Fiat 500 vs Volkswagen Up

On MOT-testable defects, the Volkswagen Up (fail rate 11.9%) performed better than the Fiat 500 (21.0%) across comparable years. The biggest divergence was suspension, where the 500 recorded failures more often.

21.0%
500 fail rate
11.9%
Up fail rate
9.02pp
Difference

Side by side

MOT figures compared
MetricFiat 500Volkswagen Up
MOT tests analysed1,868,841665,062
Pass rate79.0%88.1%
Fail rate21.0%11.9%
Fail rate compared (lower is better) Fiat 500 21.0% Volkswagen Up 11.9%
Overall MOT fail rate across comparable model years.

Where they differ

Failure-area share, by category
Category500Up
Suspension11.1%2.1%
Lighting & signalling8.1%5.4%
Tyres5.2%3.4%
Brakes5.6%3.8%
Visibility4.3%3.7%

Methodology & source. Dataset: DVSA MOT testing data (2021,2022,2023,2024,2025). Data last updated 2026-07-01. Figures reflect MOT-testable defects only — read the methodology for how these are calculated and what they don't measure.

See the full data