Common problems

Nissan Primastar common problems

What MOT testers find on the Nissan Primastar: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 36,364 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 17 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=4,671)29.0

All cars at 17 years (n=4,040,458)21.0

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=4,671)40.2

All cars, same age (n=4,040,458)31.1

What stands out

Brakes fails show up on 23.4 of every 100 MOTs of a Nissan Primastar at 17 years old (n=4,671), against 12.3 for all cars of that age (n=4,040,458).
Exhaust, emissions and leaks fails are less common: 4.6 per 100 MOTs against 6.5 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 17 years: suspension ball joint worn, on 10.7 per 100 MOTs (all cars 2.4).
The most common advisory or minor defect: engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive, on 23.1 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 17 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 Primastar at 17 years (n=4,671) against all cars at 17 years (n=4,040,458). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	29.0	21.0	13.4	16.9
Suspension	27.1	17.2	34.7	34.7
Brakes	23.4	12.3	40.2	31.1
Steering	12.6	3.6	10.6	5.1
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	10.5	7.1	11.6	6.0
Body and structure	8.1	8.3	10.9	13.9
Tyres	7.4	7.3	24.9	28.1
Seat belts and airbags	5.1	2.5	2.2	1.2
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	4.6	6.5	24.3	13.2
Number plates and VIN	0.8	0.6	6.2	5.2
Road wheels	0.3	0.6	0.6	1.4

What testers fail most on the Primastar at 17 years

Fail items on the Nissan Primastar at 17 years (n=4,671), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=4,040,458).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Suspension ball joint worn	Suspension	10.7	2.4	£75 to £237 per side (rough guide)
Steering track rod end: ball joint play	Steering	10.0	1.9	£54 to £128 per side (rough guide)
Side/position light not working	Lights and electrics	8.7	5.8	£10 to £47 per lamp
Handbrake too weak	Brakes	7.9	2.7
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	6.0	4.0	£10 to £47 per lamp
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	5.1	1.9	£10 to £47 per lamp
Parking brake performance: inoperative on one side	Brakes	4.6	1.2
Rigid brake pipes: excessively corroded	Brakes	4.4	1.9	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Rbt (sp): efficiency less than 50% of the required value	Brakes	4.3	0.7
Anti-roll bar link worn	Suspension	4.2	1.5	£33 to £102 per link (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 17 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 Primastar at 17 years (n=4,671), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=4,040,458).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	23.1	11.7
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material	Brakes	18.2	10.5	£137 to £392 per car (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	16.4	11.3	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	15.8	17.9	£88 to £145 per tyre
Play in steering rack inner joint(s)	Other	10.4	3.4
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	8.2	6.6	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Windscreen: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	8.2	3.6
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	8.1	9.6	£88 to £145 per tyre
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	8.1	4.1	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Suspension arm ball joint: ball joint has slight play	Suspension	6.8	2.5	£75 to £237 per side (rough guide)

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 17 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Brakes
10 years	1,508	27.9	20.2	19.4
11 years	2,502	25.5	22.7	20.0
12 years	2,456	28.2	25.4	20.9
13 years	2,775	27.1	24.8	21.0
14 years	3,207	27.4	25.5	20.9
15 years	3,836	28.4	24.3	21.8
16 years	4,457	28.0	25.3	21.8
17 years	4,671	29.0	27.1	23.4
18 years	4,350	29.6	26.3	22.3
19 years	3,343	31.3	27.1	22.1
20 years	2,137	31.1	27.3	23.6
21 years	1,122	31.7	25.9	21.7

Mileage

At 17 years, Nissan Primastar cars showing 120,000 to 150,000 miles failed 53.9% of MOTs (n=1,199); the band that failed most, over 150,000 miles, failed 54.9% (n=2,157). For pass and fail rates by age, see MOT fail rates by model.

What to check on a viewing

On the Nissan Primastar, testers most often record suspension ball joint worn; steering track rod end: ball joint play; side/position light not working. 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 Primastar?

At 17 years, the age with the most MOT tests (4,671), the fail items testers record most often on the Nissan Primastar are suspension ball joint worn (10.7 per 100 MOTs), steering track rod end: ball joint play (10.0 per 100 MOTs), side/position light not working (8.7 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive (23.1) and rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material (18.2).

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

At 17 years: brakes (23.4 per 100 MOTs against 12.3 for all cars); suspension (27.1 per 100 MOTs against 17.2 for all cars); steering (12.6 per 100 MOTs against 3.6 for all cars). Compared with 4,040,458 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Nissan Primastar 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 Primastar?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

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