Fiat 500 MOT pass rate and common problems

Fiat 500 common problems: what should I check before buying?

The faults recorded most often at Fiat 500 MOTs in 2019–2024, per 100 tests.

• Worn suspension bush or joint8.42
  Major

  What to check: Listen for knocks over speed bumps, feel for the car wandering under braking, and ask which part was replaced.

• Worn shock absorber bush4.42
  Major

  What to check: Listen for knocking from each corner over bumps and ask whether the shock absorber mounts were replaced.

• Tyre tread below the legal limit3.08
  Dangerous

  What to check: Check the tread across every tyre with a gauge; wear on one edge points to a tracking fault.

• Wiper missing or not clearing the screen2.69
  Major

  What to check: Wet the screen and run the wipers: they should clear the glass in front of the driver without streaks or juddering.

• Tyre badly cut or damaged2.62
  Major

  What to check: Check both sidewalls of every tyre, including the inner side, for cuts, bulges and tears.

One test can record several defects, so this is not the share of Fiat 500s.

Each tip applies only if the car you are looking at has that fault in its own MOT history.

Which Fiat 500 years should I avoid?

2007 is the Fiat 500 year that fails its MOT most for its age; 2019 fails least.

Fails more for its age: 2007, 2009, 2015.

Fails less for its age: 2017, 2018, 2019.

Year means the year the car was first registered, as DVSA records it. It may differ from the year it was built.

How does the Fiat 500 compare with similar cars?

2 of 8 similar models fail less often for their age than the Fiat 500.

This is a different comparison from the one at the top. There, the Fiat 500 is measured against all cars of the same age. Here, it sits among similar models. Both can be true.

How do Fiat 500s hold up as they get older?

First-time MOT failures on Fiat 500s go from 17.3% at age 3 to 42.9% at age 17.

Download every age and sample size (CSV)

Do advisories on Fiat 500s turn into fails at the next MOT?

22.3% of suspension advisories on Fiat 500s turned into suspension fails at the next MOT.

The next MOT came about 12 months later.

Based on 306,278 advisories, each followed to the car's next MOT, 2019–2024. This counts advisories, not cars.

The most common advisories on Fiat 500s are for tyres: 42.65 per 100 tests.

Download all advisory transitions (CSV)

Fiat 500 common problems: what actually fails the MOT?

Fiat 500 MOTs fail most often on suspension: 19.7 per 100 tests, against 11.2 for UK cars of the same age (2019–2024, n = 1,820,554).

Full CSV

What is likely to fail next on a used Fiat 500?

For Fiat 500s aged 3 to 5 whose last MOT was a pass, the item most likely to fail at the next MOT is visibility: 5.4% failed on it (2019–2024, n = 233,771).

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How often do Fiat 500s get a dangerous MOT defect?

The Fiat 500 gets a dangerous defect about as often as the UK average: 10.5 per 100 first tests against 11.2 across the UK. In the same tests, 46.1 major and 6.9 minor defects were recorded per 100 tests (one test can record several).

Severity was not recorded for some 2018–2021 tests.

Comparison: 11.2 per 100.

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How much do Fiat 500 MOT repairs cost?

Expected repair cost per Fiat 500 MOT: about £73 (up to about £139 if more expensive parts are needed), from the chance of failing each item and its most common UK repair price (catalogue estimate, n = 321,524).

Computed, not measured.

Full CSV

What mileage is normal for a used Fiat 500?

At age 8, the median Fiat 500 had covered 41,838 miles by its MOT; the middle half ranged from 30,275 to 54,920 miles (2024, n = 33,515).

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Do high-mileage Fiat 500s fail their MOT more often?

At ages 10–14, 24.5% of Fiat 500s with under 40,000 miles failed first time, against 52.1% of those with over 140,000 miles (2024, n = 23,392). Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

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How many miles do Fiat 500s last?

3.9% of Fiat 500s tested had reached 100,000 miles, and 0.2% had reached 150,000 (2024, n = 69,474).

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Does mileage, as well as age, change the Fiat 500 failure index?

Matched on annual mileage as well as age, the Fiat 500 index is 127.0, against 111.7 on age alone (2019–2024, n = 321,524).

Comparison: 111.7 index.

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Which Fiat 500 fuel type fails its MOT less?

Diesel Fiat 500s fail first time more often than petrol ones, before allowing for age: 43.9% against 33.2%.

Comparison: other fuels.

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Which Fiat 500 engine fails its MOT least?

Among engines with enough tests, the best Fiat 500 engine is the petrol under 1.0 litre at index 97.0, and the worst the diesel 1.0–1.2 litre at 110.4, where 100 = the model's own average (2024, n = 321,524).

Comparison: 100 = model average.

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Where in Britain does the Fiat 500 fail its MOT most?

Fiat 500 fails first-time MOTs most in Kirkcaldy (KY): 40.9% against 29.8% across Britain for this model, both 2019–2024 (2019–2024, n = 8,747).

Across Britain for this model: 29.8% failed first time, also in 2019–2024.

See every postcode area and its sample size

Does the Fiat 500 have rust problems?

Allowing for age, Fiat 500 MOTs record corrosion failures at 0.7 times the national rate: 0.56% of tests against 0.77% (2024 + geographic layers, n = 321,411).

Computed, not measured.

Comparison: 1 ratio estimate.

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What do six years of MOTs show about owning a used Fiat 500?

Of failed Fiat 500 MOTs, 46.3% were retested the same day and a further 51.3% within 10 days; the median failed car passed its retest after 1 day (2019–2024, n = 414,946).

Full CSV

Is low mileage good for a used Fiat 500?

Fiat 500s aged 5 to 14 doing under 5,000 miles a year failed first time in 24.3% of tests, against 40.2% for those doing 8,000 to 12,000 miles (2019–2024, n = 582,714).

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How many years do Fiat 500s last?

Fiat 500s leave the road sooner than most: at ten years old the typical one has about 3 more years of MOTs ahead. This is a forecast from the survival curve and may not come true.

Computed, not measured.

Forecast, not a prediction for a particular car.

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How many Fiat 500s are still on the road as they age?

In 2024, for every 100 Fiat 500s tested at ages 4 to 6, about 6 were tested at age 16 (2024, n = 11,071).

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If a used Fiat 500 fails its MOT, will it fail the next one?

34.7% of Fiat 500s that failed an MOT failed the next one too, against 27.2% after a pass (2019–2024, n = 100,910). The failure most likely to come back is visibility: 32.7% of those fails recurred at the next MOT.

Comparison: 27.2 %.

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Which Fiat 500 faults tend to come together?

On Fiat 500s, ‘body, chassis, structure’ and ‘noise, emissions and leaks’ failures turn up together 10.8 times as often as chance would predict (2024, n = 12,234).

Comparison: expected joint rate.

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Fiat 500 safety recalls: how do I check this car?

DVSA lists 32 safety recall campaigns matched to the Fiat 500; check whether yours has been fixed, using its registration number.

Comparison: DVSA register.

Check outstanding safety recalls by registration

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How many Fiat 500s fail the MOT at each age?

Of every 100 Fiat 500s tested at age 5, about 16 failed the MOT first time; at age 10, about 35. These are one-year rates for different cars tested in the same year, not a fleet followed over time; the steepest one-year step in this cross-section is between cars aged 8 and 9, 5.32 percentage points (2024).

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What have US dealers been told about the Fiat 500?

NHTSA lists 287 US technical service bulletins for the Fiat 500 (US market, Fiat 500, model years 2015–2022 only); a count, not a UK failure rate.

Comparison: NHTSA.

NHTSA, US market, Fiat 500, model years 2015–2022 only; covers 211 of 761 models. These two sections use US records from NHTSA. US cars sold under the same name can differ from UK ones.

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What do US owners complain about on the Fiat 500?

The most common US owner complaint about the Fiat 500 to NHTSA concerns transmission (not MOT-tested): 43 complaints (US market, Fiat 500, model years 2015–2022 only).

NHTSA, US market, Fiat 500, model years 2015–2022 only; covers 211 of 761 models. These two sections use US records from NHTSA. US cars sold under the same name can differ from UK ones.

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Do Fiat 500s fail their MOT more in some months?

Fiat 500s fail first time most in November (31.6%, against 30.6% for all cars that month) and least in March (27.5%) (2024, n = 321,524).

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How far is real-world MPG from the lab figure for Fiat cars?

Real-world fuel use of 2021 petrol cars from Fiat Group is 18.1% above the official WLTP figure: 6.82 against 5.78 litres per 100 km (2021+ cohorts, n = 118,498 vehicles).

Computed, not measured.

Plug-in hybrids: the lab figure assumes the battery is charged often; on the road many are driven mostly on petrol, so the gap is several times larger.

Comparison: 0% gap.

European Commission OBFCM; covers 19 of 761 models.

Full CSV

More on the Fiat 500

Overview:

Model overview · All Fiat models

Build years:

2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020

What fails:

body · brakes · plates · lights · emissions · wheels · seat belts · steering · suspension · tyres · visibility

Abroad:

Finland · the Netherlands · Norway

By area:

Postcode areas