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2006 Smart Mcc Forfour MOT pass rate

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Pass rate

72.3%

Below average — 0.2 pts behind the 72.5% that cars this age and mileage manage.

Across 1,764 recorded tests.

Typical repair bill £18–£49

Which year to buy

  • Best 2019 88.3% pass
  • Avoid 2007 68.0% pass

Across the 9 years on record, a spread of 20.3 points. See every year →

First-attempt pass
64.2%
Typical mileage
96k mi

The 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour MOT pass rate is 72.3% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.9% of what testers record.

MOT PASS RATES

The 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour on the real record

72.3% of 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour MOTs passed — 1,764 tests, 2023–2025

Pass rate

The answer from the DVSA's class-4 MOT records.

Expert verdict

Lamps & electrics: 1.7× the national share

Lamps & electrics make up 20.9% of everything recorded on the 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour, against 12.2% nationally — 8.7 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 23.9%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.

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 Forfour? Get an email when these numbers change .

How does the 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour compare?

Cars of this age and mileage average 72.5%, so this figure is 0.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 64.2%. The median 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour in this dataset had covered 95,842 mi.

The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 83% of tests, with a 73.3% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.2% of the time, April–September 71.2%.

The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 8.67% of tests.

  • 1,764 recorded tests behind this page.
  • 72.3% overall pass rate, 64.2% on a first attempt.
  • Across every year of the Smart Mcc Forfour, the average is 82.6% — best year 2019 (88.3%), worst 2007 (68.0%).

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
1,764
Typical mileage (median)
95,842 mi
Make and model
Smart Mcc Forfour
Updated
2026-11-07

Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.

Top part to budget for

Number Plate Lamp

Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.

Does mileage affect the Forfour MOT pass rate?

0-30k 91.7%
30-60k 88.0%
60-90k 72.8%
90-120k 68.4%
120k+ 70.5%

Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 60% so small gaps stay visible.

Fuel type and reliability

Petrol 73.3%
Diesel 67.0%

Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (83% of tests).

Where the Smart Mcc Forfour is most common

Across all Forfour model years on record (2004–2019): 33,514 Smart Mcc Forfour cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 78,820 tests. Chelmsford (CM) has the most, with 1,139 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 Share of all Tests Pass rate
1 Chelmsford (CM) 1,139 3.4% 2,573 80.8%
2 Enfield (EN) 1,053 3.1% 2,094 86.3%
3 London (E) 897 2.7% 1,827 86.4%
4 Romford (RM) 874 2.6% 1,866 85.7%
5 London (N) 874 2.6% 1,794 87.2%
6 London (SE) 741 2.2% 1,518 87.0%
7 Birmingham (B) 739 2.2% 1,669 85.7%
8 Bristol (BS) 707 2.1% 1,924 81.6%
9 Ilford (IG) 670 2% 1,338 85.6%
10 Stevenage (SG) 632 1.9% 1,431 84.1%
11 London (NW) 619 1.8% 1,249 86.2%
12 Croydon (CR) 577 1.7% 1,172 86.6%
13 Basildon (SS) 536 1.6% 1,257 85.3%
14 Brighton (BN) 523 1.6% 1,442 81.4%
15 Kingston upon Thames (KT) 517 1.5% 1,117 88.4%
16 Dartford (DA) 511 1.5% 1,094 85.8%
17 Reading (RG) 460 1.4% 1,126 83.5%
18 Wembley (HA) 458 1.4% 845 88.0%
19 Northampton (NN) 455 1.4% 1,065 79.3%
20 Nottingham (NG) 453 1.4% 1,157 80.4%

The twenty areas with the most Smart Mcc Forfour 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 Forfour

Region Tests Pass rate
South East 411 73.0%
South West 275 66.5%
Yorkshire 209 67.0%
East of England 200 74.5%
West Midlands 176 77.3%
North West 145 75.9%
East Midlands 118 75.4%
London 106 80.2%
Scotland 54 66.7%
Wales 39 74.4%
North East 31 58.1%

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 2006 Forfour

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.

