Pass rate
66.7%
Below average — 6.4 pts behind the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 57 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£95
2008 Nissan X MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 116,279 mi
Only 57 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.
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
33.8% 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 →
Which year to buy
- Best 2008 66.7% pass · this year
- Avoid 2007 62.9% pass
Across the 2 years on record, a spread of 3.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 53.7%
- Typical mileage
- 116k mi
The 2008 Nissan X MOT pass rate is 66.7% of its MOT tests — 6.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 33.8% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.6× the national share
Suspension accounts for 33.8% of everything recorded on the 2008 Nissan X, against 21.0% nationally — 12.8 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.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.1%; this one manages 66.7% — 6.4 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 14% 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 X? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Nissan X compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 6.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 53.7%. The median 2008 Nissan X in this dataset had covered 116,279 mi.
The single most recorded failure item is "Track rod end ball joint has excessive play", noted on 12.28% of tests.
- 57 recorded tests behind this page.
- 66.7% overall pass rate, 53.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Nissan X, the average is 64.7% — best year 2008 (66.7%), worst 2007 (62.9%).
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
- 57
- Typical mileage (median)
- 116,279 mi
- Make and model
- Nissan X
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Ball Joint
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the X MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 52% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the X
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South West | 22 | 63.6% |
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 X
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 X
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 suspension joints 12.3% 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 lights 8.8% 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 windscreen 7.0% 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.
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 X through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£95 — and 14% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£95
- Cheapest common item: headlamp lens slightly defective
- £5–£25
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 14%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 57 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 X, side by side
2 model years on record, from 2007 to 2008. Across them the pass rate runs from 62.9% to 66.7% — a spread of 3.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2007 62.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 66.7%track rod end ball joint has…
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 X 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
- Renault Grand Scenic 66.6%
- Chevrolet Aveo 66.5%
- Ford Ka 66.2%
- Fiat Bravo 67.3%
- Chevrolet Captiva 67.3%
- Chevrolet Kalos 66.1%
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 X 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 157 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 | 53 | 33.80% | 20.98% | +12.82 |
| Brakes | 28 | 17.80% | 20.89% | −3.09 |
| Tyres | 17 | 10.80% | 19.76% | −8.96 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 15 | 9.60% | 12.21% | −2.61 |
| Steering | 13 | 8.30% | 2.57% | +5.73 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 11 | 7.00% | 5.52% | +1.48 |
| Non-component advisories | 10 | 6.40% | 4.18% | +2.22 |
| Visibility | 5 | 3.20% | 4.97% | −1.77 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 4 | 2.50% | 5.57% | −3.07 |
| Road Wheels | 1 | 0.60% | 0.75% | −0.15 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 12.3% | £18–45 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 8.8% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 8.8% | £5–25 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 7.0% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 7.0% | £80–200 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 3.5% | £80–250 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.5% | £80–250 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £18–45 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 3.5% | £60–150 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.5% | £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 | 22.8% | £45–95 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 17.5% | £200–700 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 10.5% | £40–150 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 10.5% | £180–450 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 8.8% | £35–85 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.0% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60-90k | 8 | 62.5% | 78,137 mi |
| 90-120k | 23 | 60.9% | 103,859 mi |
| 120k+ | 26 | 73.1% | 145,380 mi |
Source: 57 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 X MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Nissan X?
66.7% of the 57 2008 Nissan X tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 53.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Nissan X?
The three most recorded items are track rod end ball joint has excessive play (12.28%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (8.77%), headlamp lens slightly defective (8.77%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Nissan X MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 62.5% of the time, falling to 73.1% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Nissan X in this dataset had covered 116,279 mi.