Pass rate
82.7%
Around average — 5.5 pts ahead of the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,218 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £40–£104
2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 51,845 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
32.2% 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 2012 82.7% pass · this year
- Avoid 2006 72.6% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 10.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 79.5%
- Typical mileage
- 52k mi
The 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet MOT pass rate is 82.7% of its MOT tests — 5.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.2% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.5× the national share
Brakes make up 32.2% of everything recorded on the 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet, against 20.9% nationally — 11.3 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- 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 82.7% — 5.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 25% 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 Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 5.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 79.5%. The median 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet in this dataset had covered 51,845 mi.
94% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 82.8% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 82.0% of the time, April–September 83.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 3.61% of tests.
- 1,218 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.7% overall pass rate, 79.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet, the average is 78.2% — best year 2012 (82.7%), worst 2006 (72.6%).
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
- 1,218
- Typical mileage (median)
- 51,845 mi
- Make and model
- Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet
- 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 Cabriolet MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 71% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (94% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Fortwo Cabriolet
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 390 | 83.1% |
| South West | 208 | 82.2% |
| East of England | 169 | 82.2% |
| West Midlands | 88 | 84.1% |
| London | 87 | 82.8% |
| North West | 75 | 86.7% |
| East Midlands | 59 | 81.4% |
| Yorkshire | 50 | 76.0% |
| Wales | 45 | 82.2% |
| North East | 28 | 85.7% |
| Scotland | 19 | 78.9% |
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 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 2012 Fortwo 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 coil springs 3.6% 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 tyre tread 1.8% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
-
Check the windscreen 1.6% 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 2012 Fortwo Cabriolet through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £40–£104 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £40–£104
- Cheapest common item: wipers blade defective
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,218 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 Cabriolet, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2003 to 2012. Across them the pass rate runs from 72.6% to 82.7% — a spread of 10.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 79.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 76.2% headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2005 73.6% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2006 72.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2007 77.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2008 77.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 78.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 77.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 80.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 82.7%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 Mcc Fortwo 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Honda Civic 82.7%
- BMW X5 82.7%
- BMW X6 82.7%
- Toyota Rav-4 82.8%
- Honda Cr-Z 82.8%
- Land Rover Range Rover 82.9%
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 Mcc Fortwo 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 1,421 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 | 461 | 32.20% | 20.89% | +11.31 |
| Tyres | 384 | 26.80% | 19.76% | +7.04 |
| Suspension | 152 | 10.60% | 20.98% | −10.38 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 141 | 9.90% | 12.21% | −2.31 |
| Visibility | 73 | 5.10% | 4.97% | +0.13 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 63 | 4.40% | 5.52% | −1.12 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 57 | 4.00% | 5.57% | −1.57 |
| Non-component advisories | 46 | 3.20% | 4.18% | −0.98 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 29 | 2.00% | 1.76% | +0.24 |
| Road Wheels | 15 | 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 | 3.6% | £25–65 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £60–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.8% | £45–95 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.6% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.2% | £5–25 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 0.99% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.90% | £5–25 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.90% | £5–25 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 0.90% | £80–180 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.82% | £60–250 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.8% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 11.2% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 5.9% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 4.8% | £60–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 3.4% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 167 | 89.8% | 23,756 mi |
| 30-60k | 616 | 82.3% | 45,461 mi |
| 60-90k | 368 | 79.6% | 71,678 mi |
| 90-120k | 60 | 85.0% | 99,863 mi |
| 120k+ | 7 | 85.7% | 148,686 mi |
Source: 1,218 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 Cabriolet MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet?
82.7% of the 1,218 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 79.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (3.61%), service brake performance excessively binding (3.20%), tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (1.81%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.8% of the time, falling to 85.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet in this dataset had covered 51,845 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet?
Petrol: 82.8% pass rate across 1,147 tests. Diesel: 80.3% pass rate across 71 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Smart Mcc Fortwo Cabriolet MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 82.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 83.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.