Pass rate
70.3%
Below average — 2.6 pts behind the 72.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 74 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £71–£176
2002 Nissan Interstar MOT pass rate
- 2002
- 2 trims combined
- typical 105,801 mi
Only 74 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
Brakes
36.5% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 88.1% pass
- Avoid 2005 63.1% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 25 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 63.9%
- Typical mileage
- 106k mi
The 2002 Nissan Interstar MOT pass rate is 70.3% of its MOT tests — 2.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 36.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Nissan Interstar does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.7× the national share
Brakes make up 36.5% of everything recorded on the 2002 Nissan Interstar, against 20.9% nationally — 15.6 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 17% 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.
- Based on a small sample. 74 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 Interstar? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Nissan Interstar first registered in 2002 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2002 Nissan Interstar compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.9%, so this figure is 2.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 63.9%. The median 2002 Nissan Interstar in this dataset had covered 105,801 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 67.6% of the time, April–September 73.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 9.46% of tests.
- 74 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.3% overall pass rate, 63.9% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Nissan Interstar, the average is 70.4% — best year 2022 (88.1%), worst 2005 (63.1%).
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
- 74
- Typical mileage (median)
- 105,801 mi
- Make and model
- Nissan Interstar
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Interstar MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 32% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Interstar
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 31 | 74.2% |
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 2002 Interstar
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 Interstar
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 windscreen 9.5% 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 steering 8.1% of tests
“steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated,”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
-
Check the suspension joints 5.4% 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 2002 Interstar through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £71–£176 — and 17% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £71–£176
- 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
- 17%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 74 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 Interstar, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2002 to 2022. Across them the pass rate runs from 63.1% to 88.1% — a spread of 25 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2002 70.3%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2003 69.5% component mounting prescribed…
- 2004 68.6% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2005 63.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 71.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 65.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 72.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2022 88.1% outline marker lamp not working
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 Interstar 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
- Ford Focus 70.4%
- Renault Clio 70.4%
- Peugeot 106 70.4%
- Ford Mondeo 70.5%
- Citroen Saxo 70.0%
- MINI Mini 69.9%
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 Interstar 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 217 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 80 | 36.50% | 20.89% | +15.61 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 33 | 15.10% | 12.21% | +2.89 |
| Suspension | 25 | 11.40% | 20.98% | −9.58 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 18 | 8.20% | 5.57% | +2.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 16 | 7.30% | 5.52% | +1.78 |
| Tyres | 15 | 6.80% | 19.76% | −12.96 |
| Visibility | 13 | 5.90% | 4.97% | +0.93 |
| Steering | 12 | 5.50% | 2.57% | +2.93 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 1.40% | 1.76% | −0.36 |
| Non-component advisories | 2 | 0.90% | 4.18% | −3.28 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 9.5% | £80–200 |
| Steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt Steering | Minor | 8.1% | £120–300 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 5.4% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 5.4% | £45–110 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.4% | £5–20 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 5.4% | £80–180 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 5.4% | £120–300 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.0% | £18–45 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.0% | £180–450 |
| Horn not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.0% | £8–25 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 21.6% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 17.6% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 16.2% | £80–180 |
| Flexible brake hoses ferrule excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 14.9% | £25–70 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.8% | £45–95 |
| Integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 9.5% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 4 | 75.0% | 19,050 mi |
| 30-60k | 6 | 83.3% | 38,840 mi |
| 60-90k | 5 | 40.0% | 80,898 mi |
| 90-120k | 31 | 74.2% | 103,984 mi |
| 120k+ | 28 | 67.9% | 160,397 mi |
Source: 74 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 Interstar MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2002 Nissan Interstar?
70.3% of the 74 2002 Nissan Interstar tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.9% for cars first used in 2002. First-attempt pass rate: 63.9%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2002 Nissan Interstar?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (9.46%), steering rack gaiter damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt (8.11%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (5.41%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2002 Nissan Interstar MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 75.0% of the time, falling to 67.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2002 Nissan Interstar in this dataset had covered 105,801 mi.
Does the season affect the 2002 Nissan Interstar MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 67.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 73.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.