63.1%
Nissan Note pass rate
Used Nissan Note buying guide
In 2025, Nissan Note cars passed 63.1% of 146,834 initial MOT tests, 9.2 points below the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Note? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Nissan Note MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
−9.2
percentage points below average
Ranked on pass rate the Note sits 457th of 575 models in the data. Nissan as a brand averaged 67.8%, so this model runs 4.7 points behind its own brand. Nissan Note cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 78.3% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 56.9%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Nissan Note MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Note compares with similar cars.
Note fuel types
Petrol was the most common fuel among Nissan Note cars tested in 2025. Diesel still made up 13.5% of tests.
Where the Note fails its MOT
Where Nissan Note cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were position lamp not working (8.6%), pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn (7.1%) and ball joint excessively worn (6.3%). See every common Note MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Nissan Note that failed, not a claim that every Note has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Note?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting. 35.5% of Note failure items.
2
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 27.9% of Note failure items.
3
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 9.3% of Note failure items.
4
Tyres
Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear. 8.4% of Note failure items.
5
Visibility
Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 7.2% of Note failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Nissan Note failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact Note you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Nissan history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Nissan models
The most-tested Nissan models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Note.
Used Nissan Note FAQs
Is the Nissan Note reliable?
MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 63.1% first-time pass rate for the Nissan Note across 146,834 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Nissan Note cars fail their MOT more often?
Nissan Note cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 78.3% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 56.9%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Nissan Note?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, suspension and brakes. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a Nissan Note's history?
Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.