Alfa Romeo’s are all about passion and soul, making the hairs on your skin stand up but quickly emptying your bank account of funds thanks to their legendary lack of reliability. Or so the story goes.
However, the sporty little MiTo debunks that myth by being the top scorer in MOT Angel’s index that ranks cars based not only on their MOT failure rate but also the average cost of repair required to pass.
Just eight per cent of MiTo’s record a failure in their first test, with an average bill of just £237 to fix the faults that cause their failure, enough for the recently facelifted hatchback to take the top spot on the table.
Its bigger sister, the Giulietta, proves it’s no fluke by finishing in second place ahead of the Kia Soul.
It’s not all good news for Kia though, with the dreary Cerato propping up the bottom of the table. A massive 83% fail their MOT, with repair costs ranging from £328 to £800.
| MAKE | MODEL | AGE | MOT SCORE |
| Alfa Romeo | MiTo | 3 years | 2.84 |
| Alfa Romeo | Giulietta | 4 years | 2.84 |
| Kia | Soul | 5 years | 2.84 |
| Toyota | Urban Cruiser | 6 years | 2.85 |
| Chevrolet | Captiva | 7 years | 2.88 |
| Suzuki | Splash | 8 years | 3.00 |
| Volkswagen | Fox | 9 years | 3.12 |
| Peugeot | 1007 | 7 years | 3.12 |
| Suzuki | Splash | 7 years | 3.20 |
| Skoda | Yeti | 4 years | 3.21 |
The MOT Index analyses claims made via MOT Angel’s own Pass Guarantee product, national MOT statistics, manufacturer repair times and average market labour rates and parts prices across all major UK models for the last 12 years.
“Looking at MOT failure statistics alone tells only part of the story,” explains MOT Angel’s Matthew Tumbridge. “More reliable cars, with low failure rates, can actually cost more to run over a few years because the cost of each repair is higher. Cars that fail relatively rarely but have high parts or labour time costs will rank in the MOT Index alongside less reliable cars that are cheaper to fix.”
