MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Fiat Panda — MOT statistics 2024

The Fiat Panda failed 35.4% of 89,584 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 104.7 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 5% more often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 104.7, 95% CI 103.7–105.6 (100 = national average) 100 104.7 0 200
Index
104.7
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
35.4%
n = 89,584
Dangerous /100
13
national ≈11
Diesel − petrol
+6.0 pp
fail-rate gap
Rank
506 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Kia Picanto (index 104.6) — the two published results are 0.1 index points apart.

Fiat Panda common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Suspension stands out at 27.6 per 100 tests, against 18.0 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Fiat Panda common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.

Component-group comparison table

Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Suspension27.6156,70218.01.53×1.52–1.54
Lamps & electrical14.582,41220.50.71×0.70–0.71
Brakes13.576,50513.11.03×1.02–1.03
Tyres10.660,2779.51.12×1.11–1.13
Visibility9.754,8638.41.15×1.13–1.15
Body & structure5.430,4386.30.86×0.84–0.86
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 568,508 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Suspension pin, bush or joint excessively wornA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn10.154.872.09×Listen for knocks over bumps — worn joints show up on the test
Shock absorber bush excessively wornA shock absorber bush excessively worn 4.710.2023.67×Ask the seller about: A shock absorber bush excessively worn
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements6.343.591.76×Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does…A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage3.530.983.60×Ask the seller about: A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not func
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen3.632.221.63×Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
Exhaust system leaking or insecureExhaust system leaking or insecure2.331.162.01×Watch for smoke on a cold start — emissions failures are costly
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirementParking brake efficiency below minimum requirement2.311.241.86×Feel for brake judder and pulling on the test drive
Strength or continuity of the load bearing…The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired2.141.121.91×Look underneath for rust or cracks around subframe and suspension mountings
Lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a…A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning1.922.090.92×Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure
Spring or spring component fractured or seriously…A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened1.942.860.68×Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Fiat Panda MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Suspension is highest at 56.8 per 100 tests; Non-component advisories are lowest at 5.4 per 100 tests — the gap is 51.4 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Fiat Panda MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Suspension56.8
Tyres41.7
Brakes25.6
Body & structure8.2
Emissions & leaks6.1
Non-component advisories5.4

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Fiat Panda against cars of the same age

AgePartFiat PandaSame age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres2.194.17-1.98
3 yearsBrakes0.911.77-0.86
3 yearsSuspension2.090.631.46
4 yearsTyres2.794.54-1.75
4 yearsBrakes1.742.43-0.69
4 yearsSuspension2.871.211.66
5 yearsTyres3.685.06-1.38
5 yearsBrakes2.373.09-0.72
5 yearsSuspension4.872.192.68
6 yearsTyres4.325.54-1.22
6 yearsBrakes3.073.81-0.74
6 yearsSuspension6.73.722.98
7 yearsTyres4.865.95-1.09
7 yearsBrakes3.664.55-0.89
7 yearsSuspension8.735.683.05
8 yearsTyres5.726.31-0.59
8 yearsBrakes4.415.38-0.97
8 yearsSuspension11.677.783.89

Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.

If a car like this fails, does it fail again?

A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.

After this year's testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed37.2%34,085
It passed29.3%291,909

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 7.9 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is visibility — 36.9% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.

Adjusted for how much these are actually driven

The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 567,044 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.

Standardised forIndexReading
Age only104.2fails more often than expected
Age and annual mileage118.7fails more often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year18.3%a normal spread of use

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 14.5 points — this fleet is driven less than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view flatters it — but it does not change which side of normal the car sits on. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.

How the Fiat Panda compares with cars of its own age and size

Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.

AgeFiat PandaSame class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years10.52%11.3%-0.78 pp17,314
4 years13.57%14.24%-0.67 pp23,558
5 years19.1%17.41%+1.7 pp29,820
6 years22.67%20.74%+1.93 pp34,898
7 years25.04%24.32%+0.72 pp38,923
8 years28.02%28.15%-0.13 pp41,171
9 years31.78%32.03%-0.25 pp46,135
10 years35.29%35.6%-0.31 pp49,855
11 years38.05%38.66%-0.61 pp47,829
12 years39.98%41.26%-1.28 pp47,070
13 years42.26%43.3%-1.04 pp45,789
14 years43.93%45.05%-1.12 pp43,799
15 years45.19%46.33%-1.14 pp37,740
16 years46.55%47.35%-0.8 pp24,771
17 years47.17%47.79%-0.63 pp17,568
18 years47.32%48%-0.68 pp10,904
19 years48.5%47.73%+0.77 pp5,994
20 years49.73%47.36%+2.37 pp2,572

Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.

