64.1%
Fiat Panda
Fiat Panda MOT pass rate and common problems
The Fiat Panda passed 64.1% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 8.2 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Panda compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
67.7%
Fiat average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Panda runs 3.6 points behind the Fiat average. It is 8th of the 15 Fiat models in the data. The average Panda arrived at its test 12.9 years old with 62,046 miles recorded.
A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.
Panda MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Fiat Panda cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 83.6% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 58.5%, a drop of 25.1 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 4,848 | 83.6% | 11.3 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 24,035 | 72.5% | In line |
| 11 years and over | 55,352 | 58.5% | 13.8 pts below |
That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Panda failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Fiat Panda cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment together account for 50.4% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Panda MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Fiat Panda cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 39.3% of everything testers recorded against failed Fiat Panda cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Panda
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush, coil spring fractured or broken, shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak and ball joint excessively worn. 20.5% of failure items.
2
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working and stop lamp not working. 7.1% of failure items.
3
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. 5% of failure items.
4
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively. 4.1% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Panda has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Fiat Panda buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Fiat Panda MOT FAQs
What is the Fiat Panda MOT pass rate?
64.1% of Fiat Panda cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 84,817 tests. That is 8.2 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 445th of 575 models.
What does a Fiat Panda most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Fiat Panda cars failing their 2025 MOT was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, on 6% of failure items. Next were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (5%) and shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush (4.3%).
Which area causes the most Fiat Panda MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 29.6%, followed by lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 20.8%.
Do older Fiat Panda cars fail their MOT more often?
Fiat Panda cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 83.6% of MOT tests in 2025, against 58.5% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Fiat Panda has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Fiat Panda that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.
How do I see a specific Fiat Panda's MOT history?
Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.