Abarth 500 MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on an Abarth 500 in Great Britain in 2025 — 5,237 tests. Figures cover every 500 first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the 500 ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
66.9%
5.4 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
5,237
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
8.2%
of 500 first tests; national 7.3%
Typical mileage at 10 years
56,250
middle half: 43,750–71,250 miles (2,500-mile-band midpoints)

How many Abarth 500 cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 6,072 Abarth 500 cars that were taxed or on SORN: 5,416 taxed and 656 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper). The MOT figures above count tests; these count cars, across the whole United Kingdom, cars only. Abarth 500 vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
5,416
89.2% of the 6,072 500 cars taxed or on SORN; 13 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
656
declared off the road by their keepers — 10.8% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed 500 cars peaked at 5,942 at the end of 2015 and has since fallen by 526 (8.9%) to 5,416 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 68 at the end of 2014 to 656 at the end of 2025, up 864.7%. A car leaves the taxed count when it is scrapped, exported or declared off the road; the year-end counts do not say which.

Taxed 500 cars, year by year

Cars of this model taxed and on the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025.

02k4k6k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed 500 cars, year 2014: 5kTaxed 500 cars, year 2015: 6kTaxed 500 cars, year 2016: 6kTaxed 500 cars, year 2017: 6kTaxed 500 cars, year 2018: 6kTaxed 500 cars, year 2019: 6kTaxed 500 cars, year 2020: 5kTaxed 500 cars, year 2021: 5kTaxed 500 cars, year 2022: 5kTaxed 500 cars, year 2023: 5kTaxed 500 cars, year 2024: 5kTaxed 500 cars, year 2025: 5k5k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed 500 cars
20145,232
20155,942
20165,912
20175,811
20185,658
20195,561
20205,422
20215,364
20225,253
20235,248
20245,423
20255,416

500 cars on SORN, year by year

Cars of this model declared off the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025. Its own scale — SORN counts are a fraction of the taxed count.

02004006008002014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)500 cars on SORN, year 2014: 68500 cars on SORN, year 2015: 81500 cars on SORN, year 2016: 107500 cars on SORN, year 2017: 146500 cars on SORN, year 2018: 176500 cars on SORN, year 2019: 204500 cars on SORN, year 2020: 291500 cars on SORN, year 2021: 305500 cars on SORN, year 2022: 353500 cars on SORN, year 2023: 427500 cars on SORN, year 2024: 523500 cars on SORN, year 2025: 656656
View this chart as a table
Year500 cars on SORN
201468
201581
2016107
2017146
2018176
2019204
2020291
2021305
2022353
2023427
2024523
2025656

Which model years survive

Taxed 500 cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 5,416 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. A build year's count depends on how many were sold that year as well as how many have lasted.

Year of manufacture Taxed, end of 2025Share of taxed 500 cars
20251492.8%
20243286.1%
20231442.7%
2016551.0%
201566512.3%
201471013.1%
20134738.7%
201266712.3%
201179114.6%
201079314.6%
200963511.7%
All other build years (eight years, each under 1%)60.1%

Population source: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026; counts of the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, United Kingdom, cars only, excluding cars recorded with no model name. SortedCars groups DVLA's model name 500 under this model. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, DVLA or the Department for Transport.

How the 500 ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, 500 vs all cars, 2025.

Abarth 500All cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Abarth 500, vehicle age 10: 67.6%Abarth 500, vehicle age 11: 68.4%Abarth 500, vehicle age 12: 65.4%Abarth 500, vehicle age 13: 65.8%Abarth 500, vehicle age 14: 64.8%Abarth 500, vehicle age 15: 67%Abarth 500, vehicle age 16: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 3: 88.5%All cars, vehicle age 4: 87.2%All cars, vehicle age 5: 86%All cars, vehicle age 6: 83.5%All cars, vehicle age 7: 80.9%All cars, vehicle age 8: 78.2%All cars, vehicle age 9: 74.9%All cars, vehicle age 10: 71.9%All cars, vehicle age 11: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 12: 65.8%All cars, vehicle age 13: 63.5%All cars, vehicle age 14: 61.2%All cars, vehicle age 15: 59.3%All cars, vehicle age 16: 58.3%All cars, vehicle age 17: 57.2%All cars, vehicle age 18: 57.4%All cars, vehicle age 19: 57%All cars, vehicle age 20: 57.6%Abarth 500 68.6%All cars 57.6%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)500 tests500 pass rateAll cars
1071567.6%71.9%
1174968.4%68.6%
1251565.4%65.8%
1372965.8%63.5%
1483664.8%61.2%
1590867.0%59.3%
1671368.6%58.3%

Better or worse than the average car?

