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Fiat 500L, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls

20,507 Fiat 500Ls are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 61.3% of initial MOT tests, 11 points below the 72.3% UK average.

Looking at a specific 500L? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.

Fiat 500L at the MOT

61.3% of 20,961 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the 500L 478th of 575 models. Fiat 500Ls aged 3 to 5 years passed 79% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 59.5%.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Fiat 500L61.3%
  • All Fiat modelsThe 500L is 6.4 pts behind67.7%
  • All cars72.3%

Pass rate by age at test

Fiat 500L tests in 2025.

  • 3 to 5 years367 tests79%
  • 6 to 10 years9,882 tests62.6%
  • 11 years and over10,710 tests59.5%

Where 500Ls fail

Share of all failure items recorded on Fiat 500L tests in 2025.

  • Suspension24.7%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment19.7%
  • Brakes15.3%
  • Tyres12.1%
  • Steering9.4%

The items testers recorded most often were coil spring fractured or broken (10.2%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (7.9%) and stop lamp not working (5.3%).

The MOT page lists every common 500L MOT failure. For one car's own results and advisories, run a free MOT history check.

Full Fiat 500L MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The 500L's most common failure areas, and what a tester checks in each.

  1. Suspension

    Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters.24.7% of 500L failure items

  2. Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment

    Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting.19.7% of 500L failure items

  3. Brakes

    Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing.15.3% of 500L failure items

Fiat 500Ls in the UK

20,507 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has grown 43% since the end of 2014, although it peaked at 23,279 at the end of 2021.

Change since 2014
+43%from 14,365 licensed
Typical year of first use
2014half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2014 or earlier
First registered in 2025
18against 3,231 in 2015
Declared off the road
1,1895.5% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Fiat 500Ls since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 201414,365
End of 201518,817
End of 201621,240
End of 201721,722
End of 201822,538
End of 201922,998
End of 202022,984
End of 202123,279
End of 202222,932
End of 202322,512
End of 202421,934
End of 202521,151
End of June 202620,507

How old they are

Licensed Fiat 500Ls by year of first use.

  • Licensed at the end of 2025
  • First registered that year

A further 288 were first used before 2002.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025First registered that year
2021225264
2020211253
2019442498
2018731812
2017849947
20161,5521,737
20152,7933,231
20147,956
20135,705
20120
20110
20100
20090
20080
20070
20060
20050
20040
20032
20020

2,793 500Ls first used in 2015 were still licensed at the end of 2025, roughly 86% of the 3,231 first registered that year.

500L engines and fuel

1.3 litre engines made up 45% of Fiat 500L MOT tests in 2025, followed by 1.4 litre at 28%. Diesel accounts for 65% of licensed 500Ls and petrol for 35%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 20,939 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 1.3 litre44.7%
  • 1.4 litre28%
  • 1.6 litre22%
  • 0.9 litre5.1%

Fuel type, licensed 500Ls

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol7,23535%
Diesel13,26965%
Battery electric2<0.1%
Gas1<0.1%

Fiat 500L recalls

2 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Fiat 500L. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every 500L is affected.

  1. Mar 2021 R/2021/068

    Due to incorrect type approval data processing the manufacturer's plate (VIN plate) and registration document must be replaced

    500Ls built Sep 2018 to Jul 2020 · 18 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Due to incorrect type-approval data processing the manufacturer's plate (VIN plate) and registration document must be replaced.
    Remedy
    Replace the VIN plate and update the registration document as required.

  2. Dec 2017 R/2017/325

    Supplementary heater wiring may become damaged and cause an electrical short-circuit

    500Ls built Aug 2012 to Sep 2017 · 17,329 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    On some Fiat 500L vehicles a layout non-conformity could cause abrasion of the supplementary heater (PTC) wiring. This could result in possible electric short-circuiting with the possibility of a loss of some vehicle safety. In the worst case it could cause a vehicle fire.
    Remedy
    Apply a cut-proof sheath on the supplementary heater wiring to protect it from abrasions.
How to check a specific 500L for recalls

Other Fiat models

The most-tested Fiat models in 2025, against the 500L's 61.3% MOT pass rate.

All 15 Fiat models

Fiat 500L FAQs

How many Fiat 500Ls are there in the UK?

20,507 Fiat 500Ls were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 1,189 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Fiat 500L reliable?

MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 61.3% first-time pass rate for the Fiat 500L across 20,961 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

Has the Fiat 500L had any recalls?

2 DVSA safety recalls launched from 1992 to October 2026 name the Fiat 500L. The most recent was published in March 2021. A recall applies to vehicles built in a set period, so check a specific car on the GOV.UK vehicle recall checker.

What should I check before buying a used Fiat 500L?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: suspension, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and brakes. Then check the individual car's own records. Outstanding finance, insurance write-offs and police stolen markers are not part of the MOT record, so they take a history check.

How do I check a Fiat 500L's history?

Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.

Already found a 500L?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

Across the 1,548 vehicles of every make Carpeep has checked since November 2025, 19% had outstanding finance recorded and 13% an insurance write-off. More on the Fiat history check. To confirm a car's identity, see the Fiat VIN check.

  • Outstanding finance
  • Write-off records
  • Stolen markers
  • Mileage history
  • Previous keepers

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), which also gives the engine sizes. Licensed, SORN, fuel and registration figures are from the Department for Transport vehicle licensing statistics (VEH0120, VEH0124, VEH0160). Recalls are from the DVSA vehicle recalls data, with recalls launched up to October 2026. Government data is used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability. History-check findings are anonymous counts from reports bought on Carpeep, each vehicle counted once, and are published only where at least 100 vehicles returned an answer.