Porsche Panamera — MOT statistics 2024
The Porsche Panamera failed 12.77% of 7,148 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 50.9 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 49% less often than expected for its age.
Age-adjusted peer: Porsche Boxster (index 48.5) — the two published results are 2.4 index points apart.
Porsche Panamera common problems: what actually fails the MOT
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are well below the reference at 3.4 per 100 tests, against 9.6 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
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.
| Group | This family | Cases behind it | UK, same ages | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 9.2 | 3,347 | 8.1 | 1.13×1.09–1.17 |
| Visibility | 3.8 | 1,373 | 6.3 | 0.61×0.57–0.63 |
| Lamps & electrical | 3.4 | 1,242 | 9.6 | 0.35×0.33–0.37 |
| Suspension | 2.5 | 913 | 8.7 | 0.29×0.27–0.31 |
| Brakes | 2.1 | 755 | 7.2 | 0.29×0.27–0.31 |
| Identification | 1.1 | 398 | 0.3 | 3.67×3.29–4.01 |
| What failed | per 100 tests (this family) | per 100 tests (UK average) | ratio family / UK | What to check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyre cords visible or damagedA tyre cords visible or damaged | 2.53 | 1.63 | 1.55× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Number plate does not conform to the specified…Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements | 0.90 | 0.20 | 4.48× | Ask the seller about: Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements |
| Tyre seriously damagedA tyre seriously damaged | 2.90 | 2.54 | 1.14× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Wheel with a loose or missing wheel nut, bolt or…A wheel with a loose or missing wheel nut, bolt or stud | 0.44 | 0.30 | 1.49× | Ask the seller about: A wheel with a loose or missing wheel nut, bolt or stud |
| Windscreen or window damaged or seriously…Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view | 2.22 | 2.36 | 0.94× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the…Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements | 3.01 | 3.59 | 0.84× | Check tyre tread depth across the full width |
| Wiper blade defectiveWiper blade defective | 0.48 | 1.26 | 0.38× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Spring or spring component fractured or seriously…A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened | 1.78 | 2.86 | 0.62× | Ask the seller about: A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened |
| Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the…Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen | 0.48 | 2.22 | 0.22× | Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view |
| Aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down…The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements | 0.74 | 2.57 | 0.29× | Try every light and switch — lamps are a top failure |
Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.
Porsche Panamera MOT advisories: what gets flagged
Tyres are highest at 33.9 per 100 tests; Identification is lowest at 0.5 per 100 tests — the gap is 33.4 per 100 tests.
higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests
Advisory rates table
| Group | Advisories per 100 |
|---|---|
| Tyres | 33.9 |
| Brakes | 16.3 |
| Non-component advisories | 3.9 |
| Suspension | 1.7 |
| Emissions & leaks | 1 |
| Identification | 0.5 |
Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.
Tyres, brakes and suspension: Porsche Panamera against cars of the same age
| Age | Part | Porsche Panamera | Same age, petrol and diesel | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | Tyres | 6.44 | 4.17 | 2.27 |
| 3 years | Brakes | 0.21 | 1.77 | -1.56 |
| 3 years | Suspension | 0.17 | 0.63 | -0.46 |
| 4 years | Tyres | 5.85 | 4.54 | 1.31 |
| 4 years | Brakes | 0.31 | 2.43 | -2.12 |
| 4 years | Suspension | 0.34 | 1.21 | -0.87 |
| 5 years | Tyres | 6.93 | 5.06 | 1.87 |
| 5 years | Brakes | 0.7 | 3.09 | -2.39 |
| 5 years | Suspension | 0.61 | 2.19 | -1.58 |
| 6 years | Tyres | 6.18 | 5.54 | 0.64 |
| 6 years | Brakes | 1.2 | 3.81 | -2.61 |
| 6 years | Suspension | 1.17 | 3.72 | -2.55 |
| 7 years | Tyres | 5.76 | 5.95 | -0.19 |
| 7 years | Brakes | 1.2 | 4.55 | -3.35 |
| 7 years | Suspension | 2.76 | 5.68 | -2.92 |
| 8 years | Tyres | 6.77 | 6.31 | 0.46 |
| 8 years | Brakes | 1.64 | 5.38 | -3.74 |
| 8 years | Suspension | 3.25 | 7.78 | -4.53 |
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 test | Fails next year | Vehicles followed |
|---|---|---|
| It failed | 12.8% | 890 |
| It passed | 11.9% | 23,311 |
A failed test does not clearly change next year's odds here (12.8% against 11.9%): the difference is within the margin of error. The failure most likely to come back is visibility — 17.7% 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 36,004 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 for | Index | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Age only | 52.1 | fails less often than expected |
| Age and annual mileage | 52.5 | fails less often than vehicles driven as much |
| Share doing under 3,000 miles a year | 4.5% | a normal spread of use |
Mileage changes little here (+0.4 points): this fleet is driven about as much as the vehicles it is compared with. 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 Porsche Panamera 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.
