Pass rate
90.7%
Above average — 0.0 pts in line with the 90.7% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 963 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £27–£63
2020 Fiat 500 C Star MOT pass rate
- 2020
- 2 trims combined
- typical 17,289 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
40.0% 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 2021 92.1% pass
- Avoid 2019 89.0% pass
Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 3.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 89.9%
- Typical mileage
- 17k mi
The 2020 Fiat 500 C Star MOT pass rate is 90.7% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 40.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Fiat 500 C Star does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 2.0× the national share
Tyres make up 40.0% of everything recorded on the 2020 Fiat 500 C Star, against 19.8% nationally — 20.2 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 C Star? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Fiat 500 C Star first registered in 2020 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2020 Fiat 500 C Star compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 90.7%, so this figure is 0.0 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 89.9%. The median 2020 Fiat 500 C Star in this dataset had covered 17,289 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 89.3% of the time, April–September 91.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Has ply or cords exposed", noted on 1.56% of tests.
- 963 recorded tests behind this page.
- 90.7% overall pass rate, 89.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Fiat 500 C Star, the average is 90.5% — best year 2021 (92.1%), worst 2019 (89.0%).
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
- 963
- Typical mileage (median)
- 17,289 mi
- Make and model
- Fiat 500 C Star
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 500 C Star MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 76% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 500 C Star
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 293 | 89.1% |
| East of England | 112 | 93.8% |
| South West | 95 | 87.4% |
| North West | 91 | 92.3% |
| West Midlands | 77 | 88.3% |
| Scotland | 68 | 85.3% |
| East Midlands | 67 | 91.0% |
| Yorkshire | 56 | 96.4% |
| London | 54 | 96.3% |
| Wales | 26 | 88.5% |
| North East | 24 | 100.0% |
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 C Star
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 C Star
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 1.4% 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 lights 0.8% of tests
“headlamp aim too high”
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 brakes 0.7% of tests
“brake discs significantly and obviously worn”
Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.
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 C Star through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £27–£63 — and 42% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £27–£63
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: brake discs significantly
- £45–£110
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 42%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 963 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 C Star, side by side
3 model years on record, from 2019 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 89.0% to 92.1% — a spread of 3.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2019 89.0% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2020 90.7%has ply or cords exposed
- 2021 92.1% has ply or cords exposed
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 C Star 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
- Peugeot 2008 90.7%
- Skoda Fabia 90.7%
- Jaguar F-Pace 90.7%
- Nissan X-Trail 90.7%
- BMW 5 Series 90.7%
- BMW 218I 90.7%
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 C Star 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 730 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 | 293 | 40.00% | 19.76% | +20.24 |
| Brakes | 204 | 27.80% | 20.89% | +6.91 |
| Suspension | 72 | 9.80% | 20.98% | −11.18 |
| Visibility | 53 | 7.20% | 4.97% | +2.23 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 39 | 5.30% | 12.21% | −6.91 |
| Non-component advisories | 28 | 3.80% | 4.18% | −0.38 |
| Road Wheels | 13 | 1.80% | 0.75% | +1.05 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 11 | 1.50% | 5.57% | −4.07 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 10 | 1.40% | 5.52% | −4.12 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 7 | 1.00% | 0.82% | +0.18 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 1.6% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.4% | £8–22 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.1% | £8–22 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Rectified | 0.93% | £5–15 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.83% | £30–80 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 0.83% | £8–22 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Major | 0.73% | £45–110 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.73% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.52% | £30–80 |
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 | 12.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.9% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 4.6% | £45–95 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 3.5% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 3.4% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 2.7% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 803 | 92.0% | 15,418 mi |
| 30-60k | 156 | 84.0% | 38,150 mi |
| 60-90k | 1 | 100.0% | 67,539 mi |
Source: 963 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 C Star MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2020 Fiat 500 C Star?
90.7% of the 963 2020 Fiat 500 C Star tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 90.7% for cars first used in 2020. First-attempt pass rate: 89.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2020 Fiat 500 C Star?
The three most recorded items are has ply or cords exposed (1.56%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.45%), wipers blade defective (1.35%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2020 Fiat 500 C Star MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2020 Fiat 500 C Star in this dataset had covered 17,289 mi.
Does the season affect the 2020 Fiat 500 C Star MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 89.3% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 91.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.