0%
- Honda Accord 77.8%
Closest pass rates among 2009 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 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd 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 2,384 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 | 623 | 25.90% | 20.89% | +5.01 |
| Tyres | 472 | 19.60% | 19.76% | −0.16 |
| Suspension | 406 | 16.90% | 20.98% | −4.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 374 | 15.60% | 12.21% | +3.39 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 183 | 7.60% | 5.52% | +2.08 |
| Visibility | 102 | 4.20% | 4.97% | −0.77 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 101 | 4.20% | 5.57% | −1.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 65 | 2.70% | 4.18% | −1.48 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 33 | 1.40% | 1.76% | −0.36 |
| Road Wheels | 25 | 1.00% | 0.75% | +0.25 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.8% | £25–65 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 3.7% | £60–150 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.0% | £5–20 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.0% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.3% | £40–150 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.2% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.8% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.8% | £5–25 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 1.7% | £80–180 |
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 | 17.1% | £80–180 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 16.7% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 11.1% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 8.3% | £200–700 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 6.5% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 5.7% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 72 | 87.5% | 22,838 mi |
| 30-60k | 569 | 78.9% | 46,999 mi |
| 60-90k | 523 | 77.2% | 73,436 mi |
| 90-120k | 160 | 73.8% | 100,273 mi |
| 120k+ | 18 | 66.7% | 138,103 mi |
Source: 1,343 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.
2009 Fortwo Passion Mhd MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd?
77.9% of the 1,343 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 74.0% for cars first used in 2009. First-attempt pass rate: 72.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (4.84%), service brake performance excessively binding (3.72%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (2.98%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.5% of the time, falling to 66.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd in this dataset had covered 61,115 mi.
Does the season affect the 2009 Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 77.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 78.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.