Fiat 500L MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Fiat 500L took 21,905 MOT tests in Britain and passed 66% of them first time, below the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.

MOT tests in 2023: 21,905
First-time pass rate: 66%
All cars: 71%

What the 500L fails on

Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.

Suspension12.7% (all cars 9.0%)
Lights and electrics11.0% (all cars 11.3%)
Brakes7.5% (all cars 6.8%)
Tyres6.6% (all cars 6.4%)
Visibility4.5% (all cars 4.8%)
Exhaust and emissions3.1% (all cars 3.1%)
Body and structure2.5% (all cars 3.5%)
Steering2.1% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Coil spring: fractured or broken 6.8%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn 3.9%
Stop lamp: not working 3.6%
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick 2.8%
Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements 2.7%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 2.2%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.1%
Headlamp: not working on dipped beam 1.9%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 18.1%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 12.3%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 11.2%
Brake pads: wearing thin 8.6%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 5.1%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 4.0%
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively 4.0%
Non-component advisories: Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt 3.4%

Pass rate by year of registration

Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare a car with others of the same age.

First registered	Tests	Pass rate
2011	368	57%
2013	6,368	63%
2014	8,440	66%
2015	3,026	69%
2016	1,640	74%
2017	887	73%
2018	606	74%

Typical mileage by age

Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.

Age at test	Average mileage
4 years	23,453 miles
5 years	30,946 miles
6 years	39,667 miles
7 years	46,991 miles
8 years	57,025 miles
9 years	68,693 miles
10 years	72,621 miles
11 years	64,735 miles
12 years	66,577 miles

Check a particular 500L

Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.

Other Fiat models

Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.