Pass rate
82.5%
Around average — 9.6 pts ahead of the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 57 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £45–£142
2002 Nissan 300 Zx MOT pass rate
- 2002
- typical 90,300 mi
Only 57 tests of this exact model and year are in the DVSA data, below the 100 we ask for before a page goes in the index. The figures are still shown, because they are the only ones there are.
Most common fault
Emissions & leaks
22.5% of faults · 5.5% nationally
Which year to buy
- Best 2007 88.7% pass
- Avoid 2005 77.1% pass
Across the 6 years on record, a spread of 11.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 80.4%
- Typical mileage
- 90k mi
The 2002 Nissan 300 Zx MOT pass rate is 82.5% of its MOT tests — 9.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Emissions & leaks is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Nissan 300 Zx does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 4.1× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 22.5% of everything recorded on the 2002 Nissan 300 Zx, against 5.5% nationally — 17.0 points above. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 72.9% and this one manages 82.5% — 9.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 13% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Nissan 300 Zx? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2002 Nissan 300 Zx compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 9.6 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 80.4%. The median 2002 Nissan 300 Zx in this dataset had covered 90,300 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 5.26% of tests.
- 57 recorded tests behind this page.
- 82.5% overall pass rate, 80.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Nissan 300 Zx, the average is 81.8% — best year 2007 (88.7%), worst 2005 (77.1%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 57
- Typical mileage (median)
- 90,300 mi
- Make and model
- Nissan 300 Zx
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the 300 Zx MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 67% so small gaps stay visible.
What fails a 2002 300 Zx
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2002 300 Zx
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the suspension joints 5.3% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
-
Check the battery 5.3% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure”
Check the battery is secure and its terminals are clean and tight — a loose battery is a fail on its own, and a weak one shows up as slow cranking on a cold morning.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 5.3% of tests
“emissions not tested unable to be completed”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2002 300 Zx through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £45–£142 — and 13% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £45–£142
- Cheapest common item: washers provides insufficient washer liquid
- £5–£15
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter missing or no longer…
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 13%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 57 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the 300 Zx, side by side
6 model years on record, from 2002 to 2007. Across them the pass rate runs from 77.1% to 88.7% — a spread of 11.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 82.5%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 84.1% catalyst emissions lambda reading…
- 2004 79.0% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2005 77.1% rear fog lamp not working
- 2006 82.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 88.7% steering rack gaiter damaged or…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2002 Nissan 300 Zx with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2002 cars with a similar record
- Mercedes-Benz Slk 81.2%
- BMW Z3 80.7%
- Subaru Impreza 80.5%
- Honda S2000 84.6%
- Porsche Boxster 80.3%
- Mercedes-Benz Sl 85.2%
Closest pass rates among 2002 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2002 Nissan 300 Zx 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 128 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 29 | 22.50% | 5.52% | +16.98 |
| Brakes | 25 | 19.40% | 20.89% | −1.49 |
| Suspension | 24 | 18.60% | 20.98% | −2.38 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 15 | 11.60% | 12.21% | −0.61 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 11 | 8.50% | 5.57% | +2.93 |
| Tyres | 7 | 5.40% | 19.76% | −14.36 |
| Visibility | 6 | 4.70% | 4.97% | −0.27 |
| Steering | 6 | 4.70% | 2.57% | +2.13 |
| Non-component advisories | 3 | 2.30% | 4.18% | −1.88 |
| Road Wheels | 2 | 1.60% | 0.75% | +0.85 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 5.3% | £18–45 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.3% | £60–140 |
| Emissions not tested unable to be completed Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 5.3% | £60–250 |
| Washers provides insufficient washer liquid Visibility | Major | 5.3% | £5–15 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds default limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.5% | £60–250 |
| Fixing missing Road Wheels | Major | 3.5% | £20–55 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 3.5% | £30–80 |
| Non catalyst emissions emissions carbon monoxide content excessive Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.5% | £60–250 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 3.5% | £120–300 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 1.8% | £18–45 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 22.8% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 12.3% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.5% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 10.5% | £18–45 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Advisory | 10.5% | £180–450 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 8.8% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 10 | 90.0% | 51,612 mi |
| 60-90k | 18 | 77.8% | 74,646 mi |
| 90-120k | 20 | 90.0% | 99,409 mi |
| 120k+ | 8 | 75.0% | 144,664 mi |
Source: 57 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2002 300 Zx MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 Nissan 300 Zx?
82.5% of the 57 2002 Nissan 300 Zx tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 80.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 Nissan 300 Zx?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.26%), battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier (5.26%), emissions not tested unable to be completed (5.26%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 Nissan 300 Zx MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 90.0% of the time, falling to 75.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Nissan 300 Zx in this dataset had covered 90,300 mi.