How does the Fiat Panda perform as it gets older?

The Panda at age 20 stands out at 49.5%, against 41.0% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Fiat Panda perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–53%.

Takeaway: a 10-year-old Panda has roughly a 29% chance of failing its MOT; from about age 13 it stays above the national age curve.

Data table
AgeFiat PandaAll vehiclesGap
311.2%12.4%-1.3 pp
410.0%13.1%-3.1 pp
517.2%15.1%+2.1 pp
618.9%17.5%+1.4 pp
721.5%20.2%+1.4 pp
825.8%23.3%+2.5 pp
928.1%26.5%+1.6 pp
1029.4%30.1%-0.7 pp
1132.6%33.2%-0.6 pp
1234.1%35.7%-1.6 pp
1340.3%38.2%+2.1 pp
1442.9%40.4%+2.4 pp
1542.6%41.6%+1.0 pp
1646.6%43.1%+3.5 pp
1747.3%43.1%+4.2 pp
1847.7%43.9%+3.8 pp
1947.4%43.5%+3.9 pp
2049.5%41.0%+8.4 pp

Is a Fiat Panda ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Fiat Panda MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 88.4%.

Based on 89,179 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.

higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 25
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 5,508
6–7 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 6,204
8 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 4,862
9 years96.4%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 7,863
10–14 years93.2%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 35,872
15–17 years90.7%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 19,478
18 years91.8%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 3,838
19 years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 2,923
20+ years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 2,606

Fiat Panda petrol vs diesel: which ages best

Diesel is highest at 41.0%; Petrol is lowest at 35.0% — the gap is 6.0 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fiat Panda petrol vs diesel: which ages best — 2024 UK MOT data
Fuel split table
FuelTests% failingGap vs best
Petrol83,86135.0%+0.0 pp
Diesel5,70441.0%+6.0 pp

Chart sample sizes: n=84k · n=5,704.

How dangerous are Fiat Panda MOT failures?

Major defects stand out at 66.0 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Fiat Panda MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor9.4514.220.66×
Major65.9752.751.25×
Dangerous13.1411.151.18×

Chart values: Minor 9.4 · Major 66.0 · Dangerous 13.1.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of a Fiat Panda MOT matter?

Nov is highest at 35.8%; Mar is lowest at 32.9% — the gap is 2.9 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Fiat Panda MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 27%–37%.

bars: Fiat Panda · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthFiat PandaAll vehiclesGap
Jan35.04%31.12%+3.9 pp
Feb34.2%29.99%+4.2 pp
Mar32.88%28.26%+4.6 pp
Apr35.09%29.78%+5.3 pp
May33.97%28.79%+5.2 pp
Jun33.69%28.15%+5.5 pp
Jul34.45%29.33%+5.1 pp
Aug34.18%29.2%+5.0 pp
Sep32.91%28.19%+4.7 pp
Oct35.38%30.34%+5.0 pp
Nov35.8%30.58%+5.2 pp
Dec34.42%29.33%+5.1 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 2.9 percentage points — booking month barely matters for this family. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.

Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.

Fiat Panda average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of Pandas runs from 24,691 miles to 52,635 miles, against 36,907 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Bars: Fiat Panda · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–107k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Fiat Panda MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 10–14, 22.9% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 51.3% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

Does high mileage mean more Fiat Panda MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Fiat Panda: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles12.6%11.7–13.6%4,974
3–540-70k miles22.7%19.2–26.7%488 (rough estimate)
6–9<40k miles18.8%18–19.5%10,312
6–940-70k miles30.2%29.1–31.3%6,486
6–970-100k miles37.8%35.5–40.1%1,711
6–9100-140k miles43.9%38.9–49%367 (rough estimate)
10–14<40k miles22.9%22–23.8%8,259
10–1440-70k miles35.1%34.3–35.9%14,775
10–1470-100k miles43.6%42.6–44.6%9,154
10–14100-140k miles47.8%46.1–49.5%3,203
10–14140k+ miles51.3%46.7–55.9%448 (rough estimate)
15+<40k miles30.5%29–32.1%3,520
15+40-70k miles42.9%41.9–43.9%9,454
15+70-100k miles49.7%48.7–50.7%9,501
15+100-140k miles52.4%51–53.7%5,313
15+140k+ miles54.7%51.7–57.7%1,034

