How reliable is the Nissan Primastar compared with other cars?

We do not publish a comparison for the Nissan Primastar, because the cars of this model that have been tested do not cover a wide enough range of ages and mileages. Its raw pass rate is 51.0% across 8,383 tests, but comparing a raw rate between models mostly ranks them by how new they are rather than how good they are. The failure and advisory patterns further down the page are still drawn from real tests and are worth reading.

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

The item recorded most often is "A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play", which appears in 23.5% of failed Nissan Primastar 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 Primastar?

The most common advisory is "Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded", noted on 27.2% of all Nissan Primastar tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

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

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 137,736 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.

Which Nissan Primastar years are the most reliable?

Going by MOT pass rate, Nissan Primastar cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 78.6%, and those registered 2010 and earlier do worst at 48.5%. But that ordering is mostly age, not build year: almost every model passes less often as it wears, so the newest cars top this list whatever they are. A specific year looking strong here means little on its own; the failure items above, and the individual car's own MOT history, tell you far more.

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

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 78.6% of Nissan Primastar tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 48.5%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Model reliability file

Nissan Primastar MOT pass rate & common failures

From 8,383 recorded MOT tests of the Nissan Primastar, published by DVSA.

Data updated 29 July 2026

Quick answer

Across 8,383 MOT tests, 51.0% of Nissan Primastar tests ended in a pass. This figure is not adjusted for age or mileage, so it is not a reliability ranking: the Nissan Primastar fleet does not yet cover a wide enough spread of ages and distances to compare it fairly against other models. Its most commonly recorded failure is steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, which appears in 23.5% of failed tests. Cars of this model average 137,736 miles on the odometer when tested.

At a glance

Recorded pass rate

51.0%unadjusted, not comparable8,383 tests

We are not publishing a ranking for the Primastar. The examples tested do not cover a wide enough spread of ages and mileages to compare it fairly, and an unadjusted pass rate mostly sorts models by how recently they were bought rather than how well they were built. The failure and advisory patterns below come from the same 8,383 tests and are worth reading on their own terms.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

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

1.A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play23.5%
808 occurrencesBall joint worn explained
2.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn23.1%
792 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained
3.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning17.1%
587 occurrencesLamp not working explained
4.Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement16.3%
560 occurrencesParking brake efficiency too low explained
5.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded15.0%
515 occurrencesBrake pipe corroded explained
6.The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements12.0%
411 occurrencesHeadlamp aim incorrect explained
7.Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning10.8%
371 occurrencesStop lamp not working explained
8.A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc10.8%
370 occurrencesDriveshaft CV joint gaiter split or missing explained
9.A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps10.3%
353 occurrencesLamp not working explained
10.Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen10.1%
348 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

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

1.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded27.2%
2,279 testsBrake pipe corroded explained
2.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured22.8%
1,912 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained
3.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements21.9%
1,838 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained
4.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users20.1%
1,681 tests
5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.3%
862 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained
6.A tyre seriously damaged10.0%
838 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained
7.Play in steering rack inner joint(s)9.7%
815 tests
8.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened7.8%
655 testsRoad spring broken or fractured explained

The rest of the record

Everything else recorded on the Nissan Primastar

The 16 other defects testers recorded on this model, beyond the most common listed above. Each links to what it means and what it takes to put right.

How wear changes the picture

Primastar pass rate by age and registration year

How often the Nissan Primastar passes at each age, with the years those cars were first registered. Tests are from 2025, so a car aged 3 to 5 was first used in 2020–2022.

3–5 yrsreg. 2020–202279%

9–11 yrsreg. 2014–201652%

12–14 yrsreg. 2011–201347%

15+ yrsreg. 2010 and earlier48%

Read this as an age curve rather than a verdict on particular model years. Nearly every car passes less often as it gets older, so a newer Primastar outscoring an older one says more about wear than about how that year’s cars were built. Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Primastar fleet

Average mileage recorded at test: 137,736
Fuel mix of tested cars: Diesel99.9%

Trim names grouped into this model (7)

Recorded exactly as DVSA holds them. Trim-level names are rolled up so one model is not split across a dozen thin pages.

PRIMASTAR ACENTA DCI
PRIMASTAR ACENTA DCI AUTO
PRIMASTAR TEKNA + DCI
PRIMASTAR TEKNA + DCI AUTO
PRIMASTAR TEKNA DCI
PRIMASTAR TEKNA DCI AUTO
PRIMASTAR VISIA DCI

Check a specific Nissan Primastar

A model average tells you the pattern. Its own MOT record tells you the car.

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

Common questions

How reliable is the Nissan Primastar compared with other cars?: We do not publish a comparison for the Nissan Primastar, because the cars of this model that have been tested do not cover a wide enough range of ages and mileages. Its raw pass rate is 51.0% across 8,383 tests, but comparing a raw rate between models mostly ranks them by how new they are rather than how good they are. The failure and advisory patterns further down the page are still drawn from real tests and are worth reading.
What is the most common MOT failure on a Nissan Primastar?: The item recorded most often is "A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play", which appears in 23.5% of failed Nissan Primastar 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 Primastar?: The most common advisory is "Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded", noted on 27.2% of all Nissan Primastar tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.
What mileage does a Nissan Primastar usually have at its MOT?: The average odometer reading recorded at test is 137,736 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.
Which Nissan Primastar years are the most reliable?: Going by MOT pass rate, Nissan Primastar cars first registered 2020–2022 do best at 78.6%, and those registered 2010 and earlier do worst at 48.5%. But that ordering is mostly age, not build year: almost every model passes less often as it wears, so the newest cars top this list whatever they are. A specific year looking strong here means little on its own; the failure items above, and the individual car's own MOT history, tell you far more.
Does a Nissan Primastar get harder to pass as it ages?: Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 78.6% of Nissan Primastar tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 48.5%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

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. No adjusted rate is shown because this model's tested examples do not cover enough of the national age and mileage range for standardisation to mean anything.

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.