| Age | Porsche Panamera | Same class, same age | Difference | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 years | 9.11% | 10.78% | -1.67 pp | 4,195 |
| 4 years | 8.55% | 12.36% | -3.8 pp | 4,140 |
| 5 years | 10.81% | 14.18% | -3.37 pp | 4,403 |
| 6 years | 11.13% | 16.1% | -4.97 pp | 4,259 |
| 7 years | 12.89% | 18.26% | -5.37 pp | 4,235 |
| 8 years | 14.54% | 20.56% | -6.01 pp | 3,603 |
| 9 years | 13.95% | 23.12% | -9.17 pp | 3,541 |
| 10 years | 15.05% | 25.63% | -10.58 pp | 2,951 |
| 11 years | 15.04% | 28.26% | -13.21 pp | 2,207 |
| 12 years | 15.28% | 30.58% | -15.3 pp | 1,446 |
| 13 years | 16.83% | 32.64% | -15.81 pp | 802 |
| 14 years | 18.8% | 34.59% | -15.79 pp | 415 |
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 Porsche Panamera perform as it gets older?
The Panamera at age 14 is well below the reference at 18.7%, against 40.4% for all vehicles of the same age.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–45%.
Takeaway: a 10-year-old Panamera has roughly a 14% chance of failing its MOT.
Data table
| Age | Porsche Panamera | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 13.8% | 12.4% | +1.4 pp |
| 4 | 11.2% | 13.1% | -1.9 pp |
| 5 | 11.7% | 15.1% | -3.5 pp |
| 6 | 8.6% | 17.5% | -8.8 pp |
| 7 | 9.0% | 20.2% | -11.2 pp |
| 8 | 13.3% | 23.3% | -10.1 pp |
| 9 | 13.2% | 26.5% | -13.3 pp |
| 10 | 13.8% | 30.1% | -16.3 pp |
| 11 | 13.9% | 33.2% | -19.3 pp |
| 12 | 15.5% | 35.7% | -20.2 pp |
| 13 | 19.8% | 38.2% | -18.3 pp |
| 14 | 18.7% | 40.4% | -21.7 pp |
Is a Porsche Panamera ULEZ compliant?
The share of classifiable 2024 Porsche Panamera MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 71.7%.
Based on 7,132 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
| Vehicle age at test | Likely ULEZ-compliant share | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| Under 3 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 16 |
| 3–5 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 1,530 |
| 6–7 years | 100.0% Check a registration with TfL | n = 1,722 |
| 8 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 347 |
| 9 years | 47.6% Check a registration with TfL | n = 651 |
| 10–14 years | 39.4% Check a registration with TfL | n = 2,768 |
| 15–17 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 98 |
| 18 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 19 years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
| 20+ years | Suppressed — sample below publication threshold Check a registration with TfL | n = 0 |
Porsche Panamera petrol vs diesel: which ages best
Diesel is highest at 16.1%; Hybrid is lowest at 10.5% — the gap is 5.6 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Fuel split table
| Fuel | Tests | % failing | Gap vs best |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 2,545 | 11.6% | +1.1 pp |
| Diesel | 2,389 | 16.1% | +5.6 pp |
| Hybrid | 2,086 | 10.5% | +0.0 pp |
Chart sample sizes: n=2,545 · n=2,389 · n=2,086.
How dangerous are Porsche Panamera MOT failures?
Major defects are well below the reference at 12.0 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.
higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests
Severity table
| Severity | This family /100 | National /100 | Family / national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor | 4.25 | 14.22 | 0.30× |
| Major | 12.00 | 52.75 | 0.23× |
| Dangerous | 7.56 | 11.15 | 0.68× |
Chart values: Minor 4.3 · Major 12.0 · Dangerous 7.6.
Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.
Does the month of a Porsche Panamera MOT matter?
Apr is highest at 13.6%; Jun is lowest at 10.8% — the gap is 2.9 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart scale: 9%–33%.
bars: Porsche Panamera · dashed: all class-4 cars
Month-by-month table
| Month | Porsche Panamera | All vehicles | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 12.45% | 31.12% | -18.7 pp |
| Feb | 12.27% | 29.99% | -17.7 pp |
| Mar | 12.41% | 28.26% | -15.9 pp |
| Apr | 13.63% | 29.78% | -16.1 pp |
| May | 12.4% | 28.79% | -16.4 pp |
| Jun | 10.77% | 28.15% | -17.4 pp |
| Jul | 11.18% | 29.33% | -18.1 pp |
| Aug | 12.3% | 29.2% | -16.9 pp |
| Sep | 12.12% | 28.19% | -16.1 pp |
| Oct | 12.77% | 30.34% | -17.6 pp |
| Nov | 12.93% | 30.58% | -17.6 pp |
| Dec | 12.33% | 29.33% | -17.0 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.