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
39,28514,61322,2971,139
410,93917,59325,8731,787
513,78321,98432,0592,582
616,85926,03538,4132,673
720,54232,09946,3433,533
824,69136,90752,6354,863
930,99244,72061,7877,864
1036,69552,54370,6327,938
1140,43457,31677,4337,520
1241,41458,28378,7626,329
1343,52662,12583,9915,348
1447,36066,63487,9918,738
1547,65868,34790,3149,840
1654,39774,71096,2614,675
1756,48276,95199,3864,967
1857,73278,522101,7993,838
1958,02578,171100,8362,924
20+56,43077,19599,2152,606

A typical 8-year-old Panda has ~36,907 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Fiat Panda fails its MOT most

Dundee area is highest at 46.0%; Enfield area is lowest at 24.5% — the gap is 21.5 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Where in Britain the Fiat Panda fails its MOT most — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Dundee (DD)45.99%+11.7 pp
Kirkcaldy (KY)44.14%+9.8 pp
Falkirk (FK)43.97%+9.7 pp
Aberdeen (AB)42.14%+7.8 pp
Edinburgh (EH)41.94%+7.6 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
Enfield (EN)24.49%-9.8 pp
Ilford (IG)24.59%-9.7 pp
Slough (SL)24.73%-9.6 pp
Southend-on-Sea (SS)25.38%-8.9 pp
Croydon (CR)25.65%-8.6 pp

Why do areas differ?

For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.

In areas with the highest mot centre density this model fails 8.7 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.64, n=115 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest frost days this model fails 5.9 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.56, n=115 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest road-salt proxy this model fails 7.0 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.55, n=115 areas with ≥800 tests).

Fiat Panda Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
MOT centre density28.5%37.2%+8.7 ppr=0.64
Frost days32.2%38.1%+5.9 ppr=0.56
Road-salt proxy31.0%38.0%+7.0 ppr=0.55

Factors that only mean something combined

Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.

Composite area indicators, each tested against a defect rate we measure
CompositeBuilt fromTested againstrVerdict
Underbody corrosionfrost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1)share of tests with a corrosion defect+0.42holds (116 areas)
Tyre wearrain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisoryshare of tests failing on tyres+0.45holds (116 areas)
Overnight corrosionterraced housing × cars per household × frost daysshare with a corrosion defect+0.41holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index
Deferred maintenancedeprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour ratecars repeating the same advisory−0.26fails (118 areas)
Powertrain stressengine capacity ÷ kerb weightsuspension, brake and emissions failures−0.16fails (22 models)

The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.

All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
Factorrn areasLow-Q fail %High-Q fail %Gap ppLow-Q factorHigh-Q factor
MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles)0.64011528.537.2+8.758.8
Frost days (days/year)0.56011532.238.1+5.911.837.7
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)0.55111531.038.0+7.0223667.4
Urban share (0–1)-0.44911535.929.1-6.80.41
Distance to coast (km)-0.29311536.633.0-3.6678.7
Terrain gradient (% grade)0.2456834.036.6+2.70.53.7
Income deprivation (score)0.0939731.833.2+1.40.10.2

Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.

Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 26%–41% failing.

Fiat Panda survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 19 is well below the reference at 20.4%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fiat Panda survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
317,31458.8%10.52%
423,55880.1%13.57%
529,820100%19.1%
634,898100%22.67%
738,923100%25.04%
841,171100%28.02%
946,135100%31.78%
1049,855100%35.29%
1147,829100%38.05%
1247,070100%39.98%
1345,789100%42.26%
1443,799100%43.93%
1537,740100%45.19%
1624,77184.2%46.55%
1717,56859.7%47.17%
1810,90437.1%47.32%
195,99420.4%48.5%

By age 19, only about 20% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈29,425); survivors still fail at 48.5% vs 13.6% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does a Fiat Panda last?

