Does the Smart Forfour fail the MOT on steering more than it should?

The Smart Forfour records 1.79 steering failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 1.75 expected for a car of the same age mix: about as expected for its class and age (the difference is within its interval or under 0.5 items per 100 tests) (+0.04, 95% interval −0.03 to +0.11). It ranks 218 of 640 models on steering (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on steering · check a Smart Forfour by registration

What exactly fails on steering?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Smart Forfour is “Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated”, recorded 1,112 times in 2019–2024.

Smart Forfour: most frequent steering defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated	1,112	0.82
A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play	776	0.57
Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc	397	0.29
A steering ball joint worn to the extent there is a serious risk of detachment	36	0.03

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 136,129 (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

Does the Smart Forfour fail the MOT on steering more than it should?

What exactly fails on steering?

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