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Smart City, Buying guide, MOT record and UK numbers

3,326 Smart Citys are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 60.1% of initial MOT tests, 12.2 points below the 72.3% UK average.

Looking at a specific City? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.

Smart City at the MOT

60.1% of 4,850 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the City 492nd of 575 models.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Smart City60.1%
  • All Smart modelsThe City is 11.2 pts behind71.3%
  • All cars72.3%

Where Citys fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Smart City tests in 2025.

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment36.7%
  • Suspension14.9%
  • Brakes12.2%
  • Visibility10.8%
  • Noise, emissions and leaks9.8%

The items testers recorded most often were headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (7%), stop lamp not working (5.2%) and washers provides insufficient washer liquid (4.5%).

The MOT page lists every common City MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.

Full Smart City MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The City's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks in each.

  1. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

    Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting.36.7% of City failure items

  2. Suspension

    Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.14.9% of City failure items

  3. Brakes

    Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing.12.2% of City failure items

Smart Citys in the UK

3,326 were licensed at the end of June 2026, the 3rd most of any Smart. The number licensed has fallen 71% since the end of 2014.

Change since 2014
−71%from 11,275 licensed
Typical year of first use
2005half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2005 or earlier
Declared off the road
2,48843% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Smart Citys since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 201411,275
End of 201510,697
End of 201610,157
End of 20179,495
End of 20188,621
End of 20197,929
End of 20207,099
End of 20216,286
End of 20225,738
End of 20234,966
End of 20244,248
End of 20253,634
End of June 20263,326

How old they are

Licensed Smart Citys by year of first use.

A further 1 were first used before 2003.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025
2007576
2006829
2005681
2004967
2003566

City engine sizes

0.7 litre engines made up 65% of Smart City MOT tests in 2025, followed by 0.6 litre at 34%. Petrol accounts for 100% of licensed Citys.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 4,847 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 0.7 litre65.2%
  • 0.6 litre33.6%

Other Smart models

The most-tested Smart models in 2025, against the City's 60.1% MOT pass rate.

All 4 Smart models

Smart City FAQs

How many Smart Citys are there in the UK?

3,326 Smart Citys were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 2,488 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Smart City reliable?

MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 60.1% first-time pass rate for the Smart City across 4,850 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

What should I check before buying a used Smart City?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, suspension and brakes. Then check the individual car's own records. Outstanding finance, insurance write-offs and police stolen markers are not part of the MOT record, so they take a history check.

How do I check a Smart City's history?

Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.

Already found a City?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

Across the 1,548 vehicles of every make Carpeep has checked since November 2025, 19% had outstanding finance recorded and 13% an insurance write-off. More on the Smart history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Smart VIN check.

  • Outstanding finance
  • Write-off records
  • Stolen markers
  • Mileage history
  • Previous keepers

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), which also gives the engine sizes. Licensed, SORN, fuel and registration figures are from the Department for Transport vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0120, VEH0124, VEH0160). Government data is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability. History-check findings are anonymous counts from reports bought on Carpeep, each vehicle counted once, and are published only where at least 100 vehicles returned an answer.