Nissan MOT pass rates by model

Common questions

What is the MOT pass rate for Nissan?

Across 1,657,476 recorded MOT tests, 67.8% of Nissan tests ended in a pass, against a national average of 72.3%. Adjusted for the age and mileage of the cars tested, the figure is 66.8%. A make-level figure blends very different cars, so the individual model pages are the more useful comparison.

Which Nissan is the most reliable on MOT evidence?

Of the Nissan models with enough data to compare fairly, the Serena has the highest age-and-mileage-adjusted pass rate at 76.5%, ranking 92 of 262 models nationally. This reflects how often cars meet the MOT standard, not how often they break down.

What do Nissan cars most often fail their MOT on?

The most commonly recorded failure item across Nissan tests is "A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn", appearing in 19.4% of failed tests. One failed test can list several items, so these shares do not add up to 100%.

Why do some Nissan models not have a pass rate ranking?

A model is only ranked when its tested examples cover a wide enough spread of ages and mileages for a fair comparison. 10 of the 34 Nissan models here qualify. For the rest we publish the unadjusted rate and the failure patterns, but not a rank, because comparing unadjusted rates mostly sorts cars by how new they are.

How to read these figures

Why the adjusted rate is the fair one

An unadjusted pass rate is strongly driven by the age and mileage of the cars being tested, not by how well they were built. A model bought mainly as a lightly used second car will look better than an identical car sold to high-mileage drivers. Adjusting for age and mileage compares each model against cars that have lived a similar life.

For a specific car, its own record beats any model average — check that vehicle’s MOT history and read what testers actually recorded against it.