Porsche Panamera average mileage by age
At age 8, the middle half of Panameras runs from 45,104 miles to 75,299 miles, against 60,430 miles as the median.
further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75
Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–118k mi.
Does high mileage mean more Porsche Panamera 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, 10.3% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 20.5% of those with over 140,000 miles.No clear mileage gap inside this age group, among cars still being tested.
| Age | Odometer | % failing | 95% interval | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3–5 | <40k miles | 11.2% | 9.4–13.1% | 1,103 |
| 3–5 | 40-70k miles | 14.1% | 11–17.9% | 383 (rough estimate) |
| 6–9 | <40k miles | 9.2% | 7.3–11.5% | 721 |
| 6–9 | 40-70k miles | 9.9% | 8.3–11.6% | 1,288 |
| 6–9 | 70-100k miles | 11.7% | 9.3–14.5% | 575 |
| 6–9 | 100-140k miles | 15.8% | 10.4–23.4% | 120 (rough estimate) |
| 10–14 | <40k miles | 10.3% | 6.6–15.8% | 174 (rough estimate) |
| 10–14 | 40-70k miles | 12.4% | 10.2–14.9% | 760 |
| 10–14 | 70-100k miles | 16.3% | 14.3–18.6% | 1,096 |
| 10–14 | 100-140k miles | 18.7% | 15.8–22% | 605 |
| 10–14 | 140k+ miles | 20.5% | 14.5–28.1% | 132 (rough estimate) |
line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)
Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
| Age | p25 | Median | p75 | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 17,526 | 23,559 | 31,329 | 304 |
| 4 | 19,374 | 29,518 | 39,308 | 446 |
| 5 | 25,369 | 34,656 | 46,284 | 780 |
| 6 | 33,094 | 43,753 | 56,987 | 740 |
| 7 | 36,620 | 49,978 | 64,061 | 982 |
| 8 | 45,104 | 60,430 | 75,299 | 347 |
| 9 | 54,891 | 70,948 | 87,109 | 651 |
| 10 | 59,638 | 75,235 | 92,376 | 739 |
| 11 | 66,241 | 83,330 | 104,041 | 719 |
| 12 | 66,365 | 85,934 | 108,492 | 632 |
| 13 | 67,988 | 88,368 | 112,663 | 373 |
| 14 | 63,783 | 78,946 | 99,086 | 305 |
| 15 | 59,445 | 79,946 | 101,356 | 98 |
A typical 8-year-old Panamera has ~60,430 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.
Where in Britain the Porsche Panamera fails its MOT most
Blackpool area is highest at 20.8%; Twickenham area is lowest at 6.9% — the gap is 13.8 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Toughest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Blackpool (FY) | 20.77% | +8.5 pp |
| Newport (NP) | 20.21% | +7.9 pp |
| Bath (BA) | 19.82% | +7.5 pp |
| Watford (WD) | 19.58% | +7.3 pp |
| Motherwell (ML) | 19.46% | +7.2 pp |
| Easiest areas | % failing | vs model overall |
|---|---|---|
| Twickenham (TW) | 6.93% | -5.4 pp |
| Harrow (HA) | 7.52% | -4.8 pp |
| Manchester (M) | 7.84% | -4.5 pp |
| Coventry (CV) | 8.07% | -4.2 pp |
| Nottingham (NG) | 8.45% | -3.9 pp |
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: 8%–17% failing.
Porsche Panamera survival: which cars are still on the road
By age 15 is well below the reference at 2.3%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.
Survival vs fail rate by age
| Age | Tests | Survival vs ages 4–6 | Fail % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4,195 | 98.3% | 9.11% |
| 4 | 4,140 | 97% | 8.55% |
| 5 | 4,403 | 100% | 10.81% |
| 6 | 4,259 | 99.8% | 11.13% |
| 7 | 4,235 | 99.2% | 12.89% |
| 8 | 3,603 | 84.4% | 14.54% |
| 9 | 3,541 | 83% | 13.95% |
| 10 | 2,951 | 69.2% | 15.05% |
| 11 | 2,207 | 51.7% | 15.04% |
| 12 | 1,446 | 33.9% | 15.28% |
| 13 | 802 | 18.8% | 16.83% |
| 14 | 415 | 9.7% | 18.8% |
| 15 | 98 | 2.3% | 13.27% |
By age 13, only about 19% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈4,267); survivors still fail at 16.8% vs 8.6% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.
How many miles does a Porsche Panamera last?
