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Smart Roadster, Buying guide, MOT record and UK numbers

1,912 Smart Roadsters are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 71.1% of initial MOT tests, 1.2 points below the 72.3% UK average.

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

Smart Roadster at the MOT

71.1% of 2,261 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the Roadster 336th of 575 models.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Smart Roadster71.1%
  • All Smart modelsLevel with the Roadster71.3%
  • All cars72.3%

Where Roadsters fail

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

  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment40%
  • Brakes18.8%
  • Suspension12.9%
  • Visibility6.3%
  • Noise, emissions and leaks5.3%

The items testers recorded most often were position lamp not working (6.3%), rigid brake pipes excessively corroded (4.2%) and rear fog lamp not working (4.2%).

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

Full Smart Roadster MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The Roadster'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.40% of Roadster failure items

  2. 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.18.8% of Roadster failure items

  3. Suspension

    Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.12.9% of Roadster failure items

Smart Roadsters in the UK

1,912 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has fallen 59% since the end of 2014.

Change since 2014
−59%from 4,699 licensed
Typical year of first use
2004half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2004 or earlier
Declared off the road
2,13153% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Smart Roadsters since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 20144,699
End of 20154,391
End of 20164,043
End of 20173,755
End of 20183,487
End of 20193,214
End of 20202,906
End of 20212,668
End of 20222,510
End of 20232,270
End of 20242,015
End of 20251,898
End of June 20261,912

How old they are

Licensed Smart Roadsters by year of first use.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025
200751
2006205
2005532
2004849
2003246

Roadster engine sizes

0.7 litre engines made up 99% of Smart Roadster MOT tests in 2025. Petrol accounts for 100% of licensed Roadsters.

Other Smart models

The most-tested Smart models in 2025, against the Roadster's 71.1% MOT pass rate.

All 4 Smart models

Smart Roadster FAQs

How many Smart Roadsters are there in the UK?

1,912 Smart Roadsters were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 2,131 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Smart Roadster 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 71.1% first-time pass rate for the Smart Roadster across 2,261 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

What should I check before buying a used Smart Roadster?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, brakes and suspension. 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 Roadster'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 Roadster?

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.