Pass rate
73.3%
Below average — 0.7 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 397 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £22–£73
2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 67,412 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
20.4% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2004 74.2% pass
- Avoid 2001 67.6% pass
Across the 7 years on record, a spread of 6.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 67.1%
- Typical mileage
- 67k mi
The 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet MOT pass rate is 73.3% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 20.4% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Smart Mcc City Cabriolet does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.2× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 12.0% of everything recorded on the 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet, against 5.5% nationally — 6.5 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 20.4%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Based on a small sample. 397 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 Mcc City Cabriolet? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 0.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 67.1%. The median 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet in this dataset had covered 67,412 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 72.3% of the time, April–September 74.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits", noted on 5.04% of tests.
- 397 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.3% overall pass rate, 67.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Smart Mcc City Cabriolet, the average is 73.1% — best year 2004 (74.2%), worst 2001 (67.6%).
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
- 397
- Typical mileage (median)
- 67,412 mi
- Make and model
- Smart Mcc City Cabriolet
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Emissions Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the City Cabriolet MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the City Cabriolet
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 95 | 75.8% |
| South West | 78 | 67.9% |
| East of England | 50 | 78.0% |
| West Midlands | 35 | 71.4% |
| North West | 33 | 63.6% |
| East Midlands | 26 | 80.8% |
| London | 25 | 80.0% |
| Yorkshire | 25 | 64.0% |
| Wales | 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 2003 City Cabriolet
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 2003 City Cabriolet
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 5.0% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
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 lights 3.8% of tests
“headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect”
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 3.5% of tests
“track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or 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.
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 2003 City Cabriolet through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £22–£73 — and 48% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £22–£73
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £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
- 48%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 397 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 City Cabriolet, side by side
7 model years on record, from 2001 to 2007. Across them the pass rate runs from 67.6% to 74.2% — a spread of 6.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 67.6% srs malfunction indicator lamp…
- 2002 72.2% headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2003 73.3%catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2004 74.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 72.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 73.5% headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2007 72.5% windscreen damaged but not…
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 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Volkswagen Passat 73.1%
- Suzuki Jimny 73.1%
- Toyota YARIS 73.0%
- Mazda Mx-5 73.6%
- Subaru Forester 73.7%
- Volkswagen Golf 72.8%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet 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 1,042 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 | 216 | 20.40% | 20.89% | −0.49 |
| Suspension | 211 | 19.90% | 20.98% | −1.08 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 192 | 18.10% | 12.21% | +5.89 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 127 | 12.00% | 5.52% | +6.48 |
| Tyres | 117 | 11.00% | 19.76% | −8.76 |
| Visibility | 59 | 5.60% | 4.97% | +0.63 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 50 | 4.70% | 5.57% | −0.87 |
| Steering | 38 | 3.60% | 2.57% | +1.03 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 19 | 1.80% | 0.82% | +0.98 |
| Road Wheels | 13 | 1.20% | 0.75% | +0.45 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 5.0% | £60–250 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.8% | £30–80 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £5–20 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.8% | £3–12 |
| Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 3.3% | £5–15 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.5% | £25–65 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £45–110 |
| Washers not working Visibility | Major | 2.5% | £5–15 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.5% | £8–22 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 16.4% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.6% | £45–110 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 13.6% | £80–180 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.6% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 10.8% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 10.6% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 29 | 89.7% | 14,939 mi |
| 30-60k | 126 | 73.8% | 48,145 mi |
| 60-90k | 151 | 73.5% | 73,801 mi |
| 90-120k | 66 | 66.7% | 97,982 mi |
| 120k+ | 22 | 68.2% | 134,250 mi |
Source: 397 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.
2003 City Cabriolet MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet?
73.3% of the 397 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 67.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet?
The three most recorded items are catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (5.04%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (3.78%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (3.78%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.7% of the time, falling to 68.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet in this dataset had covered 67,412 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 Smart Mcc City Cabriolet MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 72.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 74.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.