Pass rate
77.9%
Around average — 5.4 pts ahead of the 72.5% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 2,924 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £29–£101
2006 Nissan 350 Z MOT pass rate
- 2006
- typical 86,593 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
23.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2013 92.9% pass
- Avoid 2002 74.4% pass
Across the 18 years on record, a spread of 18.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 74.2%
- Typical mileage
- 87k mi
The 2006 Nissan 350 Z MOT pass rate is 77.9% of its MOT tests — 5.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 23.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Nissan 350 Z does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Fewer problems with tyres
Tyres are 13.3% of this car’s recorded faults, against 19.8% nationally — the mirror image of the usual story on a car of this age.
- 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 72.5% and this one manages 77.9% — 5.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
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 350 Z? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2006 Nissan 350 Z compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.5%, so this figure is 5.4 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 74.2%. The median 2006 Nissan 350 Z in this dataset had covered 86,593 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 77.9% of the time, April–September 77.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated", noted on 4.99% of tests.
- 2,924 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.9% overall pass rate, 74.2% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Nissan 350 Z, the average is 80.1% — best year 2013 (92.9%), worst 2002 (74.4%).
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
- 2,924
- Typical mileage (median)
- 86,593 mi
- Make and model
- Nissan 350 Z
- 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 350 Z MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the 350 Z
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 696 | 80.0% |
| East of England | 380 | 77.6% |
| South West | 377 | 72.7% |
| West Midlands | 279 | 83.5% |
| North West | 257 | 82.5% |
| East Midlands | 247 | 73.3% |
| Yorkshire | 209 | 77.5% |
| Scotland | 202 | 73.3% |
| Wales | 101 | 70.3% |
| North East | 97 | 77.3% |
| London | 79 | 89.9% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2006 350 Z
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 2006 350 Z
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 5.0% 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 lights 3.6% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the exhaust and emissions 3.5% of tests
“catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits”
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 2006 350 Z through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £29–£101 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £29–£101
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd…
- £60–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 44%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 2,924 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 350 Z, side by side
18 model years on record, from 2002 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 74.4% to 92.9% — a spread of 18.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 74.4% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2003 78.8% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 78.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2005 78.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2006 77.9%ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2007 81.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2008 79.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 83.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 86.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 87.3% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2012 92.4% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2013 92.9% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2014 92.0% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2015 92.4% catalyst emissions carbon…
- 2016 90.3% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2017 90.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 91.1% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2019 91.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
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 2006 Nissan 350 Z 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 2006 cars with a similar record
- Toyota Corolla 78.0%
- Toyota Prius 78.0%
- Audi A6 78.0%
- BMW 3 Series 78.2%
- Land Rover Range Rover 77.4%
- Mercedes-Benz Ml 78.4%
Closest pass rates among 2006 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 2006 Nissan 350 Z 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 5,860 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 1,378 | 23.00% | 20.98% | +2.02 |
| Brakes | 1,351 | 22.60% | 20.89% | +1.71 |
| Tyres | 797 | 13.30% | 19.76% | −6.46 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 710 | 11.90% | 12.21% | −0.31 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 561 | 9.40% | 5.52% | +3.88 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 454 | 7.60% | 5.57% | +2.03 |
| Visibility | 276 | 4.60% | 4.97% | −0.37 |
| Steering | 141 | 2.40% | 2.57% | −0.17 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 97 | 1.60% | 0.82% | +0.78 |
| Non-component advisories | 95 | 1.60% | 4.18% | −2.58 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 5.0% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.6% | £5–25 |
| Catalyst emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.5% | £60–250 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.3% | £80–200 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.9% | £40–150 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.8% | £5–20 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.7% | £60–250 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.6% | £5–25 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.4% | £3–12 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 2.2% | £3–12 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.9% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 14.0% | £80–180 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.3% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.0% | £18–45 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 6.5% | £25–65 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 6.2% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 45 | 91.1% | 21,925 mi |
| 30-60k | 478 | 84.7% | 47,411 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,053 | 77.1% | 75,565 mi |
| 90-120k | 899 | 76.4% | 104,083 mi |
| 120k+ | 444 | 74.8% | 142,492 mi |
Source: 2,924 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.
2006 350 Z MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2006 Nissan 350 Z?
77.9% of the 2,924 2006 Nissan 350 Z tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.5% for cars first used in 2006. First-attempt pass rate: 74.2%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2006 Nissan 350 Z?
The three most recorded items are ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (4.99%), headlamp lens slightly defective (3.59%), catalyst emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (3.49%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2006 Nissan 350 Z MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 91.1% of the time, falling to 74.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2006 Nissan 350 Z in this dataset had covered 86,593 mi.
Does the season affect the 2006 Nissan 350 Z MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 77.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 77.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.