100,000+ miles stands out at 7.8%.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Odometer | Tests ≥ threshold | Share of sample |
|---|---|---|
| 100,000+ miles | 2,821 | 7.83% |
Of 36,027 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 7.8% had reached 100k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.
How many years is a Porsche Panamera likely to last?
Bought at age 5 is highest at 5.9 years; Bought at age 12 is lowest at 1.1 years — the gap is 4.8 years.
bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve
| Age now | Typical mileage (p50) | Expected years left |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | — | 5.9 |
| 8 | — | 3.5 |
| 10 | — | at least 2 |
| 12 | — | at least 1.1 |
estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has at least 2.0 expected years of further MOT-present life. The curve is observed only until age 13, so the true figure is likely higher.
Porsche Panamera faults that come together
Brakes + Emissions & leaks stand out at 8.52×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.
above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less
| Group A | Group B | Together | Lift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | Noise, emissions and leaks | 20 | 8.52× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Suspension | 58 | 6.33× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Noise, emissions and leaks | 26 | 5.99× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 63 | 5.67× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 30 | 5.31× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Suspension | 84 | 4.96× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Visibility | 132 | 4.51× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Visibility | 27 | 4.36× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Visibility | 64 | 4.04× (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Tyres | 114 | 3.95× (rough estimate) |
| Road Wheels | Tyres | 23 | 3.85× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Visibility | 28 | 3.48× (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Tyres | 38 | 3.37× (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Tyres | 169 | 3.17× (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Tyres | 46 | 3.14× (rough estimate) |
| Suspension | Visibility | 74 | 3.06× (rough estimate) |
| Suspension | Tyres | 114 | 2.59× (rough estimate) |
| Tyres | Visibility | 194 | 2.55× (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Tyres | 18 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Suspension | 18 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Road Wheels | 17 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Steering | 15 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 15 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Identification of the vehicle | 15 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Visibility | 14 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Tyres | 14 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Steering | Tyres | 13 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Steering | Visibility | 12 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Road Wheels | Visibility | 12 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | Suspension | 12 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Visibility | 11 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Road Wheels | Suspension | 10 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Steering | 9 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Identification of the vehicle | Noise, emissions and leaks | 9 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Road Wheels | 9 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 8 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Steering | Suspension | 7 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Identification of the vehicle | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Brakes | Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Brakes | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Suspension | 6 | too few (rough estimate) |
| Body, chassis, structure | Suspension | 5 | too few (rough estimate) |
Defects in «Brakes» and «Noise, emissions and leaks» appear together 8.52× more often than chance (20 co-occurrences in the same test; 55 pairs compared).
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 Porsche Panamera?
Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 10.4%, against 14.0% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Band | Fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|
| <5k miles/year | 10.36% | 3,728 |
| 8–12k miles/year | 13.98% | 8,170 |
| Gap (low − normal) | -3.63 pp | — |
By fuel and age
Diesel
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 6.02 | 133 | 10.89 | 505 | -4.88 pp |
| 6 | 8.09 | 173 | 13.73 | 699 | -5.64 pp |
| 7 | 12.17 | 230 | 14.55 | 935 | -2.37 pp |
| 8 | 13.54 | 229 | 18.64 | 971 | -5.1 pp |
| 9 | 13.82 | 217 | 15.4 | 896 | -1.58 pp |
| 10 | 17.51 | 177 | 18.72 | 705 | -1.21 pp |
| 11 | 12.4 | 129 | 16.6 | 500 | -4.2 pp |
| 12 | 13.89 | 72 | 21.72 | 267 | -7.83 pp |
Petrol
| Age | Low-use fail % | n | Normal fail % | n | Gap pp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 9.64 | 363 | 11.14 | 386 | -1.5 pp |
| 6 | 6.76 | 296 | 10 | 300 | -3.24 pp |
| 7 | 9.52 | 273 | 11.27 | 275 | -1.75 pp |
| 8 | 11.01 | 218 | 12.78 | 227 | -1.77 pp |
| 9 | 9.93 | 292 | 16.73 | 263 | -6.8 pp |
| 10 | 7.79 | 308 | 15.98 | 219 | -8.19 pp |
| 11 | 13.52 | 281 | 16.36 | 165 | -2.84 pp |
| 12 | 9.8 | 255 | 16.1 | 118 | -6.3 pp |
| 13 | 12.44 | 201 | 20.22 | 89 | -7.79 pp |
| 14 | 15.33 | 150 | 24.07 | 54 | -8.74 pp |
At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 10.4% vs 14.0% for 8–12k miles/year — 3.6 pp lower (n_low=3,728, n_normal=8,170). 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.
