MOT cost .

Smart (mcc)

City Coupe

6,478 MOT tests analysed. runs below the UK fleet average — here's where City Coupes pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 8.9 points below the UK fleet average across our 1,988 tracked models — buyers should expect more first-time fails than the typical UK car.

Pass

66.8%

Pass-after-fix

5.6%

Fail

26.8%

Avg miles

67,902

Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%

The picture

City Coupe: a below-average pass rate worth digging into

Across 6,478 MOT tests, the City Coupe returns 66.8% first-time pass — well below the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is headlamp aim out of spec. A defective headlamp lens and a broken or weak spring round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 67,902, which is the lens to read those failure rankings through. If you own one and the next test is close, the ranked list below is a sensible pre-test checklist.

Top ten reasons for rejection.

  1. 01

    The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements

    407 occurrences · 6.3% of tests

  2. 02

    Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

    279 occurrences · 4.3% of tests

  3. 03

    A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

    269 occurrences · 4.2% of tests

  4. 04

    Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen

    235 occurrences · 3.6% of tests

  5. 05

    Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

    224 occurrences · 3.5% of tests

  6. 06

    A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

    221 occurrences · 3.4% of tests

  7. 07

    Lambda coefficient outside the default limits or the range specified by the manufacturer

    219 occurrences · 3.4% of tests

  8. 08

    A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

    182 occurrences · 2.8% of tests

  9. 09

    Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

    153 occurrences · 2.4% of tests

  10. 10

    A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED

    153 occurrences · 2.4% of tests

Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.

Worst-case fix budget · top 4 failures

£108–£435

If every one of this City Coupe's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →

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Build your own retest budget.

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.

Item 01 · Amazon UK

Headlight restoration kit

Yellowed lenses fail the light-output test. A restoration kit lifts the haze in an afternoon for £20.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

Search Amazon UK

Buying or keeping a City Coupe?

Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.

If you own a City Coupe and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.