Does the Fiat Panda fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?
The Fiat Panda records 13.46 brakes failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 13.14 expected for a car of the same age mix: about as expected for its class and age (the difference is within its interval or under 0.5 items per 100 tests) (+0.32, 95% interval +0.22 to +0.41). It ranks 303 of 712 models on brakes (1 = most failures above expected).
Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on brakes · check a Fiat Panda by registration
What exactly fails on brakes?
The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Fiat Panda is “Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement”, recorded 13,148 times in 2019–2024.
| DVSA defect wording | Items | Per 100 tests |
|---|---|---|
| Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement | 13,148 | 2.31 |
| Brakes imbalance across an axle such that the braking effort from any wheel is less than 70% of the maximum effort recorded from the other wheel on the same axle. | 8,284 | 1.46 |
| Parking brake inoperative on one side | 8,201 | 1.44 |
| Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake | 7,441 | 1.31 |
| a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm | 7,077 | 1.24 |
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 568,508 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV
If a Fiat Panda gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?
12.8% of Fiat Panda MOTs with a brakes advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12 months and 4,008 miles later (70,826 advisories followed).
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 70,826 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV
Other pages for this model
Fiat Panda 2003 · Fiat Panda 2004 · Fiat Panda 2005 · Fiat Panda 2006 · Fiat Panda 2007 · Fiat Panda 2008 · Fiat Panda 2009 · Fiat Panda 2010 · Fiat Panda 2011 · Fiat Panda 2012 · Fiat Panda 2013 · Fiat Panda 2014 · Fiat Panda 2015 · Fiat Panda 2016 · Fiat Panda 2017 · Fiat Panda 2018 · Fiat Panda 2019 · Fiat Panda 2020 · Fiat Panda in Finland · Fiat Panda in the Netherlands · Fiat Panda by postcode area · Fiat Panda body, chassis and structure failures · Fiat Panda vehicle identification failures · Fiat Panda lamps, reflectors and electrics failures · Fiat Panda noise, emissions and leaks failures · Fiat Panda road wheels failures · Fiat Panda seat belts and airbags failures · Fiat Panda steering failures · Fiat Panda suspension failures · Fiat Panda tyres failures · Fiat Panda visibility failures