Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Fiat 500 2016: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 69 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2016 Fiat 500 were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Suspension arm pins and bushes (front).

Summary

The 2016 Fiat 500 follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 29,936 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
69 in every 100
Did not pass first time
31 in every 1009,413 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
9 yearsabout 46,577 miles
First tests counted
29,936

What failed most often

  1. Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)21 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Shock absorbers (rear)16 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre condition (front)10 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2016 Fiat 500 vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Suspension

Three faults. The strongest is the shock absorbers (rear): 14 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 9,397 of 9,413 failed first attempts (99.8%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Shock absorbers (rear)

Failed on 1,546 first tests14 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Slight seepage that leaves a film of fluid on a shock absorber does not fail it. Severe leakage, or damage so that it does not function, is Major. A shock absorber missing or likely to become detached is graded Dangerous, though a missing one is only rejected if shock absorbers were fitted as standard.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 729 first tests, 4.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Shock absorbers (front)

Failed on 937 first tests6.6 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Slight seepage that leaves a film of fluid on a shock absorber does not fail it. Severe leakage, or damage so that it does not function, is Major. A shock absorber missing or likely to become detached is graded Dangerous, though a missing one is only rejected if shock absorbers were fitted as standard.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 1,202 first tests, 5.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 1,941 first tests5.7 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

Pins and bushes on suspension arms fail as Major when they are excessively worn. They are graded Dangerous when likely to become detached. DVSA uses the same wording for a suspension joint.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 1,258 first tests, 2.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Brakes

One fault and one wear pattern. The strongest is the handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test): 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)

Failed on 566 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A parking brake with efficiency below the minimum requirement is Major, and graded Dangerous where efficiency is less than half of the required value. On a roller brake tester, the requirement counts as met if more than half of the wheels of a brake system lock. The check applies only to vehicles whose parking brake was not already tested as the secondary brake.

Brake discs (front)

Failed on 456 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A brake disc or drum must be significantly worn before it is rejected, and being worn below the manufacturer's recommended limits is not a reason in itself. Significantly and obviously worn is Major, as is contamination with oil or grease. A disc or drum that is fractured, insecure, seriously weakened or missing is graded Dangerous.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Brake cable (rear)

Noted on 76 first tests24 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Suspension spring mounting area (rear)

Noted on 35 first tests15 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Other suspension component (rear)

Noted on 82 first tests9.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension sub-frame (rear)

Noted on 360 first tests6.9 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Coil spring mounting (rear)

Noted on 36 first tests6.6 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Macpherson strut pins and bushes (front)

Noted on 287 first tests6.6 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

Macpherson strut bracket and mounting (front)

Noted on 30 first tests5.7 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
69in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
3in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
28in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 68.6% of 29,936 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 72.2%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 28 not fixed make the 31 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

406080100201020162020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020162020Older carsNewer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 71 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200854 in every 1009,416
200954 in every 10017,049
201056 in every 10018,066
201158 in every 10017,228
201261 in every 10024,878
201363 in every 10030,615
201463 in every 10036,521
201564 in every 10035,180
2016 This car69 in every 10029,936
201773 in every 10021,710
201877 in every 10022,658
201980 in every 10020,201
202085 in every 10012,402
202187 in every 10011,474
202290 in every 10011,039

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2016 Fiat 500.

Of 2016 Fiat 500 vehicles with under 31,000 miles, 81 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 64,000 miles or more, 59 in every 100 did.

Under 31,0006,068 tests
81
31,000–42,0006,063 tests
72
42,000–52,000 Typical car5,951 tests
67
52,000–64,0005,691 tests
64
64,000 and over6,126 tests
59

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 31,00042,000–52,00064,000 and over
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)3.57.37.9
Shock absorbers (rear)2.05.86.7
Tyre condition (front)1.73.14.1
Coil spring (rear)1.92.53.4
Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)0.41.63.7

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

42in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

29in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

7in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2016 Fiat 500 follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Suspension arm pins and bushes (front), about 21 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 68.6% of 29,936 first MOTs on the 2016 Fiat 500 passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 72.2%. Among 9,413 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Shock absorbers (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (16.5% of those tests; 1,546 observed failures; about 14× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2016 Fiat 500 at the first attempt were Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) (20.7%), Shock absorbers (rear) (16.5%) and Tyre condition (front) (9.9%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Shock absorbers (rear) (16.5% of those tests; 1,546 observed failures; about 14× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Shock absorbers (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (16.5% of those tests; 1,546 observed failures; about 14× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2016 Fiat 500 include Shock absorbers (rear), Suspension arm pins and bushes (front), Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2016 Fiat 500 (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Check any vehicle’s MOT history

Full MOT history, mileage records, and reliability insights for any UK vehicle.

Run a free check