Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 575,066 tests

Pass rate climbs 9.8 points across the cohorts — newer 500 examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 511,181

Pass

73.2%

Fail

22.1%

PRS

4.2%

Avg mileage at test

61,054 mi

2018–2020 cohort 63,673

Pass

85.7%

Fail

10.9%

PRS

3.1%

Avg mileage at test

28,734 mi

2021+ cohort 212

Pass

83.0%

Fail

9.0%

PRS

6.6%

Avg mileage at test

20,492 mi

Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.

Generations on file · 2

Fiat 500 · UK market

Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.

The picture

Cute city car with worn-out suspension bushes

Suspension pin and bush wear is the Fiat 500's most common MOT failure — fitting for a city car that spends its life hopping kerbs and patchy urban tarmac. Shock absorber bushes and tyre tread depth round out the top three. At a 74.45% pass rate across 384,319 tests, the 500 sits below the supermini average, despite relatively modest average presenting mileage of 52,662.

Owner reports add to the picture. The hatchback lock cable chafes at the boot hinge — Fiat themselves advised all 500 owners to check for it. The Dualogic automated clutch has cost owners £1,800 for a new actuator alone, with total repair bills reaching £3,000. EU6 1.2 engines can lose performance without a dealer software fix. None of this appears at MOT time, but it tells you that budget maintenance catches up with a 500 faster than the mileage suggests it should.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 3–14

A low-group car — among the cheapest to insure in the UK. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.

Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →

3–14

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

Hide wear items to see the model's real defects.

01

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

24,005 occurrences · 4.2% of tests
02

A shock absorber bush excessively worn

16,306 occurrences · 2.8% of tests
03

A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage

10,462 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
04

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

9,884 occurrences · 1.7% of tests
05

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

8,761 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
06

Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement

7,634 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
07

Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

7,445 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
08

A tyre cords visible or damaged

7,384 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
09

Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

6,604 occurrences · 1.1% of tests
10

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

6,187 occurrences · 1.1% 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 3 failures

£220–£575

If every one of this 500'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.

Year-band analysis

Best year to buy. Worst to avoid.

First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 12.5-point gap between bands means the year you buy Fiat 500 has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

85.7%

2018–2020 registration

the 2018–2020 band climbs to 85.7% — a 12.5-point improvement. Tests in this band average 28,734 miles — roughly 32K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: pin or bush excessively worn, does not clear the windscreen effectively — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. The stricter post-2018 MOT test rules meant manufacturers had to tighten up emissions and electrical checks, but this band still shows far fewer major failures on suspension and bodywork than the older fleet.

Band to be cautious about

73.2%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 73.2% pass rate against a fleet average of 85.7% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: pin or bush excessively worn, has an excessively worn bush, and has a serious fluid leak. Average mileage on test for this band is 61,054 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme. Honest John records: "Another case of hatchback lock failing because cables inside wiring loom had chafed in the hatchback hinge. All 500 owners should check for this."

Best band to buy: 2018-2020 (85.7% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (73.2% pass). That's a 12.5-point spread across 511,181 older tests and 63,673 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.

Year-spread leaderboard →

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

Digital tyre-tread depth gauge

Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

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Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

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Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.

What's good

Not very practical. Bouncy ride. Sluggish performance. In-car tech is behind the times.

Recent owner-reported faults

14 Oct 2014
Another case of hatchback lock failing because cables inside wiring loom had chafed in the hatchback hinge. All 500 owners should check for this.
2 Oct 2014
Software fix available from some Fiat dealers that restores the performance of EU6 1.2 Panda and 500 engines.
3 Sep 2014
Fiat 500 Dualogic would not select any gears and required new Actuator at a cost of £1800. Cost of repairs so far: £3,000.
17 Aug 2014
Problem with EU6 compliant versions of 1.2 Fire engine in Fiat 500. Hesitation when pulling away in 1st and 2nd gears due to a ECU remapping to meet EU6. "Feels very unsafe, when trying to pull out into traffic."Apparently, some Fiat dealers have an ECU software fix for this. At a guess, it is probably to resture the ECU to the EU5 settings.
7 Jul 2014
Another case of a 500 MultiJet diesel engine revving uncontrollably because the ECU had introduced too much fuel to the engine to actively regenerate the DPF, this fuel had sunk into the sump, and the sump level had risen sufficiently for the compression ignition engine to run on it. This car was a 25,000 mile 2008 500 MultiJet. Vital for all drivers of 500 MultiJet diesels to chack their sump levels regularly and if the oil seems to rise get their cars to a Fiat dealership for an oil change and forced regeneration of the DPF.
30 Jun 2014
Second report of failed rear wiper and brake lights on a 4-year old 500 due to can bus wiring problems as a result of the cable loom getting trapped in the hatchback opening £400 to fix.
20 Apr 2014
A 2010 Abarth 500 suffered the loss of various key functions including speedometer, indicators and brake lights (which of course makes the car illegal to drive). An independent garage traced the fault to the wiring cable under the tailgate. The wires had become twisted and broken as a result of the movement of the tailgate. Fault as origninally reported on 13-5-2012.
10 Apr 2014
Heater matrix failure on 500 TwinAir led to overheating of engine.
22 Mar 2014
Electric hatch lock failed twice on a 17,500 mile 2009/50 500: first time replaced under warranty; 2nd time dealer wanted £193.
18 Feb 2014
Clutch mechanism of 2009/59 500 and electric hatchback lock failed at very low 2500 miles.
22 Sep 2013
Yet another failed 1.3 Multijet reported. This was a 2008/58 that had done less than 14,000 miles. Active DPF regeneration had put too much diesel into the engine, effectively raising the sump level and causing the engine to run uncontrollably on its sump oil to the point of self-destruction. Vital for all drivers of 500 Multijet diesels to chack their sump levels regularly and if the oil seems to rise get their cars to a Fiat dealership for an oil change and forced regeneration of the DPF.
12 Sep 2013
PAS failure on 20 month old 500C**.**

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 29 reports indexed, top 12 shown

Buying or keeping a 500?

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 500 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.