All generations and engines together · 9,715 MOT tests in the 2025 data
Worse than most city cars per mile driven. Watch brakes and suspension. A used buy worth some caution. Check the MOT history for repeating brakes advisories before you go.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Owners repeatedly report a clunk or rattle from the engine bay, worst on start-up or over speed bumps, caused by worn or split mounts. Some cars have needed mounts replaced more than once well within the first year, one Honest John review logged a third set at just 7,500 miles. A mount is not expensive on its own, expect roughly £80 to £150 per mount fitted, but the repeat failures are the annoying part.
A screeching or grinding noise when the clutch pedal is pressed points to a worn release bearing, and some owners describe slipping or judder appearing surprisingly early, one case was reported at under 4,000 miles and another owner said they had replaced the clutch twice. A full clutch kit with fitting typically runs £300 to £500. No manufacturer bulletin was found for this, it reads as a component that just does not last on this car.
A recurring complaint is wiper or washer hardware breaking, including the rear washer hose detaching or dripping water into the driver's footwell, and wiper stalks or blades failing outright. It is a nuisance rather than a safety-critical repair in most cases, parts are cheap, but it comes up often enough in owner reviews to be worth checking. It lines up with the model's generally weak showing on MOT visibility items.
Some owners report a drone or hum from the front end that builds with road speed and turns out to be premature wheel bearing wear, in one case noticed after only around 1,000 miles. Others put many more miles on without it happening, so it is not a given on every car. A bearing replacement is roughly £150 to £250 per side including labour.
Owners describe electrics playing up in snow or damp conditions, power windows losing power or working erratically, and a noisy but still functioning ABS pump. These tend to be intermittent switch or connector faults rather than one single failure, so cost varies a lot, anywhere from a £20 switch to a longer diagnostic bill if it is a wiring or ECU gremlin.
Owners describe a spongy pedal or a brake warning light that traces back to corroded rear brake pipes rather than worn pads, more common on cars that have done winters on salted roads. The measured MOT data backs this up strongly: the Pixo fails on brakes far more than the class average, and damaged or corroded brake pipe is the single largest specific reason logged. This is age and road-salt corrosion, not a manufacturer defect, and there is no recall for it. Replacing a pipe or line typically costs £150 to £300 depending on how much has to come apart.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
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. 9,715 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.
Same segment (City cars), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.