Common problems

Fiat Doblo common problems

What MOT testers find on the Fiat Doblo: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 190,103 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 9 years, the most tested age

Suspension fails per 100 MOTs (n=22,527)15.4

All cars at 9 years (n=9,949,012)7.9

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=22,527)22.2

All cars, same age (n=9,949,012)25.8

What stands out

Suspension fails show up on 15.4 of every 100 MOTs of a Fiat Doblo at 9 years old (n=22,527), against 7.9 for all cars of that age (n=9,949,012).
Steering fails are less common: 0.6 per 100 MOTs against 1.8 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 9 years: coil spring broken, on 7.3 per 100 MOTs (all cars 2.7).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 14.8 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 9 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Fiat Doblo at 9 years (n=22,527) against all cars at 9 years (n=9,949,012). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Suspension	15.4	7.9	18.4	14.9
Lights and electrics	12.3	9.2	6.8	4.5
Tyres	6.7	6.7	22.2	25.8
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	5.4	2.4	7.2	3.1
Brakes	5.0	5.6	12.9	20.3
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	4.0	4.0	6.8	3.7
Body and structure	3.6	2.3	5.0	2.9
Steering	0.6	1.8	1.1	2.1
Seat belts and airbags	0.4	0.6	0.6	0.4
Number plates and VIN	0.3	0.3	2.0	1.7
Road wheels	0.3	0.4	1.2	0.7

What testers fail most on the Doblo at 9 years

Fail items on the Fiat Doblo at 9 years (n=22,527), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,949,012).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	7.3	2.7	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	2.6	2.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	2.3	1.5	£18 to £86 per lamp
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	2.3	1.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Tyre with cords exposed	Tyres	2.2	1.3	£88 to £145 per tyre
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt	Suspension	2.0	0.4	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Suspension arm bush worn	Suspension	1.9	1.1	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	1.9	1.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	1.7	0.6	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Headlamp aim: too low	Lights and electrics	1.7	1.1	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 9 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Fiat Doblo at 9 years (n=22,527), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,949,012).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	14.8	16.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	6.5	2.5
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	6.4	8.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	6.0	9.2	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Coil spring: corroded	Suspension	5.4	2.0
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	5.3	4.9	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Windscreen: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.2	2.2
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	2.4	8.3	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	2.2	3.1	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources	Lights and electrics	2.1	2.5

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 9 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Suspension	Lights and electrics	Tyres
3 years	5,684	6.2	6.9	5.7
4 years	7,031	7.4	7.6	6.0
5 years	7,717	9.6	7.5	6.4
6 years	9,944	12.3	8.9	7.0
7 years	13,243	14.5	10.0	8.2
8 years	17,672	16.5	12.5	8.1
9 years	22,527	15.4	12.3	6.7
10 years	20,815	17.0	13.9	7.2
11 years	17,334	18.5	15.4	7.0
12 years	12,850	18.2	16.8	7.4
13 years	8,059	17.6	18.0	8.8
14 years	8,095	15.8	18.4	8.3
15 years	8,666	15.0	18.9	9.0
16 years	8,492	15.0	19.6	8.5
17 years	7,528	16.9	22.1	8.8
18 years	6,144	19.6	24.1	8.8
19 years	4,238	20.6	25.9	8.7
20 years	2,651	22.2	26.9	9.3
21 years	1,413	24.3	27.7	9.6

Mileage

At 9 years, Fiat Doblo cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 15.1% of MOTs (n=1,617); the band that failed most, 120,000 to 150,000 miles, failed 43.2% (n=1,957). For pass and fail rates by age, see Fiat Doblo MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Fiat Doblo, testers most often record coil spring broken; tyre tread below 1.6 mm; dipped headlight not working. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Tyres

Check the tread across the full width of all four tyres, and the spare if there is one.
Look for cuts, bulges and cracking in the sidewalls.
Wear on one edge only can point to worn suspension or the tracking being out.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Fiat Doblo?

At 9 years, the age with the most MOT tests (22,527), the fail items testers record most often on the Fiat Doblo are coil spring broken (7.3 per 100 MOTs), tyre tread below 1.6 mm (2.6 per 100 MOTs), dipped headlight not working (2.3 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (14.8) and engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive (6.5).

Which parts of the Fiat Doblo fail more often than on other cars?

At 9 years: suspension (15.4 per 100 MOTs against 7.9 for all cars); lights and electrics (12.3 per 100 MOTs against 9.2 for all cars); exhaust, emissions and leaks (5.4 per 100 MOTs against 2.4 for all cars). Compared with 9,949,012 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Fiat Doblo problems by area

Other Fiat models

All Fiat models · Common problems by make

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.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Fiat Doblo?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

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 28 September 2026.

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