The 2016 Fiat 500 sat 94,227 MOT tests between 2022 and 2024, passing first time in 73.8% of them. That puts it 6.7 points below the national average for cars its age.
Everything here comes from the DVSA's published MOT results, not a survey. For the other years we hold, see every 500 we've measured.
How reliable is the 2016 500?
At 73.8% first-time passes, the 2016 Fiat 500 is a weaker performer for its age, 6.7 points below the 80.5% average for cars aged 3 to 8.
Read that as a roadworthiness record, not a survey score. It counts how often one of these reaches the test station needing work, so a car with a careful owner and a full history can still beat the figure. Here is how the pass rate moves as the car ages:
First-time pass rate by vehicle age, 94,227 tests. Every cohort shown has at least 500 tests.
The steepest fall comes between 7 and 8 years old, where the pass rate drops 3.3 points, from 72.4% to 69.1%. That is usually where the first big-ticket wear items land together, brakes, suspension and tyres. A car just the far side of that age can be worth more scrutiny, or a lower offer, than its age alone suggests.
What goes wrong on the 500
The area examiners flag most on this 2016 500 is brakes, on 35.6% of tests: discs and pads are wear items on any car this age, so it is often just routine maintenance, but grinding, a spongy pedal or pulling to one side means budgeting for work.
Behind it comes the body and structure at 5.6%, corrosion and structural condition, the one to take seriously: heavy rust in the sills, subframe or mountings can be expensive or terminal. Lights & electrics rounds out the top three at 4.7%.
None of this makes it a bad buy: these are the ordinary consequences of age and mileage. They just tell you what to look and listen for before you commit, with each figure linking through to the DVSA's own inspection criteria for that part.
Share of tests with a fail or advisory per component, this cohort only. Check the top items on any test drive.
What mileage should a 2016 500 have?
A typical 2016 500 shows around 32,125 miles by 5 years old, climbing to roughly 45,934 by 8. A car well above that has simply worked harder than average, which matters more for wear than for the MOT itself.
A car well below it is not automatically the better buy. 0.57% of 500s this age carry odometer readings that don't add up, so treat a suspiciously low reading as a reason to check the mileage history, not to relax. You can cross-check any figure against the DVSA's own MOT history record.
Average recorded mileage by age for this cohort. Use it as a yardstick against any individual car.
Fiat 500 reliability by year
First-time pass rates for adjacent registration years of the same model. A big step change usually marks a facelift or new generation.
Before you buy one
Start where the data points: inspect brakes first on any viewing, since it flags on 35.6% of these. Then run the exact car through a free MOT check to see its own history against these averages.
Two things this data cannot show: open recalls, and hidden finance or write-offs. Check recalls with the government's recall service; for the rest, our methodology explains where the public record stops.