Does the Smart Roadster fail the MOT on body, chassis and structure more than it should?

The Smart Roadster records 3.93 body, chassis and structure failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 14.61 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−10.68, 95% interval −11.36 to −9.99). It ranks 633 of 663 models on body, chassis and structure (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on body, chassis and structure · check a Smart Roadster by registration

What exactly fails on body, chassis and structure?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Smart Roadster is “Fuel system leaking, or missing or ineffective filler cap”, recorded 138 times in 2019–2024.

Smart Roadster: most frequent body, chassis and structure defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
Fuel system leaking, or missing or ineffective filler cap	138	1.15
A door will not open using the relevant control or close properly	98	0.82
An engine mounting/bracket severely damaged or deteriorated resulting in excessive movement	55	0.46
A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated	54	0.45
Exhaust system leaking or insecure	32	0.27

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 11,977 (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

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Does the Smart Roadster fail the MOT on body, chassis and structure more than it should?

What exactly fails on body, chassis and structure?

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