Nissan Elgrand MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Elgrand is 3.9 percentage points below the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is below average. The unadjusted figure is 67.0%; the difference is what the age and mileage of this model’s fleet was hiding.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Nissan Elgrand tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm14.0%

   558 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

2. 2.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc13.4%

   533 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

3. 3.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning11.1%

   442 occurrencesLamp not working explained

4. 4.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn10.8%

   431 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

5. 5.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements10.5%

   416 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

6. 6.An obligatory rear fog lamp missing, or a front or rear fog lamp inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning10.3%

   408 occurrencesLamp not working explained

7. 7.A tyre cords visible or damaged10.2%

   405 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained

8. 8.A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc10.1%

   400 occurrencesDriveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing explained

9. 9.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn9.5%

   377 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

10. 10.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen8.5%

    337 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Nissan Elgrand tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1. 1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements28.6%

   3,963 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm16.1%

   2,234 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

3. 3.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured14.1%

   1,953 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

4. 4.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn9.5%

   1,315 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

5. 5.A tyre seriously damaged8.4%

   1,160 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

6. 6.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn5.0%

   699 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

7. 7.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users4.8%

   666 tests

8. 8.Product on the lens or light source which obviously reduces light intensity or changes emitted colour to other than white or yellow4.2%

   583 testsLamp of the wrong colour, position or intensity explained

How wear changes the picture

Pass rate by vehicle age

Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Elgrand fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

92,772

Across examples of every age, so this is a description of the fleet rather than an annual figure.

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol96.2%

Diesel3.1%

Compare within the range

Other Nissan models

• Nissan Qashqai — 67.4% adjusted
• Nissan Juke — 66.5% adjusted
• Nissan Micra — 63.8% adjusted
• Nissan Note — 65.9% adjusted
• Nissan X-Trail — 70.5% adjusted
• Nissan Navara — 68.6% adjusted
• All Nissan models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Kia Carens — 62.7% adjusted, ranked 241
• Mercedes-Benz V-Class — 77.4% adjusted, ranked 80
• Bentley Continental — 90.7% adjusted, ranked 1
• Porsche Cayman — 87.2% adjusted, ranked 12

Common questions

Is the Nissan Elgrand reliable?

On MOT evidence the Nissan Elgrand is below average. It passes 68.4% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 80% of the national age and mileage range, which is enough to quote but not to rank. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Nissan Elgrand?

The item recorded most often is "a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm", which appears in 14.0% of failed Nissan Elgrand tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Nissan Elgrand?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 28.6% of all Nissan Elgrand tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Nissan Elgrand usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 92,772 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Does a Nissan Elgrand get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 64.6% of Nissan Elgrand tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 67.0%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Nissan Elgrand models petrol or diesel?

Of the Nissan Elgrand cars tested, 96% are petrol, 3% are diesel. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. The adjusted rate is directly standardised across twenty-five age and mileage bands and reweighted onto the national distribution, so this model is compared against cars that have lived a similar life rather than against a younger or lighter-used fleet.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.

Further reading

Make sense of the numbers

• How to judge reliability from evidence rather than reputation
• What counts as high or low mileage for a car’s age
• The most common MOT failures and how to avoid them
• What to check before buying a used Nissan