Which Porsche Panamera engine is best?
diesel over 2.0 is highest at 109.0; petrol over 2.0 is lowest at 88.5 — the gap is 20.5 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
| Fuel | Capacity | vs own age norm | Raw fail % | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| petrol | over 2.0 litre | 88.5 | 11.06% | 12,410 |
| diesel | over 2.0 litre | 109 | 14.57% | 14,754 |
Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel over 2.0 runs at 109 against this model's own age norm while the petrol over 2.0 runs at 88.5 — a spread of 20.5 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 Porsche Panamera, and the years to avoid
Build year 2020 is highest at 124.5; Build year 2009 is lowest at 64.5 — the gap is 60.0 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
Every build year with its confidence interval
| Build year | vs own age norm | 95% CI | Raw fail % | Tests | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 124.5 | 99.1–150 | 10.35% | 889 | no different |
| 2019 | 110.1 | 96.2–124.1 | 9.91% | 2,423 | no different |
| 2018 | 106.8 | 95.1–118.4 | 10.15% | 3,182 | no different |
| 2017 | 83.6 | 75.9–91.3 | 8.43% | 5,372 | better |
| 2016 | 98.6 | 86–111.3 | 10.89% | 2,149 | no different |
| 2015 | 100.3 | 91.4–109.2 | 11.98% | 4,075 | no different |
| 2014 | 91.3 | 83.6–98.9 | 11.97% | 4,554 | better |
| 2013 | 109.4 | 101.1–117.7 | 15% | 4,446 | worse |
| 2012 | 109.3 | 100.8–117.9 | 15.77% | 3,994 | worse |
| 2011 | 108.1 | 96.1–120.1 | 16.12% | 1,936 | no different |
| 2010 | 94.3 | 80.8–107.8 | 14.16% | 1,328 | no different |
| 2009 | 64.5 | 42.5–86.6 | 10.06% | 328 | better |
The best build year here is 2017 and the weakest is 2013. 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 — 3 of 12 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.
Porsche Panamera MOT repair costs
The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £20.69 to £39.31, against £54.85 for the test itself.
bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only
| Component | Fails per 100 tests | Typical repair | Its price | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 9.2 (nat. 8.7) | Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted) | £90 | £8.28 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 3.4 (nat. 18.09) | Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid) | £140 | £4.76 |
| Suspension | 2.5 (nat. 15.36) | Suspension coil spring (single corner) | £180 | £4.50 |
| Brakes | 2.1 (nat. 11.25) | Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback) | £150 | £3.15 |
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 £21 to £39, 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.
Porsche Panamera running costs for a fleet
Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 14.0%, against 12.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
| Age | Fails | Median odometer | Tests | Gap vs age 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 13.82% | 23,559 | 304 | +2.2 pp |
| 4 | 11.21% | 29,518 | 446 | -0.5 pp |
| 5 | 11.67% | 34,656 | 780 | +0.0 pp |
| 6 | 8.65% | 43,753 | 740 | -3.0 pp |
| 7 | 8.96% | 49,978 | 982 | -2.7 pp |
| 8 | 13.26% | 60,430 | 347 | +1.6 pp |
| 9 | 13.21% | 70,948 | 651 | +1.5 pp |
| 10 | 13.8% | 75,235 | 739 | +2.1 pp |
| 11 | 13.91% | 83,330 | 719 | +2.2 pp |
| 12 | 15.51% | 85,934 | 632 | +3.8 pp |
| 13 | 19.84% | 88,368 | 373 | +8.2 pp |
| 14 | 18.69% | 78,946 | 305 | +7.0 pp |
No single year stands out as the point where this model starts costing more: the year-to-year steps in its failure rate are too small or rest on too few tests to name one (D1 rule: a step is named only with at least 2,000 tests on both sides and a jump above 3 percentage points).
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.
Porsche Panamera rust problems: where they corrode
Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is well below the reference at 0.16×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.
above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less
This Porsche Panamera fails on corrosion much less often than average once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are gentler 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 Porsche Panamera advisory become a failure?
Tyres are highest at 8.1%; Non-component advisories are lowest at 0.0% — the gap is 8.1 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now
| Component | Fails next time | Typical lead time | Miles of warning | Advisories tracked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 8.1% | 12.1 months | 6,014 | 5,263 |
| Brakes | 4.1% | 12.1 months | 6,164 | 2,778 |
| Non-component advisories | 0.0% | — | — | 993 |
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 8 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12.1 months and roughly 6,014 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 Porsche Panamera?
