55.7%
Nissan Pathfinder
Nissan Pathfinder MOT pass rate and common problems
The Nissan Pathfinder passed 55.7% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 16.6 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was ball joint excessively worn.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Pathfinder compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
67.8%
Nissan average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Pathfinder runs 12.1 points behind the Nissan average. It is 24th of the 25 Nissan models in the data. The average Pathfinder arrived at its test 15.9 years old with 127,635 miles recorded.
A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.
Pathfinder MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Nissan Pathfinder cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 62.1% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 55.4%, a drop of 6.7 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years (small sample) | 5 | 100% | 27.7 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 140 | 62.1% | 10.2 pts below |
| 11 years and over | 4,580 | 55.4% | 16.9 pts below |
That is a typical decline as cars age. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Pathfinder failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Nissan Pathfinder cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment together account for 48.8% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Pathfinder MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Nissan Pathfinder cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 37.5% of everything testers recorded against failed Nissan Pathfinder cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Pathfinder
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: ball joint excessively worn, coil spring fractured or broken and linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn. 15.6% of failure items.
2
Body, chassis, structure
Recorded most often: joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases and chassis condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced. 8.1% of failure items.
3
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working and stop lamp not working. 7.3% of failure items.
4
Steering
Recorded most often: track rod end ball joint has excessive play. 4.1% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Pathfinder has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Nissan Pathfinder buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Nissan Pathfinder MOT FAQs
What is the Nissan Pathfinder MOT pass rate?
55.7% of Nissan Pathfinder cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 4,726 tests. That is 16.6 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 532nd of 575 models.
What does a Nissan Pathfinder most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Nissan Pathfinder cars failing their 2025 MOT was ball joint excessively worn, on 7.3% of failure items. Next were position lamp not working (4.9%) and coil spring fractured or broken (4.4%).
Which area causes the most Nissan Pathfinder MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 25.4%, followed by lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 23.4%.
Do older Nissan Pathfinder cars fail their MOT more often?
Nissan Pathfinder cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 62.1% of MOT tests in 2025, against 55.4% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Nissan Pathfinder has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Nissan Pathfinder that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.
How do I see a specific Nissan Pathfinder's MOT history?
Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.