Pass rate
80.2%
Around average — 1.9 pts behind the 82.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,523 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£79
2015 Abarth 500 MOT pass rate
- 2015
- typical 52,535 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
36.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2016 82.6% pass
- Avoid 2011 76.5% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 6.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 75.9%
- Typical mileage
- 53k mi
The 2015 Abarth 500 MOT pass rate is 80.2% of its MOT tests — 1.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 36.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.7× the national share
Suspension accounts for 36.2% of everything recorded on the 2015 Abarth 500, against 21.0% nationally — 15.2 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 18% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Abarth 500? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2015 Abarth 500 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 82.1%, so this figure is 1.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 75.9%. The median 2015 Abarth 500 in this dataset had covered 52,535 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 81.2% of the time, April–September 79.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush", noted on 4.08% of tests.
- 2,523 recorded tests behind this page.
- 80.2% overall pass rate, 75.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Abarth 500, the average is 77.8% — best year 2016 (82.6%), worst 2011 (76.5%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 2,523
- Typical mileage (median)
- 52,535 mi
- Make and model
- Abarth 500
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Shock Absorber
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 500 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 68% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Abarth 500 is most common
Across all 500 model years on record (2009–2016): 8,602 Abarth 500 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 19,122 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 213 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 213 | 86.2% |
| 2 | Guildford (GU) | 183 | 75.7% |
| 3 | Bristol (BS) | 176 | 73.1% |
| 4 | Portsmouth (PO) | 173 | 75.5% |
| 5 | Ashford (TN) | 161 | 76.8% |
| 6 | Crawley (RH) | 150 | 75.9% |
| 7 | Chelmsford (CM) | 148 | 76.0% |
| 8 | Peterborough (PE) | 145 | 79.3% |
| 9 | Southampton (SO) | 142 | 78.5% |
| 10 | Nottingham (NG) | 141 | 75.5% |
| 11 | Sheffield (S) | 136 | 83.1% |
| 12 | Norwich (NR) | 131 | 76.6% |
| 13 | Northampton (NN) | 131 | 74.2% |
| 14 | Brighton (BN) | 130 | 74.0% |
| 15 | Coventry (CV) | 127 | 74.8% |
| 16 | Basildon (SS) | 125 | 84.2% |
| 17 | Leicester (LE) | 121 | 80.0% |
| 18 | Kingston upon Thames (KT) | 120 | 81.7% |
| 19 | Poole (BH) | 119 | 74.4% |
| 20 | Yeovil (BA) | 117 | 71.7% |
The twenty areas with the most Abarth 500 cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the 500
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 601 | 81.9% |
| South West | 322 | 77.3% |
| East of England | 282 | 83.3% |
| North West | 233 | 81.5% |
| West Midlands | 232 | 82.8% |
| Yorkshire | 224 | 79.5% |
| Scotland | 168 | 72.6% |
| East Midlands | 159 | 77.4% |
| London | 104 | 84.6% |
| North East | 101 | 81.2% |
| Wales | 94 | 73.4% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2015 500
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2015 500
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the shock absorbers 4.1% of tests
“shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.0% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check the lights 2.2% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2015 500 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£79 — and 18% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£79
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 18%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,523 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the 500, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2009 to 2016. Across them the pass rate runs from 76.5% to 82.6% — a spread of 6.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2009 76.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2010 76.6% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2011 76.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2012 77.8% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2013 77.7% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2014 79.2% ball joint excessively worn
- 2015 80.2%shock absorbers has an…
- 2016 82.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2015 Abarth 500 with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2015 cars with a similar record
- Peugeot Horizon 80.2%
- Volkswagen Jetta 80.2%
- Nissan Qashqai 80.3%
- Vauxhall Astra 80.0%
- Citroen C3 80.0%
- Ford Ecosport 80.0%
Closest pass rates among 2015 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2015 Abarth 500 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 4,293 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 1,561 | 36.20% | 20.98% | +15.22 |
| Brakes | 968 | 22.50% | 20.89% | +1.61 |
| Tyres | 788 | 18.30% | 19.76% | −1.46 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 378 | 8.80% | 12.21% | −3.41 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 161 | 3.70% | 5.57% | −1.87 |
| Visibility | 147 | 3.40% | 4.97% | −1.57 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 100 | 2.30% | 5.52% | −3.22 |
| Non-component advisories | 87 | 2.00% | 4.18% | −2.18 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 64 | 1.50% | 1.76% | −0.26 |
| Road Wheels | 39 | 0.90% | 0.75% | +0.15 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush Suspension | Major | 4.1% | £30–75 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.0% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.2% | £5–20 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.1% | £40–150 |
| Wheel bearings rough when rotated Suspension | Major | 1.4% | £20–55 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.4% | £30–75 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.3% | £80–200 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.2% | £3–12 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 1.1% | £45–110 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 18.1% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 15.5% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 13.5% | £40–150 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 9.6% | £30–75 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.2% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 6.4% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 310 | 87.1% | 22,195 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,316 | 80.0% | 46,136 mi |
| 60-90k | 770 | 78.1% | 71,550 mi |
| 90-120k | 109 | 78.0% | 98,987 mi |
| 120k+ | 17 | 76.5% | 129,907 mi |
Source: 2,523 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2015 500 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2015 Abarth 500?
80.2% of the 2,523 2015 Abarth 500 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 82.1% for cars first used in 2015. First-attempt pass rate: 75.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2015 Abarth 500?
The three most recorded items are shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush (4.08%), ball joint excessively worn (3.05%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (2.22%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2015 Abarth 500 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 87.1% of the time, falling to 76.5% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2015 Abarth 500 in this dataset had covered 52,535 mi.
Does the season affect the 2015 Abarth 500 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 81.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 79.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.