100,000+ miles is highest at 9.4%; 150,000+ miles is lowest at 0.8% — the gap is 8.6 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles53,0779.35%
150,000+ miles4,3900.77%

Of 567,442 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 9.3% had reached 100k miles, 0.8% had reached 150k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is a Fiat Panda likely to last?

Bought at age 5 is highest at 12.5 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 2.5 years — the gap is 10.0 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—12.5
8—9.5
10—7.5
12—5.5
15—at least 2.5

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has about 7.5 expected years of further MOT-present life on the 2024 survival curve. Derived from how many cars of each age still appear for test, not from a longitudinal panel.

Fiat Panda faults that come together

Body & structure + Emissions & leaks stand out at 8.55×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks7,6638.55×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering3645.52× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems414.89× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSteering914.46× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle2404.36× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks1844.36× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4764.27× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems5704.17×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1,4724.08×
Body, chassis, structureSteering1,7584.06×
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle3834.01× (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1,2073.91×
Road WheelsTyres1813.91× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering1,2833.86×
BrakesSteering2,8943.85×
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels1093.81× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems6763.8×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels2173.74× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleVisibility3413.68× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks5,5973.6×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks6,3833.51×
Identification of the vehicleTyres3063.44× (rough estimate)
BrakesRoad Wheels1713.44× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels753.42× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering2,9603.37×
Body, chassis, structureBrakes6,7043.3×
Road WheelsVisibility1503.12× (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment7,3763.11×
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment12,7773.1×
SteeringSuspension4,8083.05×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility12,0413.02×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility9043.02×
Identification of the vehicleSuspension5982.99×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension1,9122.95×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres10,8782.83×
Road WheelsSuspension2892.78× (rough estimate)
BrakesSuspension20,1782.73×
Road WheelsSteering292.73× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility4,0602.69×
SteeringTyres1,8802.68×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension22,9742.66×
BrakesTyres8,7572.66×
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension8,6562.65×
Body, chassis, structureSuspension11,1922.63×
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres3,7962.61×
BrakesVisibility8,8272.58×
Body, chassis, structureVisibility5,0592.57×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres7312.54×
Body, chassis, structureTyres4,7752.52×
TyresVisibility7,9972.51×
SteeringVisibility1,7832.45×
SuspensionTyres16,6172.41×
SuspensionVisibility16,0192.24×
Road WheelsSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems15too few (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleRoad Wheels9too few (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSpeedometer and speed limiter8too few (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belt installation check7too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkSuspension7too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSpeedometer and speed limiter6too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterSuspension6too few (rough estimate)
Speedometer and speed limiterVisibility5too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkTyres5too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkVisibility5too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Body, chassis, structure» and «Noise, emissions and leaks» appear together 8.55× more often than chance (7,663 co-occurrences in the same test; lift≥1.3, n≥500).

Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).

Is low mileage better for a Fiat Panda?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 25.8%, against 42.7% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year25.76%202,389
8–12k miles/year42.67%59,884
Gap (low − normal)-16.91 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
516.749123.92485-7.22 pp
617.2269731.24749-14.03 pp
720.4673334.71749-14.25 pp
824.7775539.9767-15.13 pp
925.8683943.79838-17.93 pp
1031.6394246.78917-15.15 pp
1133.02966521,025-18.98 pp
1234.7695851.731,011-16.97 pp
1335.241,08453.571,051-18.33 pp
1438.741,22155.751,008-17.02 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
513.9113,72425.714,231-11.81 pp
616.8615,37930.914,823-14.05 pp
718.9417,16234.335,453-15.39 pp
820.5618,38638.715,742-18.15 pp
924.0520,33642.646,360-18.6 pp
1027.1922,15147.226,588-20.03 pp
1130.2321,68648.595,668-18.36 pp
1233.1521,99949.84,944-16.65 pp
1335.8421,65852.774,207-16.93 pp
1437.7421,22052.763,256-15.02 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 25.8% vs 42.7% for 8–12k miles/year — 16.9 pp lower (n_low=202,389, n_normal=59,884). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 30.0% low-use vs 46.6% normal (-16.6 pp).

