Fiat Ducato MOT failure rate and common faults
53,521 Fiat Ducato vans aged 3 to 20 took their MOT in 2025, and 22.5% failed at the first attempt. An average car of the same age failed 33.9% of the time, which makes the Fiat Ducato 34% less likely to fail than the typical car on the road. Here is what fails, and which years to look for.
22.5%
failed first time
53,521 MOT tests in 2025
-34%
vs same age average
average car of this age mix: 33.9%
1 of 24
age adjusted rank
among vans and pickups; 1 fails least
41.3
dangerous defects per 1,000
same age average: 120.2
What fails on a Fiat Ducato MOT
Failure items recorded per 1,000 tests, by part of the car, set against an average car with exactly the same spread of ages. A figure well above average is a weak spot worth checking before you buy.
The most common Fiat Ducato MOT failures
The individual failure items testers recorded most often, per 1,000 tests.
| Failure item | Area | Per 1,000 tests |
|---|---|---|
| Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively | Windscreen, wipers and mirrors | 25.8 |
| Parking brake efficiency: efficiency below requirements | Brakes | 20.1 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas: prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength | Suspension | 19.6 |
| Position lamp: not working | Lights and electrics | 19.4 |
| Outline marker lamp: not working | Lights and electrics | 19.3 |
| Service brake performance: excessively binding | Brakes | 16.8 |
| Headlamp aim: too low | Lights and electrics | 16.6 |
| Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect | Lights and electrics | 15.3 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction | Engine, emissions and leaks | 13.0 |
| Stop lamp: not working | Lights and electrics | 12.9 |
Fiat Ducato MOT failure rate by year
Every car fails more often as it ages, so each registration year is compared with the average for all cars of the same age. Years with fewer than 500 tests are left out.
| First registered | Tests | Failed | Same age average | Average mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1,070 | 11.9% | 11.4% | 37,100 |
| 2021 | 2,041 | 11.0% | 12.8% | 54,100 |
| 2020 | 2,045 | 11.9% | 14.1% | 66,500 |
| 2019 | 2,101 | 16.6% | 16.5% | 68,500 |
| 2018 | 1,925 | 15.3% | 19.1% | 71,300 |
| 2017 | 2,107 | 18.2% | 21.8% | 61,500 |
| 2016 | 2,768 | 18.0% | 25.1% | 54,900 |
| 2015 | 2,827 | 16.9% | 28.1% | 49,400 |
| 2014 | 2,427 | 19.3% | 31.4% | 50,800 |
| 2013 | 2,281 | 20.3% | 34.3% | 49,700 |
| 2012 | 2,601 | 19.8% | 36.6% | 50,200 |
| 2011 | 3,237 | 21.7% | 38.8% | 52,700 |
| 2010 | 3,384 | 22.0% | 40.7% | 50,600 |
| 2009 | 3,575 | 23.7% | 41.8% | 50,200 |
| 2008 | 5,003 | 25.4% | 42.9% | 55,800 |
| 2007 | 5,130 | 28.5% | 42.7% | 59,400 |
| 2006 | 4,433 | 31.3% | 43.0% | 56,300 |
| 2005 | 4,566 | 34.3% | 42.4% | 55,700 |
Advisories to look for in a Fiat Ducato's MOT history
An advisory is a tester's warning that something is wearing but has not failed yet. These are the ones written most often on the Fiat Ducato, per 1,000 tests. If the car you are looking at has one of these, ask whether it has been fixed since.
- Tyres: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing108.1
- Suspension arms: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement71.6
- Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened65.4
- Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge58.4
- Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive33.7
- Service brake performance: binding but not excessively28.6
Checking a used Fiat Ducato before you buy
The Fiat Ducato has no part of the car that fails well above average for its age, so check the areas that fail most often overall.
Lights and electrics
Walk round the car with every light on: headlights on dip and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and the number plate lamp. A pattern of electrical faults costs more than a bulb.
Brakes
Look through the wheel spokes at the discs for a deep lip or scoring, check the handbrake holds the car on a slope, and feel for a pull to one side when braking hard.
Suspension
Drive over speed bumps with the radio off and listen for knocks. Look at the car side on: a corner sitting lower than the others often means a broken coil spring.
Averages only take you so far. The specific car's MOT history shows whether it has already failed on any of these, how often advisories were ignored, and whether the mileage climbs steadily from test to test. Read our guide to reading a car's MOT history before you go to view it.
Fiat Ducato MOT questions
What is the Fiat Ducato MOT failure rate?
22.5% of Fiat Ducato vans failed their first MOT test of 2025, from 53,521 tests on vehicles aged 3 to 20. An average car with the same age mix failed 33.9% of the time, so the Fiat Ducato was 34% less likely to fail.
What fails most often on a Fiat Ducato MOT?
Lights and electrics caused the most failure items, at 190 per 1,000 tests. The single most common failure item was "Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively", recorded 25.8 times per 1,000 tests.
Which Fiat Ducato year has the best MOT record?
Measured against cars of the same age, 2010 registrations did best: 22.0% failed against an average of 40.7% for cars that age. Older cars always fail more often, so compare a year with its age group rather than with newer cars.
Does this tell me whether a particular Fiat Ducato will pass?
No. These are averages across every Fiat Ducato tested in 2025. The car in front of you has its own record: its full MOT history shows every pass, failure and advisory it has had, and it is free to view by registration.
Other Fiat models
- Fiat 50032.2% failed
- Fiat Panda35.5% failed
- Fiat Punto45.0% failed
- Fiat Doblo36.5% failed
- Fiat 500X27.3% failed
- Fiat 500L38.8% failed
Ranked close to the Fiat Ducato
- Peugeot Boxerrank 2
- Volkswagen Transporterrank 3
- Volkswagen Caddyrank 4
How these figures are calculated
Source: DVSA Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2025 release. We count first tests of cars and small vans (class 4) aged 3 to 20, so a car that fails and is retested is counted once. A failure includes faults fixed and passed within the same visit. The same age average weights the national failure rate for each age by how many Fiat Ducato vans of that age were tested, so a model is never penalised for having an older fleet. Make and model are as recorded at the test; trim levels are combined. Full method and rankings.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.