MOT fail rates

Fiat 500L MOT fail rate by age

How often the Fiat 500L fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 85,411 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 22 September 2026

At 9 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 9 (n=19,581)34.2%

All cars at 9 years (n=9,949,012)27.1%

Median mileage at test64,644

All cars, median mileage68,033

256 of 315 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 9 years.

What stands out

At 4 years the Fiat 500L fails 18.4% of MOTs (1,031 tests), 5.1 points above the 13.4% for all cars that age. At 12 years it fails 39.8% (6,570 tests), 3.8 points above the 36.0% average.
The gap is widest at 5 years: 8.4 points above all cars.
Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 9 years: Coil spring broken, at 7 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Fiat 500L: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	MOT fail rate	Tests (n)	All cars	Difference	Median mileage
4 years	18.4%	1,031	13.4%	+5.1 pts	21,960 miles
5 years	23.7%	1,748	15.3%	+8.4 pts	29,347 miles
6 years	25.3%	3,344	17.8%	+7.5 pts	36,968 miles
7 years	28.3%	6,173	20.6%	+7.7 pts	45,521 miles
8 years	32.2%	14,137	23.8%	+8.4 pts	57,588 miles
9 years	34.2%	19,581	27.1%	+7.1 pts	64,644 miles
10 years	37.7%	17,966	30.3%	+7.4 pts	70,973 miles
11 years	39.2%	14,861	33.3%	+6.0 pts	76,824 miles
12 years	39.8%	6,570	36.0%	+3.8 pts	79,640 miles

Most common fail items at 9 years

Split into structural or mechanical items and wear items. Wear items (tyres, brake pads, wipers, bulbs) say more about upkeep than about the design.

Structural and mechanical

Fail item	Per 100 MOTs
Coil spring broken Major	7
Suspension arm bush worn Major	4.9
Handbrake too weak Major	3.1
Track rod end: ball joint dust cover excessively damaged or deteriorated so that it no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Major	2.2

Out of 19,581 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail item	Per 100 MOTs
Brake light not working Major	4.1
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous	3.3
Brake pads under 1.5 mm Dangerous	3
Wipers not clearing screen Major	2.7
Dipped headlight not working Major	2.2
Tyre with cords exposed Dangerous	1.9

Out of 19,581 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 9 years

Model	MOT fail rate	Tests (n)	All cars
Fiat 500	32.6%	150,622	27.1%
Fiat Panda	28.0%	28,451	27.1%
Fiat 500X	32.6%	20,990	27.1%

MOT fail rate by first-use year

Each year has its own page: the fail rate for cars first used that year at each MOT from 2022 to 2025 with at least 1,000 tests, the most common faults at that age, and the car tax and ULEZ rules for that year.

First-use year data updated 28 September 2026.

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First used	Age at test	MOT fail rate	Tests (n)	All cars
2013	12 years in 2025	39.7%	5,928	36.0%
2014	11 years in 2025	39.9%	7,993	33.3%
2015	10 years in 2025	37.5%	2,986	30.3%
2016	9 years in 2025	33.8%	1,618	27.1%

More on the Fiat 500L

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

Looking at one Fiat 500L?

These are figures for the model, not for one car. The VetTheCar Buying Report looks at a single car: its MOT tests, defects, advisories and mileage readings.

See an example report Browse the car tools

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources