Fiat Tipo, Buying guide, MOT record, UK numbers and recalls

12,811 Fiat Tipos are licensed in the UK. In 2025 they passed 71.8% of initial MOT tests, 0.5 points below the 72.3% UK average.

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

Fiat Tipo at the MOT

71.8% of 13,251 initial tests passed in 2025, ranking the Tipo 319th of 575 models. Fiat Tipos aged 3 to 5 years passed 78% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 6 to 10 years that fell to 69.4%.

First-time pass rate, 2025

Share of initial tests passed, retests excluded.

  • Fiat Tipo71.8%
  • All Fiat modelsThe Tipo is 4.1 pts ahead67.7%
  • All cars72.3%

Pass rate by age at test

Fiat Tipo tests in 2025.

  • 3 to 5 years3,288 tests78%
  • 6 to 10 years9,584 tests69.4%

Where Tipos fail

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

  • Suspension26.8%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment19.3%
  • Tyres19.2%
  • Brakes13.8%
  • Visibility11.2%

The items testers recorded most often were coil spring fractured or broken (10.2%), tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (8.3%) and shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (7%).

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

Full Fiat Tipo MOT record

What to look at on a viewing

The Tipo'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.26.8% of Tipo 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.19.3% of Tipo failure items

  3. Tyres

    Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear.19.2% of Tipo failure items

Fiat Tipos in the UK

12,811 were licensed at the end of June 2026. The number licensed has grown 92% since the end of 2017.

Change since 2017
+92%from 6,677 licensed
Typical year of first use
2017half of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2017 or earlier
First registered in 2025
54against 6,498 in 2017
Declared off the road
5484.1% of those registered, under SORN

Licensed Fiat Tipos since 2014

Licensed at each year end and in the latest quarter.

Show the figures
DateLicensed
End of 2014215
End of 2015171
End of 20161,361
End of 20176,677
End of 20188,976
End of 201910,210
End of 202011,688
End of 202112,844
End of 202213,155
End of 202313,102
End of 202413,150
End of 202512,956
End of June 202612,811

How old they are

Licensed Fiat Tipos by year of first use.

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

A further 25 were first used before 2016.

Show the figures
First usedLicensed, end 2025First registered that year
20254554
20245865
2023224247
2022398433
20211,0111,102
20201,0161,070
20191,5421,667
20181,8792,057
20175,6646,498
20161,0851,239

Tipo engines and fuel

1.4 litre engines made up 64% of Fiat Tipo MOT tests in 2025, followed by 1.6 litre at 19%. Petrol accounts for 75% of licensed Tipos and diesel for 25%.

Engine size at MOT, 2025

Share of 13,251 initial MOT tests in 2025.

  • 1.4 litre63.6%
  • 1.6 litre18.8%
  • 1.0 litre9.2%
  • 1.3 litre7.4%

Fuel type, licensed Tipos

DfT licensing statistics, June 2026.

FuelLicensedShare
Petrol9,64975%
Diesel3,15425%
Gas80.1%

Fiat Tipo recalls

5 DVSA safety recalls launched from 2010 to July 2026 name the Fiat Tipo. Each covers vehicles built in a set period, so a recall does not mean every Tipo is affected.

  1. May 2024 R/2024/182

    Incorrect tyre size data on Certificate of Conformity (CoC)

    Tipos built Apr 2021 to Nov 2023 · 104 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Affected vehicles may display incorrect tyre size information on the Certificate of Conformity (CoC).
    Remedy
    The CoC must be replaced.
  2. Jul 2023 R/2023/168

    Affected vehicles may have been fitted with a faulty 48-volt battery. This may lead to a loss of the functionality of the battery. This may result in a risk of thermal run away in the case of water infiltration

    Tipos built Mar 2023 to Apr 2023 · 68 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Remedy
    The repair is a check of the PBU valve code and replacement of the 48-volt battery if necessary.
  3. Apr 2021 R/2021/093

    Fault in the air bag control module software

    Tipos built Oct 2020 to Mar 2021 · 620 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    Due to a fault in the airbag control module software the airbag system may fail to be active without this being indicated on the instrument panel.
    Remedy
    Carry out an update to the airbag control module and instrument panel software.
  4. Jun 2017 R/2017/164

    Driver airbag may fail to deploy

    Tipos built Nov 2016 to Apr 2017 · 11 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    The driver's airbag was manufactured with an incorrectly manufactured airbag inflator initiator that may not ignite when a deployment voltage is provided to the initiator. As a result vehicles may experience a non-deployment of the driver airbag during a crash event warranting an airbag deployment which could increase the risk of injury.
    Remedy
    Recall the vehicles that are likely to be affected and replace the driver airbag unit (initiator included) with a quality assured unit.
  5. Dec 2016 R/2016/262

    Steering wheel airbag may fail to deploy correctly

    Tipos built Sep 2015 to Nov 2016 · 25 vehicles across the whole recall

    Defect and remedy
    Defect
    It has been identified that due to the non-conforming layout of the airbag wiring and missing cut-proof protection the airbag wiring may interfere with the steering wheel wiring terminal. This can cause the abrasion of the wiring itself. This abrasion may cause a short-circuit and consequent inadvertent deployment of the steering wheel airbag.
    Remedy
    Recall all affected vehicles to inspect the airbag wiring and apply cut proof padded tape.
How to check a specific Tipo for recalls

Fiat Tipo FAQs

How many Fiat Tipos are there in the UK?

12,811 Fiat Tipos were licensed in the UK at the end of June 2026, with a further 548 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT vehicle licensing statistics.

Is the Fiat Tipo 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 71.8% first-time pass rate for the Fiat Tipo across 13,251 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.

Has the Fiat Tipo had any recalls?

5 DVSA safety recalls launched from 2010 to July 2026 name the Fiat Tipo. The most recent was published in May 2024. 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 Tipo?

On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: suspension, lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and tyres. 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 Tipo'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 Tipo?

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

Across the 1,389 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 July 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.