72.7%
Smart Forfour pass rate
Used Smart Forfour buying guide
In 2025, Smart Forfour cars passed 72.7% of 25,039 initial MOT tests, in line with the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Forfour? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Smart Forfour MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
+0.4
percentage points above average
Ranked on pass rate the Forfour sits 298th of 575 models in the data. Smart as a brand averaged 71.3%, so this model runs 1.4 points ahead of its own brand. Smart Forfour cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 83.4% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 56.3%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Smart Forfour MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Forfour compares with similar cars.
Forfour fuel types
Petrol was the most common fuel among Smart Forfour cars tested in 2025. Diesel made up just 1% of tests.
Where the Forfour fails its MOT
Where Smart Forfour cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (7.2%), wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (6.5%) and ball joint excessively worn (6.1%). See every common Forfour MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Smart Forfour that failed, not a claim that every Forfour has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Forfour?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at 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. 21.5% of Forfour failure items.
2
Tyres
Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear. 18.7% of Forfour failure items.
3
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 17% of Forfour failure items.
4
Noise, emissions and leaks
Listen for a blowing exhaust, watch for smoke on start-up and look under the car for oil or fluid leaks. 12.7% of Forfour failure items.
5
Visibility
Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 12% of Forfour failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Smart Forfour failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and tyres tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact Forfour you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Smart history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Smart models
The most-tested Smart models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Forfour.
Used Smart Forfour FAQs
Is the Smart Forfour 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 72.7% first-time pass rate for the Smart Forfour across 25,039 tests in 2025, in line with the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Smart Forfour cars fail their MOT more often?
Smart Forfour cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 83.4% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 56.3%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Smart Forfour?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, tyres and suspension. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a Smart Forfour'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.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.