Pass rate
Below average — 3.3 pts behind the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,329 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £66–£174
Pass rate
Below average — 3.3 pts behind the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,329 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £66–£174
Most common fault
Brakes
23.7% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 1.6 points. See every year →
The 2002 Fiat Seicento MOT pass rate is 69.6% of its MOT tests — 3.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis accounts for 13.2% of everything recorded on the 2002 Fiat Seicento, against 5.6% nationally — 7.6 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 23.7%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
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 Seicento? Get an email when these numbers change .
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 3.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 61.7%. The median 2002 Fiat Seicento in this dataset had covered 57,845 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 70.1% of the time, April–September 69.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp aim too low", noted on 5.42% of tests.
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Headlight Alignment
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 57% so small gaps stay visible.
Across all Seicento model years on record (2000–2003): 1,887 Fiat Seicento cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 4,685 tests. Portsmouth (PO) has the most, with 48 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 | Portsmouth (PO) | 48 | 67.7% |
| 2 | Norwich (NR) | 47 | 62.0% |
| 3 | Birmingham (B) | 47 | 77.2% |
| 4 | Bristol (BS) | 46 | 65.9% |
| 5 | Coventry (CV) | 46 | 73.7% |
| 6 | Gloucester (GL) | 39 | 60.0% |
| 7 | Sheffield (S) | 37 | 68.4% |
| 8 | Ashford (TN) | 33 | 68.9% |
| 9 | Brighton (BN) | 33 | 63.0% |
| 10 | Nottingham (NG) | 33 | 64.0% |
| 11 | Derby (DE) | 33 | 66.7% |
| 12 | Peterborough (PE) | 31 | 71.4% |
| 13 | Crawley (RH) | 30 | 73.2% |
| 14 | Poole (BH) | 30 | 59.3% |
| 15 | Leicester (LE) | 30 | 71.0% |
| 16 | Kingston upon Thames (KT) | 29 | 83.1% |
| 17 | Exeter (EX) | 28 | 62.3% |
| 18 | Yeovil (BA) | 28 | 58.6% |
| 19 | Chelmsford (CM) | 28 | 75.8% |
| 20 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 27 | 63.8% |
The twenty areas with the most Fiat Seicento 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 →
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 298 | 74.5% |
| South West | 197 | 64.0% |
| East of England | 178 | 68.0% |
| West Midlands | 123 | 70.7% |
| East Midlands | 114 | 60.5% |
| Yorkshire | 113 | 68.1% |
| North West | 111 | 73.9% |
| Wales | 71 | 73.2% |
| Scotland | 63 | 69.8% |
| London | 46 | 73.9% |
| North East | 15 | 73.3% |
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.
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
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 lights 5.4% 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.
Check corrosion 4.2% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
Check the brake pipes 4.1% of tests
“rigid brake pipes excessively corroded”
Brake pipes run under the car, usually in front of the rear wheels. Flaking or crusty metal is what fails; a light dusting of surface rust does not. Worth asking a garage to look while it is on a ramp.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £66–£174 — and 7% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,329 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 →
4 model years on record, from 2000 to 2003. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.0% to 69.6% — a spread of 1.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
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.
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Closest pass rates among 2002 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.
Shares of the 3,804 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 915 | 23.70% | 20.89% | +2.81 |
| Suspension | 856 | 22.20% | 20.98% | +1.22 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 510 | 13.20% | 5.57% | +7.63 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 490 | 12.70% | 12.21% | +0.49 |
| Tyres | 362 | 9.40% | 19.76% | −10.36 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 339 | 8.80% | 5.52% | +3.28 |
| Visibility | 185 | 4.80% | 4.97% | −0.17 |
| Non-component advisories | 55 | 1.40% | 4.18% | −2.78 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 51 | 1.30% | 0.82% | +0.48 |
| Steering | 41 | 1.10% | 2.57% | −1.47 |
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.4% | £30–80 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 5.1% | £45–110 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.2% | £180–450 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 4.1% | £80–250 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 4.1% | £80–180 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.1% | £45–110 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 4.1% | £60–150 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.6% | £80–250 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.1% | £45–120 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.9% | £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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 17.5% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.4% | £80–180 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 14.3% | £25–65 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 12.9% | £45–120 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 12.9% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 9.4% | £45–95 |
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 145 | 84.1% | 21,497 mi |
| 30-60k | 558 | 70.1% | 45,990 mi |
| 60-90k | 451 | 65.4% | 72,575 mi |
| 90-120k | 136 | 68.4% | 100,031 mi |
| 120k+ | 26 | 65.4% | 138,602 mi |
Source: 1,329 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.
69.6% of the 1,329 2002 Fiat Seicento tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 61.7%.
The three most recorded items are headlamp aim too low (5.42%), service brake imbalance across an axle (5.12%), component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (4.21%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 84.1% of the time, falling to 65.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Fiat Seicento in this dataset had covered 57,845 mi.
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 70.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 69.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.