Fiat Seicento: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Fiat Seicento fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 16.7 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 1,348 individual Fiat Seicento tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 60% first-time pass rate means roughly 40 in every 100 Fiat Seicentos presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average Fiat Seicento tested had covered 57,460 miles and was built around 2002.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Fiat Seicento bought as a repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific Fiat Seicento rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see what damaged Fiat Seicentos actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Fiat Seicento

1. Service brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 3.3% of tests (19.54x the national rate for this defect)
2. Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle., 5.5% of tests (13.87x the national rate for this defect)
3. The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, 7.8% of tests (9.42x the national rate for this defect)
4. Vehicle structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is seriously reduced, 3.1% of tests (8.44x the national rate for this defect)
5. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 6% of tests (7.32x the national rate for this defect)
6. Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake, 5.6% of tests (7.27x the national rate for this defect)
7. A direction indicator lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 3% of tests (6.08x the national rate for this defect)
8. The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements, 9.8% of tests (5.58x the national rate for this defect)
9. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 3.5% of tests (4.55x the national rate for this defect)
10. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 4.7% of tests (4.15x the national rate for this defect)

From 2,085 DVSA-tracked Fiat Seicento tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 3.75% of these flagged Fiat Seicento defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Fiat Seicento pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each Fiat Seicento year:

• 2001 Fiat Seicento - 60.8% first-time pass, 255 tests
• 2002 Fiat Seicento - 63.3% first-time pass, 346 tests
• 2003 Fiat Seicento - 58.3% first-time pass, 422 tests

Other Fiat models

• Fiat 500 - 71.6%
• Fiat Panda - 69.3%
• Fiat Ducato - 77.1%
• Fiat Punto - 63.5%
• Fiat Doblo - 68.9%
• Fiat 500x - 79.2%
• Fiat 500l - 69.9%
• Fiat 500c - 70.4%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Chrysler-Jeep Grand Voyager - 60.1%
• Volkswagen Fox - 60%
• Citroen C2 - 60%
• Peugeot 4007 - 59.9%
• Fiat Stilo - 59.9%
• Peugeot 207 - 59.8%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate