Pass rate
71.6%
Below average — 1.0 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 36,441 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £22–£63
2003 Nissan Micra MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 76,434 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
22.6% 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 →
4.1 pts up across model years — 0.6% in 2000, 4.7% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 93.8% pass
- Avoid 2000 69.4% pass
Across the 24 years on record, a spread of 24.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 62.4%
- Typical mileage
- 76k mi
The 2003 Nissan Micra MOT pass rate is 71.6% of its MOT tests — 1.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.6% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Nissan Micra does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Lamps & electrics: 1.8× the national share
Lamps & electrics make up 21.7% of everything recorded on the 2003 Nissan Micra, against 12.2% nationally — 9.5 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 22.6%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. Walk round the car with the lights on before the test: bulbs, indicators and number-plate lamps are the cheapest failures to prevent and among the most common.
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 Micra? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2003 Nissan Micra compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 1.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 62.4%. The median 2003 Nissan Micra in this dataset had covered 76,434 mi.
99% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 71.6% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 71.6% of the time, April–September 71.6%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 6.86% of tests.
- 36,441 recorded tests behind this page.
- 71.6% overall pass rate, 62.4% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Nissan Micra, the average is 77.9% — best year 2022 (93.8%), worst 2000 (69.4%).
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
- 36,441
- Typical mileage (median)
- 76,434 mi
- Make and model
- Nissan Micra
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
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 Micra MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (99% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Micra
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 9,281 | 73.6% |
| South West | 5,255 | 66.4% |
| East of England | 4,390 | 72.4% |
| North West | 4,018 | 71.4% |
| West Midlands | 3,100 | 73.4% |
| Yorkshire | 2,662 | 69.7% |
| London | 2,304 | 79.8% |
| East Midlands | 2,199 | 71.3% |
| Wales | 1,230 | 68.6% |
| North East | 1,117 | 68.3% |
| Scotland | 885 | 63.8% |
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 2003 Micra
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 2003 Micra
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 6.9% 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 suspension joints 3.6% of tests
“track rod end ball joint has excessive play”
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 coil springs 3.4% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
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 2003 Micra through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £22–£63 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £22–£63
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 44%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 36,441 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 Micra, side by side
24 model years on record, from 2000 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.4% to 93.8% — a spread of 24.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 69.4% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 70.4% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 71.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 71.6%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2004 72.2% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 72.1% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2006 74.2% headlamp aim projected beam image…
- 2007 74.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2008 76.0% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2009 76.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2010 76.8% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 77.9% service brake performance…
- 2012 78.0% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2013 79.2% service brake performance…
- 2014 81.5% service brake performance…
- 2015 83.7% service brake performance…
- 2016 84.7% service brake performance…
- 2017 79.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2018 82.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2019 88.2% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2020 90.8% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2021 93.4% wipers blade defective
- 2022 93.8% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2023 88.7% wipers blade defective
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 2003 Nissan Micra 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Suzuki Wagon-R+ 71.6%
- Renault Megane 71.6%
- Citroen Saxo 71.6%
- Volvo V70 71.5%
- Honda Civic 71.7%
- Mitsubishi L200 71.7%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 Nissan Micra 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 103,744 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 | 23,995 | 22.60% | 20.98% | +1.62 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 23,052 | 21.70% | 12.21% | +9.49 |
| Tyres | 13,999 | 13.20% | 19.76% | −6.56 |
| Brakes | 13,324 | 12.50% | 20.89% | −8.39 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 7,663 | 7.20% | 5.57% | +1.63 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 7,144 | 6.70% | 5.52% | +1.18 |
| Visibility | 4,890 | 4.60% | 4.97% | −0.37 |
| Steering | 4,107 | 3.90% | 2.57% | +1.33 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3,373 | 3.20% | 1.76% | +1.44 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,197 | 2.10% | 4.18% | −2.08 |
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 | 6.9% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.5% | £30–80 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 3.6% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.6% | £5–20 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.5% | £5–25 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.4% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 3.1% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.6% | £8–22 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.6% | £40–150 |
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 | 16.3% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 14.4% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 14.2% | £40–150 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 12.3% | £200–700 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.0% | £45–110 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 8.2% | £20–80 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,336 | 83.3% | 22,890 mi |
| 30-60k | 9,120 | 75.6% | 47,295 mi |
| 60-90k | 13,474 | 70.8% | 74,652 mi |
| 90-120k | 8,481 | 68.8% | 103,068 mi |
| 120k+ | 3,895 | 66.8% | 139,680 mi |
Source: 36,441 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.
2003 Micra MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 Nissan Micra?
71.6% of the 36,441 2003 Nissan Micra tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 62.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 Nissan Micra?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (6.86%), headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect (5.52%), track rod end ball joint has excessive play (3.59%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 Nissan Micra MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 66.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 Nissan Micra in this dataset had covered 76,434 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2003 Nissan Micra?
Petrol: 71.6% pass rate across 36,046 tests. Diesel: 71.6% pass rate across 395 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2003 Nissan Micra MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 71.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 71.6%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.