Nissan Note MOT Pass Rate & Official DVSA Failure Statistics

Nissan Note MOT History and Failure Rates vs UK National Average

The Nissan Note passed on its first attempt in 72.7%, and its overall record sits −2.8 percentage points below the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the Nissan Note in the 2023–2025 data: 566,669 tests across 12 model years (2006–2017). A test still carries exactly one pass or fail verdict.

Figures are computed from every recorded DVSA test for this model in the 2023–2025 data.

Most Common Nissan Note MOT Problems by Failure Category

Every MOT failure a tester records belongs to one inspection section of the DVSA manual. For the Nissan Note, the Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment section leads the record — the breakdown below shows where the recorded failures cluster, then the exact strings behind the three biggest sections.

Shares are over the Nissan Note's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.

Top Recorded Nissan Note DVSA MOT Test Statistics & Defect Descriptions

The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the Nissan Note, each with how many of the model's 566,669 tests it was noted on.

• "Position lamp not working" (Major) — noted on about 24,207 Nissan Note tests, 4.3% of the model's MOT record.
• "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources" (Minor) — noted on about 24,204 Nissan Note tests, 4.3% of the model's MOT record.
• "Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn" (Major) — noted on about 22,915 Nissan Note tests, 4.0% of the model's MOT record.
• "Ball joint excessively worn" (Major) — noted on about 22,683 Nissan Note tests, 4.0% of the model's MOT record.
• "Coil spring fractured or broken" (Major) — noted on about 21,499 Nissan Note tests, 3.8% of the model's MOT record.
• "Stop lamp not working" (Major) — noted on about 16,164 Nissan Note tests, 2.9% of the model's MOT record.

Best and Worst Nissan Note Model Years by Pass Rate

The strongest Nissan Note model year on record is 2017 (89.3% across 17,080 tests), and the weakest is 2006 (71.5%). The gap between them is 17.8 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.

Nissan Note reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 2.9 points a year across the most recent model years shown above.

Newest model year first. Only years with at least 50 recorded tests are listed.

Pre-MOT Inspection Checklist for Nissan Note Owners

These checks follow this Nissan Note's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a Nissan Note.

• the lights — “position lamp not working”

  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.

• the suspension joints — “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.

• the coil springs — “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.

Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the Nissan Note. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.

Where the Nissan Note is most common

Across every Note model year 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.

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 →

Frequently Asked Questions: Nissan Note MOT & Reliability