Does the Abarth 500 fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?

The Abarth 500 records 9.81 brakes failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 11.10 expected for a car of the same age mix: less than expected for its class and age (−1.29, 95% interval −1.65 to −0.94). It ranks 416 of 712 models on brakes (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on brakes · check a Abarth 500 by registration

What exactly fails on brakes?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Abarth 500 is “a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm”, recorded 730 times in 2019–2024.

Abarth 500: most frequent brakes defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm	730	2.16
Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn	553	1.64
Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured	285	0.84
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement	199	0.59
Cable, rod or joint insecure	178	0.53

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 33,766 (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

If a Abarth 500 gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?

9.2% of Abarth 500 MOTs with a brakes advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12.1 months and 4,276 miles later (6,448 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 6,448 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

Other pages for this model

Does the Abarth 500 fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?

What exactly fails on brakes?

If a Abarth 500 gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?

Related pages

Other pages for this model