Fiat Cinquecento MOT reliability

Fiat Cinquecentos passed their MOT first time 65% of the time across 277 tests in 2025. 200 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

65%

MOTs analysed

277

Still licensed (GB)

200

Body type

Hatchback

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

1998 petrol

31 MOTs

These figures come from 31 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

Passed first time 61%. Typical mileage 58,677 (most between 39,642 and 80,566).

2005: 57% → 2006: 52% → 2007: 47% → 2008: 45% → 2009: 41% → 2010: 38% → 2011: 42% → 2012: 40% → 2013: 40% → 2014: 45% → 2015: 44% → 2016: 42% → 2017: 50% → 2018: 51% → 2019: 57% → 2020: 55% → 2021: 46% → 2022: 60% → 2023: 68% → 2024: 68% → 2025: 61%

Most common failures

Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (9.7%)
Exhaust system: has a major leak of exhaust gases (6.5%)
Catalyst emissions: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (6.5%)
Headlamp aim: too low (6.5%)
Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (3.2%)

Where 1998 Cinquecentos fail

Lights & electrics

22.6%

Brakes

12.9%

Visibility & wipers

12.9%

Body, structure & corrosion

9.7%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

9.7%

Suspension & axles

6.5%

Wheels & tyres

3.2%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB.