Pass rate
75.8%
Around average — 1.4 pts behind the 77.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 45,026 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £21–£64
2012 Nissan Note MOT pass rate
- 2012
- typical 72,098 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
34.7% 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 →
5.4 pts down across model years — 9.0% in 2006, 3.6% in 2017.
Which year to buy
- Best 2017 89.3% pass
- Avoid 2006 71.5% pass
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 17.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 68.6%
- Typical mileage
- 72k mi
The 2012 Nissan Note MOT pass rate is 75.8% of its MOT tests — 1.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 34.7% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.7× the national share
Suspension accounts for 34.7% of everything recorded on the 2012 Nissan Note, against 21.0% nationally — 13.7 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
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 Note? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2012 Nissan Note compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 77.2%, so this figure is 1.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 68.6%. The median 2012 Nissan Note in this dataset had covered 72,098 mi.
83% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Petrol, which passed 76.6% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 75.9% of the time, April–September 75.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Coil spring fractured or broken", noted on 5.76% of tests.
- 45,026 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.8% overall pass rate, 68.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Nissan Note, the average is 78.2% — best year 2017 (89.3%), worst 2006 (71.5%).
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
- 45,026
- Typical mileage (median)
- 72,098 mi
- Make and model
- Nissan Note
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Coil Spring
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Note MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 61% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (83% of tests).
Where the Nissan Note is most common
Across all Note model years on record (2006–2017): 206,440 Nissan Note cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 566,638 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 6,667 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 | Birmingham (B) | 6,667 | 81.7% |
| 2 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 5,714 | 76.2% |
| 3 | Manchester (M) | 4,661 | 77.9% |
| 4 | London (SE) | 4,240 | 84.0% |
| 5 | Sheffield (S) | 4,010 | 79.4% |
| 6 | Bristol (BS) | 3,513 | 72.9% |
| 7 | Nottingham (NG) | 3,253 | 76.5% |
| 8 | Glasgow (G) | 3,252 | 71.4% |
| 9 | London (E) | 2,985 | 84.6% |
| 10 | Liverpool (L) | 2,945 | 79.1% |
| 11 | Norwich (NR) | 2,904 | 79.2% |
| 12 | Peterborough (PE) | 2,869 | 79.7% |
| 13 | Brighton (BN) | 2,823 | 76.3% |
| 14 | Edinburgh (EH) | 2,821 | 71.5% |
| 15 | London (N) | 2,784 | 85.2% |
| 16 | Warrington (WA) | 2,721 | 79.2% |
| 17 | Ashford (TN) | 2,675 | 77.6% |
| 18 | Cardiff (CF) | 2,655 | 75.2% |
| 19 | Leicester (LE) | 2,642 | 80.4% |
| 20 | Romford (RM) | 2,531 | 83.3% |
The twenty areas with the most Nissan Note 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 Note
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 9,652 | 78.9% |
| South West | 5,513 | 73.7% |
| North West | 5,181 | 74.9% |
| East of England | 4,432 | 78.6% |
| West Midlands | 3,888 | 76.4% |
| Scotland | 3,232 | 67.3% |
| Yorkshire | 3,208 | 74.1% |
| London | 2,886 | 83.0% |
| North East | 2,775 | 72.0% |
| East Midlands | 2,484 | 75.0% |
| Wales | 1,772 | 73.0% |
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 2012 Note
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 2012 Note
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 coil springs 5.8% 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 5.4% of tests
“pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn”
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 4.2% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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.
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 2012 Note through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £21–£64 — and 42% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £21–£64
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 42%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 45,026 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 Note, side by side
12 model years on record, from 2006 to 2017. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.5% to 89.3% — a spread of 17.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2006 71.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 72.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 73.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 74.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 74.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2011 75.1% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2012 75.8%coil spring fractured or broken
- 2013 78.6% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 83.9% ball joint excessively worn
- 2015 87.1% ball joint excessively worn
- 2016 89.1% wipers blade defective
- 2017 89.3% 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 2012 Nissan Note 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 2012 cars with a similar record
- Volvo V40 75.8%
- Hyundai I20 75.9%
- Vauxhall Zafira 76.0%
- Mitsubishi Outlander 75.4%
- Peugeot Rcz 76.2%
- Chevrolet Cruze 76.2%
Closest pass rates among 2012 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 2012 Nissan Note 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 88,708 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 | 31,152 | 34.70% | 20.98% | +13.72 |
| Tyres | 15,635 | 17.40% | 19.76% | −2.36 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 14,038 | 15.60% | 12.21% | +3.39 |
| Brakes | 12,754 | 14.20% | 20.89% | −6.69 |
| Visibility | 4,159 | 4.60% | 4.97% | −0.37 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3,151 | 3.50% | 5.52% | −2.02 |
| Non-component advisories | 3,120 | 3.50% | 4.18% | −0.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2,366 | 2.60% | 5.57% | −2.97 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1,470 | 1.60% | 1.76% | −0.16 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 863 | 1.00% | 0.82% | +0.18 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 5.8% | £25–65 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.4% | £40–150 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.0% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.2% | £5–20 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.3% | £3–12 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.0% | £5–25 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.2% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 2.1% | £5–25 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 2.0% | £8–22 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 17.6% | £40–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 16.2% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 10.2% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 8.1% | £25–65 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 4.9% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2,231 | 85.8% | 23,205 mi |
| 30-60k | 13,271 | 80.4% | 47,004 mi |
| 60-90k | 16,150 | 74.8% | 74,356 mi |
| 90-120k | 9,037 | 71.4% | 102,817 mi |
| 120k+ | 4,300 | 69.4% | 141,090 mi |
Source: 45,026 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.
2012 Note MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2012 Nissan Note?
75.8% of the 45,026 2012 Nissan Note tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 77.2% for cars first used in 2012. First-attempt pass rate: 68.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2012 Nissan Note?
The three most recorded items are coil spring fractured or broken (5.76%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (5.37%), ball joint excessively worn (5.02%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2012 Nissan Note MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 85.8% of the time, falling to 69.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2012 Nissan Note in this dataset had covered 72,098 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2012 Nissan Note?
Petrol: 76.6% pass rate across 37,203 tests. Diesel: 71.7% pass rate across 7,823 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2012 Nissan Note MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 75.9% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 75.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.