Pass rate
71.0%
Below average — 2.1 pts behind the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 43,011 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £36–£98
2008 Fiat 500 MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 85,340 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
32.0% 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 →
3.8 pts down across model years — 4.9% in 2008, 1.1% in 2020.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 93.3% pass
- Avoid 2007 70.1% pass
Across the 17 years on record, a spread of 23.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 61.4%
- Typical mileage
- 85k mi
The 2008 Fiat 500 MOT pass rate is 71.0% of its MOT tests — 2.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.5× the national share
Suspension accounts for 32.0% of everything recorded on the 2008 Fiat 500, against 21.0% nationally — 11.0 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 19% 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 Fiat 500? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Fiat 500 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 2.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 61.4%. The median 2008 Fiat 500 in this dataset had covered 85,340 mi.
88% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 71.2% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 71.2% of the time, April–September 70.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements", noted on 4.85% of tests.
- 43,011 recorded tests behind this page.
- 71.0% overall pass rate, 61.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Fiat 500, the average is 78.0% — best year 2022 (93.3%), worst 2007 (70.1%).
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
- 43,011
- Typical mileage (median)
- 85,340 mi
- Make and model
- Fiat 500
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Discs and Pads Set
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 500 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 60% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (88% of tests).
Where the Fiat 500 is most common
Across all 500 model years on record (2007–2023): 449,336 Fiat 500 cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 1,134,695 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 12,892 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) | 12,892 | 80.0% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 9,195 | 80.0% |
| 3 | Cardiff (CF) | 8,244 | 75.3% |
| 4 | Chelmsford (CM) | 8,218 | 80.1% |
| 5 | Bristol (BS) | 7,975 | 74.6% |
| 6 | Leicester (LE) | 7,547 | 79.2% |
| 7 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 7,466 | 76.5% |
| 8 | Nottingham (NG) | 7,445 | 75.5% |
| 9 | Portsmouth (PO) | 7,094 | 77.5% |
| 10 | Manchester (M) | 7,082 | 78.3% |
| 11 | Coventry (CV) | 6,964 | 79.9% |
| 12 | Ashford (TN) | 6,907 | 77.7% |
| 13 | Peterborough (PE) | 6,824 | 78.9% |
| 14 | Basildon (SS) | 6,406 | 81.5% |
| 15 | Guildford (GU) | 6,393 | 78.0% |
| 16 | Norwich (NR) | 6,347 | 78.9% |
| 17 | Brighton (BN) | 6,319 | 76.2% |
| 18 | Northampton (NN) | 6,191 | 76.7% |
| 19 | Reading (RG) | 6,045 | 79.0% |
| 20 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 5,925 | 75.9% |
The twenty areas with the most Fiat 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 | 10,805 | 72.8% |
| South West | 5,956 | 67.6% |
| East of England | 5,605 | 71.3% |
| North West | 3,992 | 70.3% |
| West Midlands | 3,918 | 73.5% |
| Yorkshire | 3,181 | 70.0% |
| East Midlands | 2,936 | 69.7% |
| London | 2,170 | 78.0% |
| Wales | 2,025 | 67.2% |
| North East | 1,335 | 68.6% |
| Scotland | 1,074 | 66.9% |
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 2008 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 2008 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 suspension joints 3.7% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush 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 3.6% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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.
-
Check the shock absorbers 3.6% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
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.
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 2008 500 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £36–£98 — and 19% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £36–£98
- Cheapest common item: headlamp lens slightly defective
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 19%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 43,011 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
17 model years on record, from 2007 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 70.1% to 93.3% — a spread of 23.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2007 70.1% exhaust system has a major leak…
- 2008 71.0%rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2009 71.2% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2010 72.5% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2011 74.0% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2012 75.1% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2013 76.9% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2014 77.2% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2015 77.2% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2016 79.7% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2017 83.2% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2018 86.0% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2019 89.1% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2020 91.9% wipers blade defective
- 2021 91.6% has ply or cords exposed
- 2022 93.3% has ply or cords exposed
- 2023 93.0% has a bulge, caused by separation…
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 2008 Fiat 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Mitsubishi Colt 70.9%
- Skoda Roomster 70.9%
- Renault Laguna 71.1%
- Kia Sportage 70.9%
- Citroen C5 71.1%
- Vauxhall Corsavan 71.1%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Fiat 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 120,440 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 | 39,029 | 32.00% | 20.98% | +11.02 |
| Brakes | 21,659 | 17.70% | 20.89% | −3.19 |
| Tyres | 16,745 | 13.70% | 19.76% | −6.06 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 14,357 | 11.80% | 12.21% | −0.41 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 11,255 | 9.20% | 5.57% | +3.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 7,882 | 6.50% | 5.52% | +0.98 |
| Visibility | 3,993 | 3.30% | 4.97% | −1.67 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,674 | 2.20% | 4.18% | −1.98 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1,736 | 1.40% | 1.76% | −0.36 |
| Road Wheels | 1,110 | 0.90% | 0.75% | +0.15 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.8% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £40–150 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £30–75 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 2.7% | £45–120 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.6% | £80–200 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 2.5% | £60–150 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.4% | £30–80 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.3% | £5–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 19.4% | £25–65 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 17.0% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 13.1% | £45–95 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 11.7% | £45–120 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.7% | £45–110 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 10.9% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,175 | 81.6% | 22,013 mi |
| 30-60k | 6,630 | 74.5% | 48,155 mi |
| 60-90k | 16,143 | 70.8% | 76,067 mi |
| 90-120k | 13,649 | 69.6% | 103,234 mi |
| 120k+ | 4,734 | 68.9% | 136,351 mi |
Source: 43,011 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.
2008 500 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Fiat 500?
71.0% of the 43,011 2008 Fiat 500 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 61.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Fiat 500?
The three most recorded items are rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (4.85%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (3.72%), headlamp lens slightly defective (3.60%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Fiat 500 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 81.6% of the time, falling to 68.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Fiat 500 in this dataset had covered 85,340 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 Fiat 500?
Petrol: 71.2% pass rate across 37,845 tests. Diesel: 70.1% pass rate across 5,166 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2008 Fiat 500 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 71.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 70.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.