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a advisory at age 12-14 are highest at 8.4%; Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a passed at age <3 are lowest at 0.9% — the gap is 7.5 percentage points.
higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability
| Age | Last test | Most likely next failures | Cars tracked |
|---|---|---|---|
| <3 | passed | Tyres 5.4% · Visibility 2.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 0.9% | 1,916 |
| <3 | advisory | Tyres 4.5% · Visibility 2.1% | 336 (rough estimate) |
| <3 | failure | Tyres 6.6% · Visibility 2.6% | 227 (rough estimate) |
| 3-5 | passed | Tyres 6.3% · Visibility 2.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1.1% | 7,472 |
| 3-5 | advisory | Tyres 6.5% · Visibility 3.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1.7% | 1,902 |
| 3-5 | failure | Tyres 6.7% · Visibility 3.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 1.7% | 1,009 |
| 6-8 | passed | Tyres 5.1% · Visibility 3.2% · Suspension 3.0% | 6,082 |
| 6-8 | advisory | Tyres 8.1% · Visibility 4.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.5% | 2,207 |
| 6-8 | failure | Tyres 7.1% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 5.5% · Visibility 4.7% | 1,352 |
| 9-11 | passed | Tyres 4.4% · Visibility 3.9% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.5% | 3,229 |
| 9-11 | advisory | Tyres 7.7% · Visibility 6.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.4% | 1,344 |
| 9-11 | failure | Tyres 7.5% · Visibility 7.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.3% | 855 |
| 12-14 | passed | Tyres 5.4% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 4.2% · Visibility 4.2% | 502 |
| 12-14 | advisory | Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 8.4% · Tyres 6.8% · Brakes 5.3% | 190 (rough estimate) |
| 12-14 | failure | Tyres 7.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 6.5% · Visibility 4.3% | 139 (rough estimate) |
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.
Porsche Panamera ownership: what six years of MOTs show
The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 71.6%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 4.9% — the gap is 66.6 percentage points.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 3,409 failures followed through to their re-test, 23.53% were repaired and passed the same day and 71.55% within ten days; the median gap is 2 days. 5,978 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 0.192 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 5,557 miles a year across 7,227 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. 62.78% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 11.29% 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: 0.609% of 7,230 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 12,244 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.
Porsche Panamera safety recalls and how to check yours
DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 24.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
recall campaigns launched per year
| Reference | Launched | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|
R/2025/431 | 09/10/2025 | 1,111 | ASA8 Recall campaign - Re-coding airbag control unit |
R/2025/264 | 08/07/2025 | 50 | ASA6 - Check the air suspension strut on the front axle and rework if necessary |
R/2025/062 | 01/12/2024 | 20 | ARC0 Recall campaign - Re-program DME control unit |
R/2024/427 | 28/10/2024 | 1 | ARC4 Stop Use & Safety Recall - Wheel attachment with central locking |
R/2024/142 | 20/03/2024 | 3 | ARA1 Replacing front right wheel carrier |
All 24 campaigns
| Reference | Launched | Build dates | Vehicles | Concern |
|---|---|---|---|---|
R/2025/431 | 09/10/2025 | 19/07/2022 – 02/09/2025 | 1,111 | ASA8 Recall campaign - Re-coding airbag control unit |
R/2025/264 | 08/07/2025 | 19/12/2024 – 22/05/2025 | 50 | ASA6 - Check the air suspension strut on the front axle and rework if necessary |
R/2025/062 | 01/12/2024 | 14/10/2016 – 04/10/2017 | 20 | ARC0 Recall campaign - Re-program DME control unit |
R/2024/427 | 28/10/2024 | 13/09/2023 – 23/10/2025 | 1 | ARC4 Stop Use & Safety Recall - Wheel attachment with central locking |
R/2024/142 | 20/03/2024 | 21/07/2009 – 22/06/2016 | 3 | ARA1 Replacing front right wheel carrier |
R/2023/213 | 12/07/2023 | 29/04/2014 – 13/02/2023 | 3 | On the affected vehicles it is possible that the screw connection of the seat belt mount t |
R/2023/076 | 13/04/2023 | 21/07/2015 – 10/11/2021 | 1,531 | On affected vehicles there is a possibility of humidity ingress into the control unit for |
R/2022/002 | 14/01/2022 | 03/05/2011 – 03/09/2015 | 8,111 | IMPROVE THE ENGINE CONTROL SYSTEM IN TERMS OF NITROGEN OXIDE EMISSIONS |
R/2021/176 | 16/06/2021 | 01/02/2021 – 05/05/2021 | 84 | THE LOWER TRAILING ARMS ON THE RIGHT FRONT AXLE MAY NOT MEET SPECIFICATIONS |
