Pass rate
85.8%
Above average — 5.4 pts behind the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 359 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £19–£47
2021 Fiat 500L MOT pass rate
- 2021
- typical 18,575 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
34.7% 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 →
2.1 pts down across model years — 6.4% in 2013, 4.3% in 2018.
Which year to buy
- Best 2020 87.7% pass
- Avoid 2013 75.1% pass
Across the 9 years on record, a spread of 12.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 83.8%
- Typical mileage
- 19k mi
The 2021 Fiat 500L MOT pass rate is 85.8% of its MOT tests — 5.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 34.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Fiat 500L does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Visibility: 4.4× the national share
Visibility accounts for 21.9% of everything recorded on the 2021 Fiat 500l, against 5.0% nationally — 16.9 points above. Tyres are still the single largest share at 34.7%, but at 19.8% nationally that one is ordinary. Wipers, washers and a chip in the driver’s eyeline are the three quickest ways to fail a test that the car otherwise deserves to pass.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 91.2%; this one manages 85.8% — 5.4 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- Failures here tend to be cheap ones. 59% of the repairs this model fails on cost under £30 in parts. The pass rate matters less than what a bad afternoon at the test centre actually costs you.
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 500L? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2021 Fiat 500L compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 5.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 83.8%. The median 2021 Fiat 500L in this dataset had covered 18,575 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 86.2% of the time, April–September 85.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively", noted on 6.69% of tests.
- 359 recorded tests behind this page.
- 85.8% overall pass rate, 83.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Fiat 500L, the average is 77.0% — best year 2020 (87.7%), worst 2013 (75.1%).
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
- 359
- Typical mileage (median)
- 18,575 mi
- Make and model
- Fiat 500L
- 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 500L MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 500L
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 61 | 86.9% |
| West Midlands | 54 | 90.7% |
| North West | 42 | 85.7% |
| East of England | 38 | 92.1% |
| East Midlands | 33 | 84.8% |
| Wales | 28 | 78.6% |
| Scotland | 27 | 81.5% |
| Yorkshire | 24 | 95.8% |
| North East | 23 | 69.6% |
| South West | 15 | 86.7% |
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 2021 500L
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 2021 500L
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 6.7% of tests
“wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
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 coil springs 2.8% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the lights 1.4% of tests
“headlamp aim too low”
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 2021 500L through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £19–£47 — and 59% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £19–£47
- Cheapest common item: wipers does not clear the windscreen…
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: not functioning as intended
- £40–£120
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 59%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 359 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 500L, side by side
9 model years on record, from 2013 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 75.1% to 87.7% — a spread of 12.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2013 75.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 76.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2015 77.8% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2016 80.4% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2017 79.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 80.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2019 84.9% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2020 87.7% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2021 85.8%wipers does not clear the…
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 2021 Fiat 500L 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 2021 cars with a similar record
- Citroen E-C4 85.8%
- BMW X5 XDRIVE45E 85.9%
- Toyota Hilux 85.6%
- Vauxhall Corsa E 86.3%
- Tesla Model 3 Performance 85.3%
- Mercedes-Benz Vito 85.2%
Closest pass rates among 2021 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 2021 Fiat 500L 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 218 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 | 76 | 34.70% | 19.76% | +14.94 |
| Visibility | 48 | 21.90% | 4.97% | +16.93 |
| Brakes | 38 | 17.40% | 20.89% | −3.49 |
| Non-component advisories | 19 | 8.70% | 4.18% | +4.52 |
| Suspension | 14 | 6.40% | 20.98% | −14.58 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 14 | 6.40% | 12.21% | −5.81 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 4 | 1.80% | 0.82% | +0.98 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2 | 0.90% | 5.52% | −4.62 |
| Steering | 2 | 0.90% | 2.57% | −1.67 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1 | 0.50% | 1.76% | −1.26 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 6.7% | £8–22 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 2.8% | £25–65 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 2.8% | £8–22 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 2.8% | £8–22 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.4% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.4% | £30–80 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.1% | £30–80 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.84% | £45–95 |
| Not functioning as intended Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 0.56% | £40–120 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 0.56% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 8.4% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 5.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 3.6% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 2.8% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 2.8% | £20–80 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 2.2% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 288 | 86.5% | 16,274 mi |
| 30-60k | 67 | 83.6% | 40,474 mi |
| 60-90k | 4 | 75.0% | 68,692 mi |
Source: 359 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.
2021 500L MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 Fiat 500L?
85.8% of the 359 2021 Fiat 500L tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 83.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 Fiat 500L?
The three most recorded items are wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (6.69%), coil spring fractured or broken (2.79%), wipers blade defective (2.79%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2021 Fiat 500L MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 86.5% of the time, falling to 75.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 Fiat 500L in this dataset had covered 18,575 mi.
Does the season affect the 2021 Fiat 500L MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 86.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 85.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.