Does the Smart City-Coupe fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?
The Smart City-Coupe records 16.06 brakes failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 23.63 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−7.57, 95% interval −8.04 to −7.11). It ranks 619 of 712 models on brakes (1 = most failures above expected).
Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on brakes · check a Smart City-Coupe by registration
What exactly fails on brakes?
The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Smart City-Coupe is “Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded”, recorded 1,311 times in 2019–2024.
| DVSA defect wording | Items | Per 100 tests |
|---|---|---|
| Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded | 1,311 | 3.14 |
| Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle. | 723 | 1.73 |
| Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake | 484 | 1.16 |
| A flexible brake hose excessively damaged, deteriorated, chafed, twisted or stretched | 444 | 1.06 |
| Warning device shows system malfunction | 394 | 0.94 |
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 41,807 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV
If a Smart City-Coupe gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?
14.3% of Smart City-Coupe MOTs with a brakes advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12.1 months and 1,948 miles later (8,500 advisories followed).
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 8,500 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV
Other pages for this model
Smart City-Coupe 2000 · Smart City-Coupe 2001 · Smart City-Coupe 2002 · Smart City-Coupe 2003 · Smart City-Coupe 2004 · Smart City-Coupe 2005 · Smart City-Coupe 2006 · Smart City-Coupe 2007 · Smart City-Coupe 2008 · Smart City-Coupe 2009 · Smart City-Coupe 2010 · Smart City-Coupe by postcode area · Smart City-Coupe body, chassis and structure failures · Smart City-Coupe vehicle identification failures · Smart City-Coupe lamps, reflectors and electrics failures · Smart City-Coupe noise, emissions and leaks failures · Smart City-Coupe road wheels failures · Smart City-Coupe seat belts and airbags failures · Smart City-Coupe steering failures · Smart City-Coupe suspension failures · Smart City-Coupe tyres failures · Smart City-Coupe visibility failures