51%
Nissan Primastar
Nissan Primastar MOT pass rate and common problems
The Nissan Primastar passed 51% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 21.3 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 Primastar 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 Primastar runs 16.8 points behind the Nissan average. It is 25th of the 25 Nissan models in the data. The average Primastar arrived at its test 15.7 years old with 137,736 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.
Primastar MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Nissan Primastar cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 81% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 48.3%, a drop of 32.7 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 158 | 81% | 8.7 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 191 | 53.4% | 18.9 pts below |
| 11 years and over | 7,488 | 48.3% | 24 pts below |
That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Primastar failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Nissan Primastar cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and suspension 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 Primastar MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Nissan Primastar cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 37.4% of everything testers recorded against failed Nissan Primastar cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Primastar
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working, stop lamp not working, headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect and registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps. 13.8% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: ball joint excessively worn and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn. 8.7% of failure items.
3
Brakes
Recorded most often: rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements and rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. 6.9% of failure items.
4
Steering
Recorded most often: track rod end ball joint has excessive play. 5.3% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Primastar has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Nissan Primastar buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Nissan Primastar MOT FAQs
What is the Nissan Primastar MOT pass rate?
51% of Nissan Primastar cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 8,383 tests. That is 21.3 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 565th of 575 models.
What does a Nissan Primastar most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Nissan Primastar cars failing their 2025 MOT was ball joint excessively worn, on 6.2% of failure items. Next were track rod end ball joint has excessive play (5.3%) and position lamp not working (5%).
Which area causes the most Nissan Primastar MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 26.5%, followed by suspension at 22.3%.
Do older Nissan Primastar cars fail their MOT more often?
Nissan Primastar cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 81% of MOT tests in 2025, against 48.3% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Nissan Primastar has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Nissan Primastar 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 Primastar'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.