R/2019/394 | 19/11/2019 | 08/10/2016 – 07/11/2017 | 221 | EMISSION VALUES MAY BE HIGHER ON AFFECTED VEHICLES WITH HIGH MILEAGE |
R/2019/391 | 12/11/2019 | 13/04/2016 – 30/08/2019 | 6,250 | DUE TO FAULTY SOFTWARE THE DISPLAY LOGIC OF THE BRAKE WEAR INDICATOR IS NOT FULFILLED SUFF |
R/2019/250 | 23/08/2019 | 23/06/2015 – 16/06/2016 | 1,810 | AIR BAG CONTROL UNIT MAY HAVE BEEN INSTALLED WITH A FAULTY CAPACITOR |
R/2019/204 | 29/07/2019 | 20/08/2008 – 13/09/2016 | 11,745 | THE SELECTOR LEVER CABLE PLASTIC SLEEVE DOES NOT HAVE THE REQUIRED DURABILITY AND MAY BREA |
R/2019/173 | 13/06/2019 | 09/11/2017 – 06/03/2019 | 270 | ELECTRICAL POWER STEERING WIRE COULD BECOME TRAPPED BETWEEN THE CROSS BEAM AND UNDERFLOOR |
R/2019/151 | 30/05/2019 | 12/07/2009 – 13/09/2016 | 4,506 | POTENTIAL MALFUNCTION OF THE A/C BLOWER CONTROL UNIT |
R/2019/087 | 14/03/2019 | 21/03/2016 – 15/11/2018 | 2,511 | MISSING ASSIGNMENT WITHIN THE SOFTWARE OF THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER |
R/2018/373 | 20/12/2018 | 21/03/2016 – 06/12/2018 | 2,521 | ELECTRIC POWER STEERING MAY SPORADICALLY BE UNAVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME |
R/2018/165 | 08/06/2018 | 08/12/2016 – 05/06/2018 | 197 | CONNECTING LINKS ON THE REAR AXLE ANTI ROLL BAR |
R/2018/110 | 16/04/2018 | 27/02/2018 – 22/03/2018 | 4 | ACCELERATOR PEDAL MAY BE INSTALLED INCORRECTLY |
R/2017/151 | 28/07/2017 | 15/08/2016 – 09/03/2017 | 109 | PARTICLE FILTER BRACKET MAY DETACH |
R/2015/022 | 23/01/2015 | 17/03/2011 – 07/05/2012 | 112 | FUEL MAY LEAK - POSSIBILITY OF FIRE |
R/2014/015 | 27/01/2014 | 19 | FUEL MAY LEAK | |
R/2012/082 | 20/07/2012 | 54 | FIRE MAY OCCUR | |
R/2010/037 | 12/04/2010 | 348 | FRONT SEAT BELT MOUNT MAY BECOME DETACHED |
DVSA lists 24 safety recall campaigns for the Porsche Panamera, covering roughly 41,591 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.
Porsche Panamera technical service bulletins: what dealers are told
US market, Porsche PANAMERA and its variants, model years 2015–2022 only. A count of bulletins, not a UK failure rate.
NHTSA manufacturer communications are 1,143.
bigger number = more recorded dealer communicationsnot affected vehicles or confirmed faults
These are the issues the manufacturer fixes quietly: service communications sent to dealers without a public recall campaign. They show what the service network has been told even when the issue never became news.
United States · NHTSA manufacturer communications
| Communication year | Bulletins | Leading subjects across all years |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2 |
|
| 2015 | 9 | |
| 2016 | 19 | |
| 2017 | 48 | |
| 2018 | 72 | |
| 2019 | 74 | |
| 2020 | 135 | |
| 2021 | 145 | |
| 2022 | 120 | |
| 2023 | 117 | |
| 2024 | 123 | |
| 2025 | 135 | |
| 2026 | 144 |
Caveat worth stating plainly: this is NHTSA data about US-specification cars. British cars sold under the same name often use different gearboxes, engines and equipment, so a bulletin may describe a component that was never fitted here. The file counts dealer communications, not affected vehicles or confirmed failures, and it cannot tell you whether an individual UK car has the issue. A communication can carry more than one subject tag, so topic counts do not have to add up to the total. Source: NHTSA Manufacturer Communications API (US-market vehicles; queried model years 2015-2022). Licence: U.S. Government work / public domain · retrieved 2026-09-25.
Porsche Panamera owner complaints: what goes wrong
US market, Porsche PANAMERA and its variants, model years 2015–2022 only. A count of owner complaints, not a UK failure rate; NHTSA has no UK denominator.
Engine (not MOT-tested) is highest at 9; Visibility is lowest at 1 — the gap is 8.
bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone
| Component | Complaints | Share | MOT fail items per 100 | MOT rank | Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engine (not MOT-tested) | 9 | 30.0% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Lamps & electrical | 8 | 26.7% | 3.4 | #3 | complained about and fails often |
| Transmission (not MOT-tested) | 6 | 20.0% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Restraints | 2 | 6.7% | not in top 6 | — | complained about, rarely an MOT failure |
| Brakes | 2 | 6.7% | 2.1 | #5 | complained about, fails occasionally |
| Visibility | 1 | 3.3% | 3.8 | #2 | complained about and fails often |
Two different populations answering two different questions: the MOT records what an inspector can measure once a year, the complaint file records what annoyed or frightened an owner on the road. A component high in one column and absent from the other is the interesting case — driver-assistance and electronics dominate complaints while almost never appearing as an MOT failure item.
What the reports actually say
The contact owns a 2017 Porsche Panamera. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V033000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
This vehicle has an engine which has rocker arms that are known to fail. The manufacturer has not issued a recall to fix this issue which can result in a catastrophic engine failure. They have acknowledged the rocker arms in pre 2018 models to be defective and insufficiently reinforced to handle the strain of the valve train.
US owners have filed 30 complaints about the equivalent Porsche Panamera to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, including 3 that mention a crash, 0 a fire and 2 an injury. These are owner reports, not verified findings — but they are the only large public record of what drivers themselves notice, and they cover the years between MOT tests.
Caveat worth stating plainly: US-specification cars, self-selected reporters, no denominator — complaint counts scale with how many cars were sold there and how motivated owners are to file. The mechanical gap matters as much as the statistical one: American cars of the same name often carry different gearboxes, engines and equipment — automatics where Britain buys manuals — so a drivetrain complaint filed in Ohio may describe a part that was never fitted here. Read the ranking inside a model, not between models, and treat drivetrain entries with particular caution. Source: NHTSA ODI consumer complaints (US market, public domain) — US-spec vehicles, indicative only.
Porsche Panamera inspection results in other countries
Netherlands APK is well below the reference at 30.4%, against 50.8% nationally.
higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points
| Country | Test | This model fails | National average | Position | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | MOT (class 4) | 12.77% | 26.01% | -13.2 pp | 7,148 |
| Netherlands | APK | 30.4% | 50.8% | -20.4 pp | 1,867 |
| Finland | Katsastus | 11.7% | 26.3% | -14.6 pp | 583 |
| Norway | PKK | 22% | 33.7% | -11.7 pp | 574 |
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.
| Fault area | Share |
|---|---|
| Axles, wheels and suspension | 28.4% |
| Brake systems | 25.3% |
| Road test and visibility | 24.2% |
| Environmental hazards | 9.5% |
| Vehicle identification | 7.4% |
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.
| Code | Fault | Recorded | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
210 | Tyre pressure not at the correct value | 252 | failure |
AC1 | Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread | 146 | advisory |
205 | Tyre with insufficient tread | 130 | failure |
516 | Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed | 130 | failure |
203 | Tyre damaged | 81 | failure |
AC5 | Mechanical brake parts showing wear | 36 | advisory |
RA4 | Waarschuwingsinrichting controlesysteem bandenspanning geeft | 32 | advisory |
211 | Bandenspanning op 1 as niet gelijk | 27 | failure |
Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 0.616 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 Porsche Panamera 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; Statens vegvesen — Periodisk kjøretøykontroll (PKK) 2024, CC BY 4.0. Adapted; licences and full notice.
Porsche Panamera MOT: quick answers
Porsche Panamera MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 50.9, 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 Porsche Panamera first-time MOT pass rate?
- 87.23% of first attempts passed in 2024 (7,148 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 12.77% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 7,148 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 50.9 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.
Compare the Porsche Panamera with other cars
Porsche Panamera is highest at 50.9; Mercedes-Benz SL is lowest at 47.6 — the gap is 3.3 points.
below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age
Same brand
All Porsche MOT statisticsPorsche Boxster MOT statsPorsche Macan MOT stats
Similar risk
Porsche Boxster (index 48.5)Porsche Macan (index 48.5)Mercedes-Benz SL (index 47.6)
Same size class
how Ford Escort compareshow Toyota Alphard compareshow Mercedes-Benz V-Class compares
By build year
Porsche Panamera 2009Porsche Panamera 2010Porsche Panamera 2011Porsche Panamera 2012Porsche Panamera 2013Porsche Panamera 2014Porsche Panamera 2015Porsche Panamera 2016Porsche Panamera 2017Porsche Panamera 2018Porsche Panamera 2019Porsche Panamera 2020
By area
Porsche Panamera MOT failure rate by postcode area
By failure group
Porsche Panamera body, chassis and structure failuresPorsche Panamera brakes failuresPorsche Panamera vehicle identification failuresPorsche Panamera lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresPorsche Panamera noise, emissions and leaks failuresPorsche Panamera road wheels failuresPorsche Panamera seat belts and airbags failuresPorsche Panamera steering failuresPorsche Panamera suspension failuresPorsche Panamera tyres failuresPorsche Panamera visibility failures
Inspections abroad
Porsche Panamera in NorwayPorsche Panamera in FinlandPorsche Panamera 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:porsche-panamera:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.
Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Porsche Panamera MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/porsche-panamera/ · Published 2026-07-30.