Suspension 23.9%
+2.9 pts vs national national 21.0% Price suspension parts
Lamps & electrics 20.9%
+8.7 pts vs national national 12.2% Order bulbs & wipers
Brakes 17.5%
−3.4 pts vs national national 20.9% Price brakes parts
Tyres 11.5%
−8.3 pts vs national national 19.8% Compare tyre prices
Show the other 6 fault categories
  • Body & chassis 6.7%
  • Steering 4.5%
  • Visibility 4.1%
  • Emissions & leaks 4.0%
  • Identification 2.8%
  • Advisories 2.1%

Shares are of every item recorded on 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour tests — a composition, so they add to 100% across all sections, not per test.

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 2006 Forfour

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.

  1. Check the lights 8.7% 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.

  2. Check the suspension joints 6.6% of tests

    “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.

  3. Check the windscreen 3.3% 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 2006 Forfour through its MOT

Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £18–£49 — and 47% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.

Average repair across the 10 common items
£18–£49
Cheapest common item: stop lamp with a multiple light source up to…
£3–£12
Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
£80–£200
Common items a careful owner can do at home
80%
Repairs that still cost under £30
47%

Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,764 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 Forfour, side by side

9 model years on record, from 2004 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.0% to 88.3% — a spread of 20.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.

  1. 2004 71.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
  2. 2005 73.9% headlamp lens slightly defective
  3. 2006 72.3%
    registration plate lamp(s)…
  4. 2007 68.0% headlamp lens slightly defective
  5. 2015 79.4% ball joint excessively worn
  6. 2016 81.6% ball joint excessively worn
  7. 2017 84.7% tread depth below requirements of…
  8. 2018 87.6% wipers does not clear the…
  9. 2019 88.3% wipers does not clear the…

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 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour 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.

Compare 2006 with another year →

Compare two different cars instead →

Other 2006 cars with a similar record

Closest pass rates among 2006 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 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour 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 5,033 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
Suspension 1,227 23.90% 20.98% +2.92
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1,074 20.90% 12.21% +8.69
Brakes 900 17.50% 20.89% −3.39
Tyres 590 11.50% 19.76% −8.26
Body, chassis, structure 346 6.70% 5.57% +1.13
Steering 233 4.50% 2.57% +1.93
Visibility 212 4.10% 4.97% −0.87
Noise, emissions and leaks 203 4.00% 5.52% −1.52
Identification of the vehicle 142 2.80% 1.76% +1.04
Non-component advisories 106 2.10% 4.18% −2.08

The exact failure items, in the tester's words

Share of the 1,764 tests on this vehicle that recorded each item
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost Part
Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 8.7% £5–20 Number Plate Lamp →
Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 6.9% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension Minor 6.6% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 4.8% £30–80 Headlight Alignment →
Track rod end ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering Minor 4.0% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Stop lamp with a multiple light source up to 1/2 not functioning Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Minor 3.8% £3–12 Stop Light Bulb →
Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering Major 3.4% £18–45 Ball Joint →
Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility Minor 3.3% £80–200 Windscreen →
Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment Major 3.2% £5–25 Headlight Bulb →
Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension Major 2.8% £25–65 Coil Spring →

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.

Items recorded as advisory on this vehicle
Recorded item Severity Tests Est. cost
Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes Advisory 14.6% £45–110
Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres Advisory 13.2% £45–95
Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension Advisory 12.8% £25–65
Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres Advisory 12.5% £45–95
Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes Advisory 7.6% £18–45
Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle Advisory 7.1% £20–80

Pass rate by mileage

Mileage Tests Pass rate Median odometer
0-30k 24 91.7% 25,115 mi
30-60k 166 88.0% 47,362 mi
60-90k 567 72.8% 75,930 mi
90-120k 583 68.4% 104,672 mi
120k+ 413 70.5% 149,955 mi

Source: 1,764 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.

2006 Forfour MOT questions

What is the MOT pass rate for a 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour?

72.3% of the 1,764 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.5% for cars first used in 2006. First-attempt pass rate: 64.2%.

What are the most common MOT failures on a 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour?

The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.67%), headlamp lens slightly defective (6.86%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (6.63%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.

Does mileage affect the 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour MOT pass rate?

Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.7% of the time, falling to 70.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour in this dataset had covered 95,842 mi.

Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour?

Petrol: 73.3% pass rate across 1,466 tests. Diesel: 67.0% pass rate across 291 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.

Does the season affect the 2006 Smart Mcc Forfour MOT pass rate?

Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.