All generations and engines together · 21,341 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 43k
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 13,210 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Some 595s were sold with Fiat's MTA/Dualogic single-clutch automated manual instead of the standard 5-speed. Owners describe jerky, hesitant take-up at low speed and hard, delayed changes as the clutch actuator wears; Honest John logged a transmission failure with gear and shaft damage on a 2013 car at 30,000 miles, and the Abarth owners' forum runs a standing warning thread about the repair bills that come with this gearbox. Actuator or clutch-pack replacement typically runs into four figures once the car is out of warranty. Manual cars don't have this problem.
Owners and buying guides both flag creaks, clunks and knocking from the rear end, usually put down to the torsion beam mounts and bushes taking a battering from the car's stiff, lowered sports suspension. EVO's used-buying advice for the 695 specifically tells buyers to listen for suspension noise and check the rear beam for corrosion. That lines up with this model's measured MOT data, where suspension is the standout defect for the segment, so the folklore and the numbers point the same way.
The wiring loom running into the tailgate flexes every time the boot is opened and can fray over time; Honest John has logged cases where this killed the speedometer, indicators and brake lights all at once, alongside separate reports of bulbs popping and a heater stuck on hot at 43,000 miles. Forum owners report the same family of gremlins, including CAN-bus fault codes and dead Blue&Me/Uconnect head units that need a dealer reset. No recall or manufacturer bulletin covers any of it.
A recurring complaint is the engine cutting power and refusing to rev past idle-plus with no warning light, occasionally ending in a full engine replacement even on cars with only a few hundred miles showing; Honest John has logged cases at 363 miles and 1,630 miles. The Abarth forum has its own long-running threads on "major engine problems" and check-engine lights flickering on and off. No single cause or manufacturer statement has been confirmed publicly.
Some owners report sludge, or a mayonnaise-like residue, building up around the oil filler cap and rocker cover, mostly on cars used for short runs where the 1.4 T-Jet turbo never gets fully up to temperature. Others on the same forum argue it's down to driving style rather than a design fault, and there's no agreed mileage or repair figure attached to it. Worth a look under the cap at a viewing regardless of which side of the argument you land on.
The 1.4 T-Jet is an interference engine, so a snapped cambelt takes the valves and pistons with it, turning a service item into a repair running into thousands rather than hundreds. EVO's buying advice for the model stresses checking the belt and water pump have been "studiously adhered to", and the Abarth forum has its own recurring thread on the timing belt and water pump change, suggesting it's a live concern for owners rather than a one-off gripe. There's no recall, it's routine maintenance, but a missed change is expensive.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (City cars), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.