Pass rate
91.9%
Above average — 1.2 pts ahead of the 90.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 14,948 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £28–£69
2020 Fiat 500 MOT pass rate
- 2020
- typical 20,359 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
37.9% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
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
- 91.2%
- Typical mileage
- 20k mi
The 2020 Fiat 500 MOT pass rate is 91.9% of its MOT tests — 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 37.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Fiat 500 does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.9× the national share
Tyres make up 37.9% of everything recorded on the 2020 Fiat 500, against 19.8% nationally — 18.1 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
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 2020 Fiat 500 compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 90.7%, so this figure is 1.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 91.2%. The median 2020 Fiat 500 in this dataset had covered 20,359 mi.
100% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 91.9% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 91.9% of the time, April–September 91.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Wipers blade defective", noted on 1.29% of tests.
- 14,948 recorded tests behind this page.
- 91.9% overall pass rate, 91.2% 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
- 14,948
- Typical mileage (median)
- 20,359 mi
- Make and model
- Fiat 500
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Wiper Blade
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 500 MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 75% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (100% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the 500
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 3,486 | 93.5% |
| East of England | 1,790 | 92.5% |
| North West | 1,502 | 91.6% |
| Scotland | 1,472 | 86.1% |
| West Midlands | 1,285 | 93.6% |
| South West | 1,165 | 91.6% |
| Yorkshire | 1,127 | 92.5% |
| Wales | 824 | 90.3% |
| East Midlands | 820 | 92.3% |
| North East | 764 | 91.5% |
| London | 708 | 93.5% |
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 2020 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 2020 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 wipers and washers 1.3% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
-
Check the windscreen 0.7% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the suspension joints 0.6% 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.
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 2020 500 through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £28–£69 — and 50% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £28–£69
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 50%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 14,948 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 2020 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 2020 cars with a similar record
- Kia Niro 91.9%
- Ford Kuga 91.9%
- Jaguar E-Pace 91.9%
- Audi E-Tron 91.9%
- Mitsubishi Outlander Exceed 91.9%
- Volkswagen Touareg V6 91.9%
Closest pass rates among 2020 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 2020 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 9,969 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 3,799 | 37.90% | 19.76% | +18.14 |
| Brakes | 2,493 | 24.90% | 20.89% | +4.01 |
| Suspension | 1,102 | 11.00% | 20.98% | −9.98 |
| Visibility | 847 | 8.50% | 4.97% | +3.53 |
| Non-component advisories | 574 | 5.70% | 4.18% | +1.52 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 569 | 5.70% | 12.21% | −6.51 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 237 | 2.40% | 5.57% | −3.17 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 170 | 1.70% | 5.52% | −3.82 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 119 | 1.20% | 1.76% | −0.56 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 59 | 0.60% | 0.82% | −0.22 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.3% | £8–22 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Rectified | 0.97% | £5–15 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.96% | £8–22 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.87% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.75% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 0.74% | £8–22 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 0.65% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 0.61% | £40–150 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.58% | £30–80 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.52% | £45–95 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 12.8% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 8.9% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.9% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 2.8% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 1.8% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 10,900 | 93.8% | 16,088 mi |
| 30-60k | 3,747 | 87.2% | 41,144 mi |
| 60-90k | 285 | 83.2% | 66,892 mi |
| 90-120k | 7 | 85.7% | 99,812 mi |
| 120k+ | 1 | 100.0% | 188,353 mi |
Source: 14,948 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.
2020 500 MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2020 Fiat 500?
91.9% of the 14,948 2020 Fiat 500 tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 90.7% for cars first used in 2020. First-attempt pass rate: 91.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2020 Fiat 500?
The three most recorded items are wipers blade defective (1.29%), washers provides insufficient washer liquid (0.97%), wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (0.96%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2020 Fiat 500 MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.8% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2020 Fiat 500 in this dataset had covered 20,359 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2020 Fiat 500?
Petrol: 91.9% pass rate across 14,930 tests. Hybrid: 100.0% pass rate across 15 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2020 Fiat 500 MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 91.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 91.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.