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

The Smart Forfour records 9.14 tyres failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 7.89 expected for a car of the same age mix: more than expected for its class and age (+1.25, 95% interval +1.09 to +1.41). It ranks 183 of 751 models on tyres (1 = most failures above expected).

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

What exactly fails on tyres?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Smart Forfour is “Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements”, recorded 5,296 times in 2019–2024.

Smart Forfour: most frequent tyres defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements	5,296	3.89
A tyre seriously damaged	3,301	2.42
A tyre cords visible or damaged	2,090	1.54
A tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative	694	0.51
Tyres on the same axle or on twin wheels are different sizes	413	0.30

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

If a Smart Forfour gets a tyres advisory, how often does it fail next time?

10.9% of Smart Forfour MOTs with a tyres advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12 months and 5,778 miles later (24,245 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 24,245 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

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

What exactly fails on tyres?

If a Smart Forfour gets a tyres advisory, how often does it fail next time?

Related pages

Other pages for this model