Pass rate
68.5%
Below average — 4.6 pts behind the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,875 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £35–£102
2008 Nissan Pathfinder MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 126,353 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
22.7% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2014 73.4% pass
- Avoid 2009 68.2% pass
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 5.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 58.8%
- Typical mileage
- 126k mi
The 2008 Nissan Pathfinder MOT pass rate is 68.5% of its MOT tests — 4.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Nissan Pathfinder does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 3.2× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 17.8% of everything recorded on the 2008 Nissan Pathfinder, against 5.6% nationally — 12.2 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 22.7%, 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.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.1%; this one manages 68.5% — 4.6 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 25% 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 Pathfinder? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Nissan Pathfinder compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 4.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 58.8%. The median 2008 Nissan Pathfinder in this dataset had covered 126,353 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 68.0% of the time, April–September 69.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated", noted on 8.53% of tests.
- 1,875 recorded tests behind this page.
- 68.5% overall pass rate, 58.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Nissan Pathfinder, the average is 69.8% — best year 2014 (73.4%), worst 2009 (68.2%).
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
- 1,875
- Typical mileage (median)
- 126,353 mi
- Make and model
- Nissan Pathfinder
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Body Panel Repair
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Pathfinder MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 59% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Pathfinder
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 361 | 70.9% |
| South West | 263 | 62.4% |
| East of England | 262 | 67.9% |
| North West | 203 | 66.5% |
| West Midlands | 190 | 74.7% |
| Yorkshire | 151 | 68.9% |
| East Midlands | 142 | 71.8% |
| Wales | 107 | 63.6% |
| Scotland | 87 | 62.1% |
| North East | 73 | 71.2% |
| London | 36 | 80.6% |
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 2008 Pathfinder
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 2008 Pathfinder
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 8.1% 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.
-
Check the suspension joints 5.6% 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 4.5% 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 2008 Pathfinder through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £35–£102 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £35–£102
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,875 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 Pathfinder, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2005 to 2014. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.2% to 73.4% — a spread of 5.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2005 71.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 68.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 68.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 68.5%joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 68.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2010 71.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 72.0% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2012 69.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2013 70.4% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 73.4% coil spring fractured or broken
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 2008 Nissan Pathfinder 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Citroen C4 68.6%
- Alfa Romeo 159 68.6%
- Volkswagen Sharan 68.4%
- Renault Clio 68.3%
- Vauxhall Combo 68.3%
- Renault Megane 68.7%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Nissan Pathfinder 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 6,071 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 | 1,398 | 22.70% | 20.98% | +1.72 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1,096 | 17.80% | 5.57% | +12.23 |
| Brakes | 955 | 15.50% | 20.89% | −5.39 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 823 | 13.40% | 12.21% | +1.19 |
| Tyres | 551 | 9.00% | 19.76% | −10.76 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 474 | 7.70% | 5.52% | +2.18 |
| Visibility | 286 | 4.70% | 4.97% | −0.27 |
| Steering | 258 | 4.20% | 2.57% | +1.63 |
| Non-component advisories | 151 | 2.50% | 4.18% | −1.68 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 79 | 1.30% | 0.82% | +0.48 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 8.5% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 8.1% | £5–20 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 5.6% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 5.3% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.1% | £5–25 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.5% | £25–65 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.5% | £80–200 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £18–45 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.7% | £80–250 |
| Wheel bearings has excessive play Suspension | Major | 3.7% | £20–55 |
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 | 19.6% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 16.9% | £200–700 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.8% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.3% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.9% | £18–45 |
| Chassis condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 9.7% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 3 | 100.0% | 18,732 mi |
| 30-60k | 32 | 84.4% | 47,499 mi |
| 60-90k | 177 | 71.8% | 77,995 mi |
| 90-120k | 527 | 69.3% | 107,542 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,135 | 67.0% | 146,815 mi |
Source: 1,875 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.
2008 Pathfinder MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder?
68.5% of the 1,875 2008 Nissan Pathfinder tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 58.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder?
The three most recorded items are joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (8.53%), registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.11%), track rod end ball joint has excessive play (5.60%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Nissan Pathfinder MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 67.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Nissan Pathfinder in this dataset had covered 126,353 mi.
Does the season affect the 2008 Nissan Pathfinder MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 68.0% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 69.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.