Fiat Panda MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Fiat Panda took 93,036 MOT tests in Britain and passed 66% of them first time, below the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.

MOT tests in 2023: 93,036
First-time pass rate: 66%
All cars: 71%

What the Panda fails on

Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.

Suspension15.8% (all cars 9.0%)
Lights and electrics11.4% (all cars 11.3%)
Brakes8.0% (all cars 6.8%)
Tyres7.1% (all cars 6.4%)
Visibility6.1% (all cars 4.8%)
Body and structure4.7% (all cars 3.5%)
Exhaust and emissions4.1% (all cars 3.1%)
Steering1.8% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 4.0%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn 3.8%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 3.2%
Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak 2.9%
Shock absorbers: has an excessively worn bush 2.9%
Position lamp: not working 2.8%
Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements 2.3%
Stop lamp: not working 2.2%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 20.9%
Coil spring: corroded 13.1%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 8.8%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 8.0%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 7.5%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 5.7%
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases 5.7%
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil 5.0%

Pass rate by year of registration

Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare a car with others of the same age.

First registered	Tests	Pass rate
2004	2,966	50%
2005	3,477	54%
2006	4,480	53%
2007	5,694	55%
2008	5,273	56%
2009	10,463	59%
2010	9,181	59%
2011	5,521	62%
2012	6,497	67%
2013	7,603	69%
2014	8,017	72%
2015	7,960	75%
2016	4,887	77%
2017	3,541	80%
2018	2,665	84%
2019	2,593	89%
2020	1,748	92%

Typical mileage by age

Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.

Age at test	Average mileage
3 years	14,680 miles
4 years	19,852 miles
5 years	24,764 miles
6 years	30,575 miles
7 years	36,191 miles
8 years	43,735 miles
9 years	50,532 miles
10 years	56,330 miles
11 years	58,195 miles
12 years	62,088 miles
13 years	66,444 miles
14 years	67,781 miles
15 years	75,528 miles
16 years	77,705 miles
17 years	79,961 miles
18 years	80,486 miles
19 years	78,686 miles

Check a particular Panda

Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.

Other Fiat models

Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.