Which Fiat Panda engine is best?

diesel 1.0–1.2 is highest at 111.6; petrol 1.2–1.5 is lowest at 82.9 — the gap is 28.7 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Engine bands against this model's own failure rate at the same ages
FuelCapacityvs own age normRaw fail %Tests
petrol1.2–1.5 litre82.935.07%9,618
petrolunder 1.0 litre95.723.85%48,647
petrol1.0–1.2 litre99.734.86%468,714
diesel1.0–1.2 litre111.639.92%40,882

Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel 1.0–1.2 runs at 111.6 against this model's own age norm while the petrol 1.2–1.5 runs at 82.9 — a spread of 28.7 points between two cars that share a name.

Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.

Best year for a Fiat Panda, and the years to avoid

Build year 2010 is highest at 105.3; Build year 2020 is lowest at 75.3 — the gap is 30.0 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Fiat Panda build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Fiat Panda by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
202075.366.9–83.78.8%3,535better
201987.782.1–93.312.22%7,757better
20189085.5–94.514.42%10,718better
201794.591.1–97.916.58%18,310better
2016101.999.3–104.519.93%29,413no different
201597.295.4–99.122.47%47,752better
201495.794–97.425.6%48,262better
201394.292.6–95.828.17%45,934better
201293.491.7–95.130.58%39,476better
2011104.9103.1–106.737.34%33,964worse
2010105.3104–106.740.29%57,129worse
2009101.2100–102.441%66,346no different
2008101.8100.1–103.443.12%34,936worse
2007102.5101–10445.04%39,111worse
2006102100.4–103.746.21%32,040worse
2005100.198.3–101.946.49%25,918no different
2004102.2100.3–10448.51%23,352worse
200310189.4–112.648.83%598no different

The best build year here is 2019 and the weakest is 2010. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 13 of 18 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Fiat Panda MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £99.77 to £189.56, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£100–190
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Suspension27.6 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£49.68
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment14.5 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£20.30
Brakes13.5 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£20.25
Tyres10.6 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£9.54

Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £100 to £190, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.

Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.

For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Fiat Panda running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 29.0%, against 17.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 5
17
vehicles needing work
At age 10
29
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024
Repairs per 100
£9,977
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 41.85% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
311.15%14,6131,139-6.0 pp
49.96%17,5931,787-7.2 pp
517.2%21,9842,582+0.0 pp
618.86%26,0352,673+1.7 pp
721.54%32,0993,533+4.3 pp
825.83%36,9074,863+8.6 pp
928.1%44,7207,864+10.9 pp
1029.4%52,5437,938+12.2 pp
1132.58%57,3167,520+15.4 pp
1234.13%58,2836,329+16.9 pp
1340.26%62,1255,348+23.1 pp
1442.87%66,6348,738+25.7 pp
1542.6%68,3479,840+25.4 pp
1646.59%74,7104,675+29.4 pp
1747.29%76,9514,967+30.1 pp
1847.68%78,5223,838+30.5 pp
1947.37%78,1712,924+30.2 pp

The number a fleet manager needs is not the failure rate, it is the year the car starts costing more. Between cars aged 12 and cars aged 13, both tested in 2024, the failure rate of this model is 6.13 percentage points higher — the steepest one-year step in this cross-section of different cars, and a natural planning point for replacement.

Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.

Fiat Panda rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility stands out at 1.53×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
1.53×
1.17% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
91st
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 115 postcode areas

This Fiat Panda fails on corrosion more often than average once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are saltier than most for the models we publish.

Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.

Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.

Does a Fiat Panda advisory become a failure?

Suspension is highest at 24.7%; Road wheels are lowest at 1.4% — the gap is 23.3 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Fiat Panda chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Fiat Panda, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Suspension 24.7% · Lamps & electrical 20.5% · Steering 18.2% · Brakes 12.8% · Tyres 11.2% · Body & chassis 10.3% · Noise, emissions, leaks 8.3% · Seat belts & restraints 6.4%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Suspension24.7%12 months4,002125,960
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment20.5%12 months4,41813,554
Steering18.2%12 months4,6233,807
Brakes12.8%12 months4,00870,826
Tyres11.2%12 months4,401115,044
Body, chassis, structure10.3%12 months4,02730,764
Noise, emissions and leaks8.3%12 months4,45823,792
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems6.4%12 months3,4931,522
Identification of the vehicle3.4%12.1 months4,1628,458
Road wheels1.4%12 months4,9682,357

This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.

Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 25 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 4,002 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.

What will fail next on a Fiat Panda?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 20+ are highest at 29.8%; Tyres after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 1.7% — the gap is 28.1 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedVisibility 2.3% · Suspension 2.2% · Tyres 1.7%9,652
<3advisoryVisibility 5.1% · Suspension 4.9% · Brakes 3.6%1,919
<3failureVisibility 5.6% · Tyres 4.0% · Suspension 3.9%1,286
3-5passedVisibility 4.9% · Suspension 4.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.1%41,967
3-5advisorySuspension 8.4% · Visibility 7.4% · Tyres 4.8%17,989
3-5failureSuspension 8.5% · Visibility 7.8% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 6.3%13,156
6-8passedSuspension 8.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.5% · Tyres 3.9%43,532
6-8advisorySuspension 13.5% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.9% · Tyres 6.3%33,069
6-8failureSuspension 16.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.3% · Tyres 8.0%28,875
9-11passedSuspension 14.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 6.7% · Tyres 5.7%35,598
9-11advisorySuspension 20.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 9.4% · Tyres 8.5%38,561
9-11failureSuspension 23.8% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 13.7% · Brakes 11.3%44,117
12-14passedSuspension 17.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 8.9% · Brakes 8.3%25,414
12-14advisorySuspension 23.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.9% · Brakes 11.0%32,925
12-14failureSuspension 26.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 16.2% · Brakes 15.1%42,488
15-19passedSuspension 17.5% · Brakes 10.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 10.2%10,853
15-19advisorySuspension 25.8% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.1% · Brakes 13.7%15,415
15-19failureSuspension 27.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 18.9% · Brakes 18.5%21,992
20+passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 14.4% · Suspension 10.3% · Body, chassis, structure 8.7%585
20+advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 26.7% · Suspension 16.4% · Body, chassis, structure 15.7%389 (rough estimate)
20+failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 29.8% · Suspension 19.3% · Body, chassis, structure 17.4%627

The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.

The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.

Fiat Panda ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 55.1%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 3.1% — the gap is 52.0 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
41.85%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.79
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
31.49%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
1.003%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 148,557 failures followed through to their re-test, 41.85% were repaired and passed the same day and 55.06% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 394,621 defect items were cleared in the process.

Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.79 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 3,401 miles a year across 105,085 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.

Two populations hide inside one model. 31.49% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 42.58% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.

Odometer anomalies: 1.003% of 105,142 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 14,902 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.

Fiat Panda safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 17.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Fiat Panda recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Fiat Panda. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2011: 0 · 2012: 0 · 2013: 0 · 2014: 0 · 2015: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 0 · 2018: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2020: 0 · 2021: 0 · 2022: 0 · 2023: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2025: 1.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Fiat Panda
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2023/31324/03/2025486Incorrect information on the registration document and CoC (certificate of Conformity)
R/2024/14407/06/202490Reverse gear switch not functioning as intended.
R/2023/28213/12/2023197Side airbag/head airbag crash sensor not correctly connected
R/2023/28213/12/20230Side airbag/head airbag crash sensor not correctly connected
R/2019/09612/04/201925NON-CONFORMITY OF THE HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM OF THE STEERING COLUMN
All 17 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2023/31324/03/202503/09/2022 – 23/04/2023486Incorrect information on the registration document and CoC (certificate of Conformity)
R/2024/14407/06/202428/03/2023 – 29/07/202390Reverse gear switch not functioning as intended.
R/2023/28213/12/202313/03/2023 – 23/06/2023197Side airbag/head airbag crash sensor not correctly connected
R/2023/28213/12/202313/03/2023 – 23/06/20230Side airbag/head airbag crash sensor not correctly connected
R/2019/09612/04/201906/09/2016 – 31/12/201825NON-CONFORMITY OF THE HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT MECHANISM OF THE STEERING COLUMN
R/2018/20824/08/201804/04/2018 – 06/07/2018134ENGINE SUSPENSION REACTION BRACKET NOT FITTED ON THE TRANSMISSION SIDE
R/2016/22528/10/201628/08/2016 – 28/09/20167TRANSMISSION MOUNT MAY FAIL
R/2015/22929/12/201504/07/2011 – 17/04/20138,091HEADLIGHTS MAY FAIL
R/2015/07610/04/201501/09/2014 – 20/11/20141,041FRONT SEATBELTS MAY NOT FUNCTION AS INTENDED
R/2010/21213/12/201001/09/2009 – 30/11/2009544LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL
R/2010/21213/12/201001/10/2009 – 31/12/2009544LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL
R/2010/10110/09/201047LOSS OF STEERING CONTROL
R/2009/07803/09/200901/06/2003 – 30/04/200725,977POSSIBILITY OF FIRE
R/2009/08002/09/200901/03/2009 – 31/05/200915FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2007/17307/12/200711/10/2007 – 27/10/20074,804BRAKES MAY FAIL
R/2007/06829/05/200701/07/2005 – 31/01/2006919FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2007/01220/04/200701/05/2006 – 31/05/20061,474ENGINE POWER MAY BE LOST

