Pass rate
79.5%
Around average — 2.3 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 156 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £39–£110
2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 57,622 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
33.7% 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 84.7% pass
- Avoid 2007 70.2% pass
Across the 9 years on record, a spread of 14.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 74.6%
- Typical mileage
- 58k mi
The 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse MOT pass rate is 79.5% of its MOT tests — 2.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 33.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.6× the national share
Brakes make up 33.7% of everything recorded on the 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse, against 20.9% nationally — 12.8 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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.
- Based on a small sample. 156 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 Pulse? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 2.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 74.6%. The median 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse in this dataset had covered 57,622 mi.
62% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 82.3% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 79.1% of the time, April–September 80.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 4.49% of tests.
- 156 recorded tests behind this page.
- 79.5% overall pass rate, 74.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Smart Fortwo Pulse, the average is 78.5% — best year 2013 (84.7%), worst 2007 (70.2%).
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
- 156
- Typical mileage (median)
- 57,622 mi
- Make and model
- Smart Fortwo Pulse
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 Pulse MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (62% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Fortwo Pulse
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 37 | 73.0% |
| South East | 26 | 84.6% |
| East of England | 16 | 81.3% |
| West Midlands | 16 | 75.0% |
| Scotland | 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 2012 Fortwo Pulse
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 Pulse
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 4.5% 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 2.6% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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 brake pipes 1.9% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
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 Pulse through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £39–£110 — and 33% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £39–£110
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: engine mounting condition damaged or…
- £200–£700
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 33%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 156 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 Pulse, side by side
9 model years on record, from 2005 to 2013. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.2% to 84.7% — a spread of 14.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 73.1% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2006 72.8% washers provides insufficient…
- 2007 70.2% stop lamp not working
- 2008 81.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2009 84.7% position lamp not working
- 2010 78.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 73.0% service brake performance…
- 2012 79.5%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 84.7% 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 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse 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
- Mercedes-Benz B-Class 79.5%
- BMW 3 Series 79.4%
- Skoda Fabia 79.6%
- BMW 1 Series 79.4%
- BMW X1 79.4%
- Suzuki Alto 79.4%
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 Pulse 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 196 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 | 66 | 33.70% | 20.89% | +12.81 |
| Tyres | 38 | 19.40% | 19.76% | −0.36 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 28 | 14.30% | 12.21% | +2.09 |
| Suspension | 18 | 9.20% | 20.98% | −11.78 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 18 | 9.20% | 5.52% | +3.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 17 | 8.70% | 5.57% | +3.13 |
| Visibility | 7 | 3.60% | 4.97% | −1.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 1.50% | 4.18% | −2.68 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 0.50% | 1.76% | −1.26 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.5% | £25–65 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.6% | £30–80 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.6% | £3–12 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.9% | £5–25 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 1.9% | £80–180 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 1.9% | £60–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.9% | £45–95 |
| Anti-lock braking system warning lamp indicates an ABS fault Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £3–15 |
| Electronic stability control warning lamp indicates a fault Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £3–15 |
| Engine mounting condition damaged or deteriorated resulting in excessive movement Body, chassis, structure | Major | 1.3% | £200–700 |
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 | 16.7% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.2% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.7% | £18–45 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 5.8% | £200–700 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 5.1% | £60–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 24 | 79.2% | 20,125 mi |
| 30-60k | 59 | 83.1% | 43,431 mi |
| 60-90k | 53 | 75.5% | 74,788 mi |
| 90-120k | 20 | 80.0% | 98,776 mi |
Source: 156 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 Pulse MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse?
79.5% of the 156 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 74.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (4.49%), headlamp aim too low (2.56%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (2.56%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 79.2% of the time, falling to 80.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse in this dataset had covered 57,622 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse?
Diesel: 82.3% pass rate across 96 tests. Petrol: 75.0% pass rate across 60 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Smart Fortwo Pulse MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 79.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.