MOT cost .
Fiat 500
MOT 2023
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Fiat

500

384,319 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where 500s pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 1.3 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

74.5%

Pass-after-fix

4.4%

Fail

20.8%

Avg miles

52,662

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

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.

Top ten reasons for rejection.

  1. 01

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    19,107 occurrences · 5.0% of tests

  2. 02

    A shock absorber bush excessively worn

    13,966 occurrences · 3.6% of tests

  3. 03

    Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

    8,823 occurrences · 2.3% of tests

  4. 04

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

    8,659 occurrences · 2.3% of tests

  5. 05

    Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

    6,802 occurrences · 1.8% of tests

  6. 06

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    6,559 occurrences · 1.7% of tests

  7. 07

    A tyre cords visible or damaged

    6,163 occurrences · 1.6% of tests

  8. 08

    a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

    5,882 occurrences · 1.5% of tests

  9. 09

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

    5,866 occurrences · 1.5% of tests

  10. 10

    Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement

    5,634 occurrences · 1.5% 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

£160–£380

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.

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

Item 02 · Amazon UK

Bosch Aerotwin wiper blades

Cheap wipers fail the test on smear streaks. Bosch Aerotwins last a winter and clear a screen properly.

Search Amazon UK

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

  1. 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. 2 Oct 2014

    Software fix available from some Fiat dealers that restores the performance of EU6 1.2 Panda and 500 engines.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 10 Apr 2014

    Heater matrix failure on 500 TwinAir led to overheating of engine.

  9. 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.

  10. 18 Feb 2014

    Clutch mechanism of 2009/59 500 and electric hatchback lock failed at very low 2500 miles.

  11. 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. 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.