DVSA lists 17 safety recall campaigns for the Fiat Panda, covering roughly 44,395 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.

Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.

Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.

Fiat Panda inspection results in other countries

Finland Katsastus stands out at 44.9%, against 26.3% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)35.4%26.01%+9.4 pp89,584
NetherlandsAPK58.1%50.8%+7.3 pp81,184
FinlandKatsastus44.9%26.3%+18.6 pp771

The verdict is consistent across every regime where the difference is clear, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.

What Finland fails it for — share of recorded faults
Fault areaShare
Axles, wheels and suspension28%
Brake systems27.6%
Environmental hazards16.1%
Chassis and body13.9%
Steering equipment9%

Useful as a cross-check on the UK defect table above: the categories are named differently, but a component that dominates in both regimes is a genuine weak point of the model rather than an artefact of one country's testing style.

The exact faults Netherlands records — APK defect codes, 2024
CodeFaultRecordedType
210Tyre pressure not at the correct value15,968failure
205Tyre with insufficient tread15,643failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread7,572advisory
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed6,727failure
391Wipers leave insufficient visibility6,063failure
115Exhaust not gas-tight or venting unsafely5,210failure
584Sidelight not working properly3,745failure
576Indicator colour wrong or not permitted3,668failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 1.525 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.

Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Fiat Panda is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.

Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.; Traficom — Periodic inspections of cars by model / by model and fault object 2024, CC BY 4.0. Adapted; licences and full notice.

Fiat Panda MOT: quick answers

Fiat Panda MOT Risk Index is close to the reference at 104.7, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

What is the Fiat Panda first-time MOT pass rate?
64.6% of first attempts passed in 2024 (89,584 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
Why does this number differ from other sites?
Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 35.4% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 89,584 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 104.7 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Fiat Panda with other cars

Kia Sportage is highest at 104.9; Vauxhall Astra is lowest at 104.5 — the gap is 0.4 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Same brand

All Fiat MOT statisticsFiat 500 MOT statsFiat Ducato MOT stats

Similar risk

Kia Picanto (index 104.6)Kia Sportage (index 104.9)Vauxhall Astra (index 104.5)

Same size class

how Land Rover Range Rover compareshow BMW X5 compareshow Vauxhall Meriva compares

By build year

Fiat Panda 2003Fiat Panda 2004Fiat Panda 2005Fiat Panda 2006Fiat Panda 2007Fiat Panda 2008Fiat Panda 2009Fiat Panda 2010Fiat Panda 2011Fiat Panda 2012Fiat Panda 2013Fiat Panda 2014Fiat Panda 2015Fiat Panda 2016Fiat Panda 2017Fiat Panda 2018Fiat Panda 2019Fiat Panda 2020

By area

Fiat Panda MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Fiat Panda body, chassis and structure failuresFiat Panda brakes failuresFiat Panda vehicle identification failuresFiat Panda lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresFiat Panda noise, emissions and leaks failuresFiat Panda road wheels failuresFiat Panda seat belts and airbags failuresFiat Panda steering failuresFiat Panda suspension failuresFiat Panda tyres failuresFiat Panda visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Fiat Panda in FinlandFiat Panda in the Netherlands


Data details & how to cite

Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:fiat-panda:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Fiat Panda MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/fiat-panda/ · Published 2026-07-30.