The 500's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the 500 beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

500 ahead500 behind
-12-6+0+6+12Age 10: -4.3 points vs the average carAge 11: -0.2 points vs the average car11Age 12: -0.4 points vs the average carAge 13: +2.3 points vs the average car13Age 14: +3.6 points vs the average carAge 15: +7.7 points vs the average car15Age 16: +10.3 points vs the average carVehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
10-4.3
11-0.2
12-0.4
13+2.3
14+3.6
15+7.7
16+10.3

The 500 fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the 500 fleet still in use.

02505007501kAge 10: 71510Age 11: 749Age 12: 51512Age 13: 729Age 14: 83614Age 15: 908Age 16: 71316Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
10715
11749
12515
13729
14836
15908
16713

What a 500 fails on

Where the failure items land when a 500 fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Suspension27.1%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment26.4%
Brakes10.6%
Tyres10.5%
Noise, emissions and leaks9.0%
Body, chassis, structure7.7%
Visibility5.3%
Steering1.9%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (98.4% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a 500, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Suspension: 39.8% of advisories39.8%Brakes: 25.6% of advisories25.6%Tyres: 20.5% of advisories20.5%Body, chassis, structure: 3.8% of advisoriesNon-component advisories: 2.8% of advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaks: 2.5% of advisories
SuspensionBrakesTyresBody, chassis, structureNon-component advisoriesNoise, emissions and leaks
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Suspension39.8%
Brakes25.6%
Tyres20.5%
Body, chassis, structure3.8%
Non-component advisories2.8%
Noise, emissions and leaks2.5%

What mileage is normal for a 500?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) 500; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

Typical 500 (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k10121416Vehicle age (years)Age 10: typical 56,250 miles (middle half 43,750–71,250)Age 11: typical 61,250 miles (middle half 46,250–78,750)Age 12: typical 68,750 miles (middle half 53,750–83,750)Age 13: typical 73,750 miles (middle half 56,250–88,750)Age 14: typical 76,250 miles (middle half 58,750–93,750)Age 15: typical 81,250 miles (middle half 61,250–103,750)Age 16: typical 86,250 miles (middle half 68,750–106,250)86k mi

Mileage values are midpoints of 2,500-mile bands.

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
1043,75056,25071,250
1146,25061,25078,750
1253,75068,75083,750
1356,25073,75088,750
1458,75076,25093,750
1561,25081,250103,750
1668,75086,250106,250

What fails at each age

The 500's failure mix by age band, 2025 — each band's top categories at their true share of that band's failure items; the pale remainder is everything else. How the mix shifts with age is the point of the chart.

SuspensionLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyresBrakesNoise, emissions and leaksBody, chassis, structureEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
10-13 yrsSuspension34.8%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment18.9%
10-13 yrsTyres13.2%
10-13 yrsBrakes11.3%
10-13 yrsNoise, emissions and leaks8.6%
10-13 yrsEverything else13.2%
14+ yrsSuspension25.6%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment23.9%
14+ yrsBrakes12.0%
14+ yrsBody, chassis, structure10.8%
14+ yrsNoise, emissions and leaks10.5%
14+ yrsEverything else17.2%
How these figures are computed. Every number on this page is calculated by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (every MOT test in Great Britain — 2025 for single-year figures; trend figures state their span, currently 2023–2025). Where a figure comes from a sample or uses banded values (mileage is banded to 2,500 miles), the page says so beside the figure. Test class 4 only, first tests only — retests are excluded. Class 4 is the car MOT class and also covers car-derived vans, pickups and motorhomes tested to the same standard; where this page says "cars" it means class 4. Pass rate = passes ÷ (passes + failures + pass-after-rectification): a vehicle that failed and was fixed during the visit counts as a fail. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Alias spellings of a make in the DVSA file are counted under one make name, and all trims and variants of a model are grouped under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables. The taxed and SORN counts on this page are the one exception: they are not computed from MOT records but taken from the Department for Transport's vehicle licensing statistics (DfT/DVLA table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0), which count the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, UK-wide, cars only. They describe a model as a whole, grouped under SortedCars' model names, and say nothing about any one car. “Dangerous” is DVSA's statutory defect category (in force since May 2018): a defect posing an immediate risk to road safety — driving the vehicle before repair is an offence. What these figures are for. These statistics are general information about groups of vehicles. They are not advice, a valuation or a recommendation to buy, avoid or price any particular vehicle, and no decision about one car should rest on them alone — check the car itself and its own records. We take care over the calculations, but we cannot guarantee they are complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for loss arising from reliance on them. This does not limit any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — see our Terms & Conditions. If you believe any figure on this page is inaccurate, contact us. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DVSA or DVLA. DVSA publishes the raw test records; the statistics on this page are SortedCars' own calculations from them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.