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3,885 tests in 2025

Smart (MCC) City reliability and MOT pass rate

67.3% passed first time. The 32.7% fail rate is 10.1 points worse than the all-car average, on a median example 21 years old with 66,544 miles.

MOT pass rates / Smart (MCC)

Pass rate

67.3%

22.6% of all cars failed; 32.7% of these did.

Fixed on the day

6.9%

Passed after a defect was put right during the visit.

Median at test

66,544 mi

21 years old.

Fail rate by age

Age at testTestsFail rate
3-5 years0—
6-9 years1—
10-13 years56—
14+ years3,82832.8%

What the City fails on

Share of failed tests with at least one fail item in each DVSA inspection section. A test can fail in several sections at once.

  1. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment19 dangerous55%
  2. Suspension24 dangerous38.9%
  3. Brakes68 dangerous26.7%
  4. Visibility26.1%
  5. Noise, emissions and leaks23.5%
  6. Body, chassis, structure3 dangerous15.4%
  7. Tyres202 dangerous14.9%
  8. Steering4 dangerous8.2%

Is the City getting worse?

The fail rate fell 0.4 points to 32.3% from 2022 to 2025 while the median one tested aged 3 years, which is about what ageing alone predicts (0.2 points). Read it as the fleet getting older rather than the model changing.

YearTestsMedian ageFail rate All cars
20225,6561832.7%22.5%
20235,0281934.2%22.8%
20243,6232033%23.2%
20253,3632132.3%22.6%

Fail rate is first attempts at class 4 tests. Median age is the age of a typical City at its test that year, and it is the number to watch: across the whole fleet each extra year of age adds roughly 1.9 points to the fail rate, so a model whose age and fail rate rise together is simply getting older.

The exact defects that fail it

Every failure item DVSA recorded against a City in 2025, counted by how many tests each one appeared on.

  1. 1Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect213 tests
  2. 2Coil spring: fractured or broken173 tests
  3. 3Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits155 tests
  4. 4Stop lamp: not working143 tests
  5. 5Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid142 tests
  6. 6Position lamp: not working116 tests
  7. 7Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn95 tests
  8. 8Headlamp: not working on dipped beam94 tests

What wears out first

Advisories are the tester flagging wear that is still legal. A typical City collects 3.05 of them per test, and these are the ones that come up most. Treat it as the running-repairs list for the next year or two.

  1. 1Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded544 tests
  2. 2Condition: has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure515 tests
  3. 3Brake discs: in such a condition that it is seriously weakened506 tests
  4. 4Engine oil leaks: leaking excessively from engine474 tests
  5. 5Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm403 tests
  6. 6Coil spring: corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened271 tests
  7. 7Registration plates: inscription illegible219 tests
  8. 8Pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn207 tests

Questions

What is the Smart (MCC) City MOT pass rate?

67.3% of the 3,885 Smart (MCC) City first-attempt MOTs in 2025 passed. The fail rate of 32.7% compares with 22.6% across all cars. A further 6.9% passed after a defect was fixed during the test visit.

What does a Smart (MCC) City usually fail on?

The single most common failure is "Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect", recorded on 213 failed tests, followed by "Coil spring: fractured or broken" and "Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits". By section, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment appears in 55% of failures, suspension appears in 38.9% of failures, brakes appears in 26.7% of failures.

Does age change the odds?

Sharply. At 3 to 5 years old the fail rate was n/a%; at 14+ years it was 32.8%. The median Smart (MCC) City tested in 2025 was 21 years old with 66,544 miles.

Is the Smart (MCC) City getting less reliable?

The fail rate fell 0.4 points to 32.3% from 2022 to 2025 while the median one tested aged 3 years, which is about what ageing alone predicts (0.2 points). Read it as the fleet getting older rather than the model changing.

First-attempt class 4 tests, 2025, from DVSA’s anonymised MOT data (OGL v3, retrieved 2026-09-12). DVSA records newer cars trim by trim; this page adds every City trim together. Year-on-year figures come from the same DVSA extracts for 2026 and earlier years. Full method on the pass rates hub.

Other Smart (MCC) models

Checking a particular City?

The odds above are the model. The car in front of you has its own record: every test, every advisory, the mileage at each one.

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