All generations and engines together · 64,315 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 38k
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 16,162 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Early EU6 1.2-litre petrol Pandas from 2014 could bog down or hesitate badly in first and second gear, traced to a device on the clutch fitted to cut emissions. Fiat acknowledged the problem and had a software fix ready at dealers by October 2014, reportedly covering around 2,600 UK cars. If a car in this window still hesitates hard from a stop, the fix was likely never applied.
Owners of the 1.3 MultiJet diesel (used across both the 2004-2012 and later Pandas) have reported timing chain failures as early as 60,000 miles and again around 100,000 miles, even with the diesel's shorter 7,500-mile service interval kept up. A snapped or badly stretched chain on this engine is an interference design, so it's not a cheap fix if it lets go. Only affects the diesel, petrol FIRE and TwinAir engines aren't implicated.
A recurring theme in owner reports: rust taking hold in the rear twist beam and soft, worn front wishbone bushes, both turning up as MOT failures rather than something a buyer notices on a test drive. This matches the measured pattern for this model, suspension is the most commonly recorded MOT fault category for the Panda within its class. Get it on a ramp before buying, this is not a fault you can spot from the driver's seat.
On the 2003-2012 Panda, the electric power steering can lose assistance suddenly while driving, or the column motor itself can fail. Honest John's reports link a lot of cases to a weak battery or corroded earth connections rather than the motor itself, and cleaning terminals sometimes cures it, but enough failures have needed the motor replaced that it's a known weak point. No manufacturer recall or TSB has been reported for it.
The Dualogic automated-manual fitted to some 2003-2012 Pandas can stop selecting gears altogether, in either automatic or manual mode, and an oil change doesn't always fix it. When it goes wrong it usually means the clutch actuator or the gearbox's control electronics, both of which are expensive relative to the car's value. Doesn't affect standard manual cars.
TwinAir-engined Pandas have had reports of premature clutch failure, in one case at just over 7,000 miles, with contaminated oil found in the clutch assembly. Separately, some owners report poor starting in cold, wet weather, suspected to be condensation reaching the coil packs. Fiat is strict that only the specified Selenia oil should be used in this engine, running the wrong oil is reported to make wear worse.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (City cars), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.