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MOT fail rates

Nissan Micra MOT fail rate by age

How often the Nissan Micra fails its MOT at each age, compared with all cars of the same age, and what it fails on. From 994,896 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated

At 17 years, the most tested age

MOT fail rate at age 17 (n=64,136)45.0%
All cars at 17 years (n=4,040,458)43.1%
Median mileage at test78,872
All cars, median mileage105,023

147 of 250 model groups with enough tests fail less often at 17 years.

What stands out

  • At 3 years the Nissan Micra fails 8.5% of MOTs (28,013 tests), 3.6 points below the 12.1% for all cars that age. At 25 years it fails 45.6% (7,087 tests), 9.3 points above the 36.3% average.
  • It moves from below to above the all-car rate between 4 and 5 years.
  • Its most common structural or mechanical fail item at 17 years: Coil spring broken, at 5.4 per 100 MOTs.

MOT fail rate by age

3 years 25 years 52.4%

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Nissan Micra: share of MOT tests that failed, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
AgeMOT fail rateTests (n)All carsDifferenceMedian mileage
3 years8.5%28,01312.1%−3.6 pts15,123 miles
4 years12.3%31,79613.4%−1.1 pts20,857 miles
5 years18.6%37,65615.3%+3.3 pts26,756 miles
6 years22.5%42,17217.8%+4.7 pts30,686 miles
7 years24.7%46,53220.6%+4.0 pts34,289 miles
8 years26.6%50,64223.8%+2.9 pts36,697 miles
9 years26.9%49,40127.1%−0.2 pts39,606 miles
10 years30.7%50,14230.3%+0.4 pts45,353 miles
11 years33.1%50,14233.3%−0.2 pts50,586 miles
12 years36.4%52,26436.0%+0.4 pts57,272 miles
13 years38.2%56,83238.3%0.0 pts62,857 miles
14 years38.6%59,67040.3%−1.6 pts67,941 miles
15 years40.4%60,06241.6%−1.2 pts71,894 miles
16 years42.3%63,02042.6%−0.3 pts75,709 miles
17 years45.0%64,13643.1%+1.9 pts78,872 miles
18 years46.7%60,15143.3%+3.4 pts80,114 miles
19 years47.5%55,64643.2%+4.3 pts79,772 miles
20 years47.6%44,57542.8%+4.9 pts75,343 miles
21 years47.0%32,46342.1%+5.0 pts70,804 miles
22 years47.0%24,28941.0%+6.0 pts66,868 miles
23 years46.5%17,25739.6%+6.8 pts63,874 miles
24 years46.4%10,94837.8%+8.6 pts64,551 miles
25 years45.6%7,08736.3%+9.3 pts65,958 miles

Most common fail items at 17 years

Split into structural or mechanical items and wear items. Wear items (tyres, brake pads, wipers, bulbs) say more about upkeep than about the design.

Structural and mechanical

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Coil spring broken Major5.4
Suspension arm bush worn Major4.3
Suspension ball joint worn Major3.9
Linkage ball joint dust cover: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Major3.5

Out of 64,136 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Wear and upkeep

Fail itemPer 100 MOTs
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect Major9.7
Side/position light not working Major8.1
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps Major7.1
Wipers not clearing screen Major5.8
Individual direction indicators: incorrect colour Major5.6
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm Dangerous4.5

Out of 64,136 MOTs. A test with two faults counts twice.

Other models at 17 years

ModelMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
Nissan Note49.0%35,28243.1%
Nissan Qashqai55.4%20,63343.1%
Nissan X-Trail47.7%16,74443.1%

MOT fail rate by first-use year

Each year has its own page: the fail rate for cars first used that year at each MOT from 2022 to 2025 with at least 1,000 tests, the most common faults at that age, and the car tax and ULEZ rules for that year.

First-use year data updated .

Latest MOT age with at least 1,000 tests for each first-use year.
First usedAge at testMOT fail rateTests (n)All cars
199825 years in 202346.6%1,69736.3%
199925 years in 202445.1%2,14336.3%
200025 years in 202546.3%2,19336.3%
200124 years in 202545.5%3,35137.8%
200223 years in 202545.6%5,98839.6%
200322 years in 202547.4%7,63941.0%
200421 years in 202547.8%8,54942.1%
200520 years in 202549.2%12,82042.8%
200619 years in 202546.2%15,35343.2%
200718 years in 202544.3%11,95943.3%
200817 years in 202542.0%13,30343.1%
200916 years in 202541.7%14,73142.6%
201015 years in 202540.8%14,97441.6%
201114 years in 202538.3%12,35440.3%
201213 years in 202537.7%11,34338.3%
201312 years in 202536.0%11,43336.0%
201411 years in 202530.8%14,05933.3%
201510 years in 202528.0%12,97230.3%
20169 years in 202526.5%10,70627.1%
20178 years in 202533.1%12,69123.8%
20187 years in 202530.1%10,01620.6%
20196 years in 202521.5%8,56617.8%
20205 years in 202517.9%6,19715.3%
20214 years in 202511.0%6,65213.4%
20223 years in 20259.0%5,93312.1%

More on the Nissan Micra

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

Looking at one Nissan Micra?

These are figures for the model, not for one car. The VetTheCar Buying Report looks at a single car: its MOT tests, defects, advisories and mileage readings.

See an example report Browse the car tools

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources