Pass rate
82.1%
Around average — 9.5 pts ahead of the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 56 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £42–£134
2003 Fiat Barchetta MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 61,351 mi
Only 56 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Suspension
21.3% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2004 83.5% pass
- Avoid 2001 76.1% pass
Across the 5 years on record, a spread of 7.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 79.2%
- Typical mileage
- 61k mi
The 2003 Fiat Barchetta MOT pass rate is 82.1% of its MOT tests — 9.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 21.3% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Fiat Barchetta does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.9× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 16.0% of everything recorded on the 2003 Fiat Barchetta, against 5.6% nationally — 10.4 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 21.3%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 72.6% and this one manages 82.1% — 9.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 24% 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 Barchetta? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Fiat Barchetta compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 9.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 79.2%. The median 2003 Fiat Barchetta in this dataset had covered 61,351 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits", noted on 3.57% of tests.
- 56 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.1% overall pass rate, 79.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Fiat Barchetta, the average is 79.7% — best year 2004 (83.5%), worst 2001 (76.1%).
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
- 56
- Typical mileage (median)
- 61,351 mi
- Make and model
- Fiat Barchetta
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Emissions Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Barchetta MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2003 Barchetta
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 2003 Barchetta
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 exhaust and emissions 3.6% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
-
Check the lights 3.6% of tests
“position lamp not working”
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 wheel bearings 3.6% of tests
“wheel bearings rough when rotated”
Listen for a hum that rises and falls with speed and changes when you load one side in a bend. A noisy bearing is an easy pre-test diagnosis and an awkward surprise at the test station.
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 2003 Barchetta through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £42–£134 — and 24% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £42–£134
- Cheapest common item: rear fog lamp not working
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 30%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 24%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 56 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 Barchetta, side by side
5 model years on record, from 2000 to 2005. Across them the pass rate runs from 76.1% to 83.5% — a spread of 7.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 77.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2001 76.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 82.1%catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2004 83.5% headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2005 81.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
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 2003 Fiat Barchetta 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz S-Class 81.7%
- Honda S2000 83.5%
- Porsche Boxster 80.4%
- Subaru Impreza 80.0%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
- Jaguar Xj 78.8%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Fiat Barchetta 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 75 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 | 16 | 21.30% | 20.98% | +0.32 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 16 | 21.30% | 12.21% | +9.09 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 12 | 16.00% | 5.57% | +10.43 |
| Brakes | 9 | 12.00% | 20.89% | −8.89 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 7 | 9.30% | 5.52% | +3.78 |
| Tyres | 6 | 8.00% | 19.76% | −11.76 |
| Visibility | 3 | 4.00% | 4.97% | −0.97 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 3 | 4.00% | 0.82% | +3.18 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2 | 2.70% | 1.76% | +0.94 |
| Steering | 1 | 1.30% | 2.57% | −1.27 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.6% | £60–250 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.6% | £45–120 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.6% | £80–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| Rear fog lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.6% | £3–15 |
| Wheel bearings rough when rotated Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £20–55 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.6% | £80–200 |
| Emissions not tested unable to be completed Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 1.8% | £60–250 |
| Exhaust system system insecure Body, chassis, structure | Rectified | 1.8% | £45–120 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.8% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.7% | £45–95 |
| Flexible brake hoses excessively deteriorated Brakes | Advisory | 8.9% | £25–70 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 7.1% | £25–65 |
| Chassis condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 5.4% | £180–450 |
| Headlamp has a product on the lens so that the light output is severely reduced Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Advisory | 5.4% | £5–25 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 5.4% | £30–75 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 100.0% | 11,006 mi |
| 30-60k | 18 | 88.9% | 45,821 mi |
| 60-90k | 29 | 72.4% | 74,138 mi |
| 90-120k | 3 | 100.0% | 103,889 mi |
Source: 56 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.
2003 Barchetta MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Fiat Barchetta?
82.1% of the 56 2003 Fiat Barchetta tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 79.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Fiat Barchetta?
The three most recorded items are catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (3.57%), exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases (3.57%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (3.57%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Fiat Barchetta MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Fiat Barchetta in this dataset had covered 61,351 mi.