All generations and engines together · 7,252 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 57k
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. 2,720 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.
Panameras fitted with adaptive air suspension (standard on 4S/Turbo, optional lower down the range) can develop a slow leak in an air spring, which forces the compressor to run almost constantly trying to keep ride height up. Left alone, the compressor burns out. The tell is a corner sitting visibly lower after the car's been parked overnight, or a 'chassis system fault' message on the dash. An air spring runs roughly £600-900 to replace, a compressor £700-1,200, more if both go together. No recall covers it; steel-spring cars aren't affected.
Some early 2010-2013 Panameras with PDK develop a hesitation or shudder pulling away from a stop, or a hard, delayed shift when the box is cold. Owners and independent Porsche specialists put it down to wearing clutch packs or the mechatronic unit rather than a single named defect. It tends to show up from around 60k miles and isn't limited to one engine. A mechatronic or clutch pack repair at a specialist can run to £2,000-4,000. Porsche hasn't acknowledged it with a TSB or recall.
The V6 and V8 Panameras share plastic coolant pipework buried down in the vee of the engine with sister VW Group models (Cayenne, Touareg, Q7), and that pipework is known to go brittle and crack with age and heat cycling. Buyers notice slow coolant loss, a sweet smell, or a level that keeps dropping between top-ups. The part itself is cheap, but on these engines it's buried deep enough that the labour to reach it is what pushes the bill into four figures. No recall or TSB covers it.
Porsche recalled Panameras twice in late 2018 for safety-critical faults: a software bug that could cause an intermittent loss of electric power steering assist, and corrosion of the front brake lines that could reduce braking performance over time. Both were free fixes at a dealer, a software update for the steering, and brake line replacement or inspection for the corrosion. Neither leaves an obvious daily symptom until it fails, so it's worth confirming either was actually carried out on any pre-2019 car.
The measured MOT data for this model flags road wheels as the standout fault, wheels distorted or worn at the hub/spigot mounting, showing up more than twice as often as the class average (0.91% against 0.38%). Panameras are usually specced with big, low-profile alloys that mark and crack on kerbs more easily than smaller wheels, and because these are heavy, torque-laden cars that don't always get their wheels off between MOTs, corrosion builds up at the hub face until a wheel is properly seized. Tyre fitters and owners both mention stuck wheels on older, higher-mileage cars. It's cheap to prevent with copper grease at every change, but ignored it can mean a distorted wheel or a hub clean-up that wasn't needed if caught earlier.
The Panamera Diesel and later Panamera 4S Diesel used versions of the shared VW Group diesel engines. German motoring press testing found real-world NOx emissions well above the legal limit, and rather than fix the cars, Porsche withdrew diesel Panameras from sale entirely in 2018. It isn't a fault that breaks down on the drive home, but it weighs on resale value and on access to low-emission zones for older diesel examples. Doesn't apply to any petrol or E-Hybrid Panamera.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Saloons & estates), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.