Common problems

Nissan NV300 common problems

What MOT testers find on the Nissan NV300: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 6,221 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 4 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=1,837)9.0

All cars at 4 years (n=8,699,937)3.1

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=1,837)20.8

All cars, same age (n=8,699,937)12.0

What stands out

Suspension fails show up on 8.0 of every 100 MOTs of a Nissan NV300 at 4 years old (n=1,837), against 0.9 for all cars of that age (n=8,699,937).
The fail item testers record most often at 4 years: brake pads under 1.5 mm, on 4.1 per 100 MOTs (all cars 1.3).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 13.7 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 4 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Nissan NV300 at 4 years (n=1,837) against all cars at 4 years (n=8,699,937). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	9.0	3.1	5.2	1.0
Suspension	8.0	0.9	11.7	2.8
Brakes	6.0	2.2	20.8	12.0
Tyres	4.6	4.7	20.1	20.4
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.8	0.7	1.8	0.5
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.8	3.6	7.1	3.0
Steering	1.6	0.2	1.7	0.3
Body and structure	1.0	0.3	0.4	0.5
Seat belts and airbags	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.1
Number plates and VIN	0.1	0.2	0.4	0.6
Road wheels	0.1	0.2	0.7	0.4

What testers fail most on the NV300 at 4 years

Fail items on the Nissan NV300 at 4 years (n=1,837), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=8,699,937).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	4.1	1.3	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Shock absorber leaking	Suspension	3.5	0.2	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.6	0.3	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	2.4	0.3	£10 to £47 per lamp
Daytime running lamps: not working	Lights and electrics	2.2	0.1
Tyre condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords	Tyres	1.9	1.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Anti-roll bar link worn	Suspension	1.8	0.1	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Steering track rod end: ball joint play	Steering	1.4	0.1	£54 to £128 per side (rough guide)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	1.2	0.2	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	1.1	0.3	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 4 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Nissan NV300 at 4 years (n=1,837), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=8,699,937).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	13.7	12.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	11.9	6.9	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	8.8	5.2	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	5.7	1.2	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Windscreen: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	5.2	1.5
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	3.6	6.3	£88 to £145 per tyre
Linkage ball joints: ball joint has slight play	Suspension	3.2	0.1	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)
Nail in tyre	Other	3.0	2.1
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively	Brakes	2.5	1.7	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Stop lamp: non-obligatory stop lamp not working	Lights and electrics	2.1	0.1

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 4 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Brakes
3 years	1,438	6.4	5.2	4.9
4 years	1,837	9.0	8.0	6.0
5 years	1,648	9.5	11.0	5.5
6 years	1,298	9.1	12.0	4.7

What to check on a viewing

On the Nissan NV300, testers most often record brake pads under 1.5 mm; shock absorber leaking; malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Nissan NV300?

At 4 years, the age with the most MOT tests (1,837), the fail items testers record most often on the Nissan NV300 are brake pads under 1.5 mm (4.1 per 100 MOTs), shock absorber leaking (3.5 per 100 MOTs), malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction (2.6 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (13.7) and brake pads: wearing thin (11.9).

Which parts of the Nissan NV300 fail more often than on other cars?

At 4 years: suspension (8.0 per 100 MOTs against 0.9 for all cars); lights and electrics (9.0 per 100 MOTs against 3.1 for all cars); brakes (6.0 per 100 MOTs against 2.2 for all cars). Compared with 8,699,937 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Nissan NV300 problems by area

Other Nissan models

All Nissan models · Common problems by make

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.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Nissan NV300?

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Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

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 28 September 2026.

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