All generations and engines together · 33,987 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 36k
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 16,127 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Early Fortwos (2007-2014) use a single-clutch automated manual gearbox, branded Softip or Softouch, rather than a torque-converter auto, and it pauses and lurches between changes, especially pulling away or reversing into a space. Smart addressed the worst of it with revised transmission software from 2009, fitted as a free ECU update at dealers, though plenty of cars on the road still show the original jerky character if that update was never done. On higher-mileage cars the gearbox's clutch actuator itself can also wear out and need replacing, which is a separate cost on top of the software fix.
The Fortwo's brake lines run behind plastic undertray shrouds that trap road spray and salt, and the pipes can corrode through without a tester ever seeing them, because the shrouds have to come off to check properly. Owners and Smart specialists report finding badly rusted or leaking pipes only when a mechanic drops the guards for other work, sometimes needing the lines rebuilt in kunifer rather than just cleaned up and painted. This lines up with the measured MOT data, where brakes are the standout fault for this car in city use; the folklore explains how a bad set of pipes can sit unnoticed for years.
Separate from the general jerkiness, owners have reported the automated-manual's actuator failing outright, one case at 38,000 miles on a 2007 car, and the clutch itself wearing out on later cars with a grinding noise at low speed. In one 2015 Mk3 case Mercedes contributed just over half the repair cost after initially pushing back on the claim, suggesting it isn't treated as a routine goodwill item. Not a mass pattern yet, just enough separate reports across two generations to be worth checking.
Several owners of early Fortwos report wiper motors failing in cold, wet weather, traced back to water pooling in the scuttle area and getting into the SAM electrical control unit rather than the motor itself. A replacement wiper motor runs to roughly £238 fitted. Some owners call it a design weak point, others put it down to blocked scuttle drains on cars that have never been cleared out, so it's a genuine judgement call.
On post-2017 Mk3 cars with the eco start-stop system, an orange warning message can appear on shutdown for no obvious reason. Dealers have told owners this has been a known issue since around September 2017 but haven't offered a permanent repair, just a reset. It won't strand you, but it's a sign of software gremlins on a car that's otherwise mechanically simple.
On the electric Fortwo, owners have reported indicated range well below the official figure, one case never seeing more than 72 miles against a 99-mile claim even in mild weather with the heater barely used. This isn't a fault so much as a buyer-expectations issue for anyone cross-shopping the electric model on range alone. Check the battery health and get a realistic range on the test drive rather than trusting the spec sheet.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (City cars), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.