Pass rate
77.5%
Around average — 5.3 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 302 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £47–£137
2004 Nissan Cube MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 106,197 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
25.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2012 89.6% pass
- Avoid 2002 69.6% pass
Across the 20 years on record, a spread of 20 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 74.0%
- Typical mileage
- 106k mi
The 2004 Nissan Cube MOT pass rate is 77.5% of its MOT tests — 5.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 25.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.1× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 11.6% of everything recorded on the 2004 Nissan Cube, against 5.6% nationally — 6.0 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 25.2%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- 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 72.2% and this one manages 77.5% — 5.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 31% 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 Cube? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Nissan Cube compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 5.3 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 74.0%. The median 2004 Nissan Cube in this dataset had covered 106,197 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 78.4% of the time, April–September 76.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 5.30% of tests.
- 302 recorded tests behind this page.
- 77.5% overall pass rate, 74.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Nissan Cube, the average is 78.5% — best year 2012 (89.6%), worst 2002 (69.6%).
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
- 302
- Typical mileage (median)
- 106,197 mi
- Make and model
- Nissan Cube
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Cube MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Nissan Cube is most common
Across all Cube model years on record (2002–2021): 4,277 Nissan Cube cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 10,183 tests. Bristol (BS) has the most, with 167 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bristol (BS) | 167 | 75.3% |
| 2 | Basildon (SS) | 159 | 92.4% |
| 3 | Birmingham (B) | 128 | 82.8% |
| 4 | London (N) | 119 | 87.7% |
| 5 | Brighton (BN) | 102 | 72.3% |
| 6 | London (SE) | 92 | 85.2% |
| 7 | Derby (DE) | 88 | 86.9% |
| 8 | London (E) | 83 | 88.2% |
| 9 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 77 | 77.2% |
| 10 | Sheffield (S) | 74 | 76.0% |
| 11 | Coventry (CV) | 73 | 74.6% |
| 12 | Nottingham (NG) | 72 | 75.3% |
| 13 | Portsmouth (PO) | 71 | 75.8% |
| 14 | Cardiff (CF) | 70 | 72.3% |
| 15 | Swansea (SA) | 64 | 78.6% |
| 16 | Ashford (TN) | 62 | 74.4% |
| 17 | Poole (BH) | 61 | 71.7% |
| 18 | Newport (NP) | 61 | 85.5% |
| 19 | Peterborough (PE) | 60 | 74.2% |
| 20 | Glasgow (G) | 60 | 84.6% |
The twenty areas with the most Nissan Cube cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Cube
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 65 | 75.4% |
| South East | 54 | 77.8% |
| Yorkshire | 42 | 73.8% |
| East of England | 30 | 86.7% |
| West Midlands | 23 | 65.2% |
| North West | 23 | 82.6% |
| East Midlands | 20 | 80.0% |
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 2004 Cube
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 2004 Cube
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 lights 5.3% 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 windscreen 5.0% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.6% 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.
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 2004 Cube through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £47–£137 — and 31% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £47–£137
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 31%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 302 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 Cube, side by side
20 model years on record, from 2002 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.6% to 89.6% — a spread of 20 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 69.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 78.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2004 77.5%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 82.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 79.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2007 79.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2008 81.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 81.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2010 75.0% ball joint excessively worn
- 2011 81.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2012 89.6% rear fog lamp missing
- 2013 87.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2014 73.2% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2015 73.6% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2016 77.1% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2017 76.3% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2018 82.9% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2019 78.7% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2020 79.5% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2021 79.6% joints constant velocity boot…
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 2004 Nissan Cube 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 2004 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Nissan Cube 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 667 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 | 169 | 25.20% | 20.98% | +4.22 |
| Brakes | 117 | 17.50% | 20.89% | −3.39 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 104 | 15.50% | 12.21% | +3.29 |
| Tyres | 79 | 11.80% | 19.76% | −7.96 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 78 | 11.60% | 5.57% | +6.03 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 55 | 8.20% | 5.52% | +2.68 |
| Visibility | 33 | 4.90% | 4.97% | −0.07 |
| Non-component advisories | 19 | 2.80% | 4.18% | −1.38 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 10 | 1.50% | 0.82% | +0.68 |
| Road Wheels | 3 | 0.40% | 0.75% | −0.35 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.3% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 5.0% | £80–200 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.0% | £80–250 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.6% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £5–25 |
| Catalyst emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle exceeds manufacturer's specified limits Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 3.0% | £60–250 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £180–450 |
| Prescribed areas prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 2.6% | £40–120 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.3% | £5–20 |
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 | 11.6% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.6% | £18–45 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 9.6% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 7.0% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 6.6% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 6.0% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 6 | 83.3% | 26,850 mi |
| 30-60k | 33 | 93.9% | 46,503 mi |
| 60-90k | 64 | 75.0% | 75,231 mi |
| 90-120k | 88 | 79.5% | 104,675 mi |
| 120k+ | 111 | 72.1% | 162,554 mi |
Source: 302 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.
2004 Cube MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Nissan Cube?
77.5% of the 302 2004 Nissan Cube tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 74.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Nissan Cube?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (5.30%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (4.97%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (3.97%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Nissan Cube MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 72.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Nissan Cube in this dataset had covered 106,197 mi.
Does the season affect the 2004 Nissan Cube MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 78.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.