2015 Fiat 500 1.2L Petrol · SV65 TCZ

The 2015 Fiat 500 holds a valid MOT pass certificate dated 2 March 2026, tested at 102,562 miles, yet the maintenance trend is clearly deteriorating. That same day the car initially failed on three separate counts, including a severely worn offside front suspension arm ball joint and a missing rear exhaust clamp. The tester also flagged both front tyres worn close to the legal limit and scuffed on their inner edges. Passing on a retest after repairs suggests the owner addressed the most urgent items, but the pattern of multiple failures in a single test cycle points to deferred upkeep rather than proactive servicing. The two advisories carried over from the February 2025 test at 94,065 miles, slight play in the nearside front suspension ball joint and slight corrosion on a rear brake hose ferrule, were not flagged as failures in March 2026, indicating they remain stable but unresolved. The mileage progression tells a consistent story. From the clean pass at 85,150 miles on 4 March 2024 to 94,065 miles by 17 February 2025, the car covered roughly 8,915 miles in under twelve months. It then added another 8,497 miles in the thirteen months to the March 2026 test, maintaining an annual rate of around 9,300 miles. That is entirely typical for a city runabout of this age and suggests regular daily use rather than prolonged standing, which in turn means wear on consumables and mechanical components has been steady rather than sudden. A buyer should inspect the front suspension carefully. The offside front ball joint was excessively worn at the March 2026 failure, and the nearside joint had already shown slight play a year earlier. Repeated ball joint wear on a car with this mileage suggests the suspension bushes and track rod ends deserve close scrutiny for play or perishing. The inner-edge tyre wear on both fronts hints at possible tracking misalignment or worn suspension geometry components, so have the wheel alignment checked before committing. The rear exhaust clamp was missing at the most recent test and the rear brake hose ferrule showed corrosion a year prior. Examine the full exhaust for secure mounting and signs of gas leaks around the rear box and joints. Inspect all brake hoses for cracking, bulging, and corrosion at the ferrules, particularly at the rear. The parking brake inefficiency recorded at the March 2024 failure was rectified, but test the handbrake on a slope to confirm it holds firmly.