57.2%
Nissan Primera
Nissan Primera MOT pass rate and common problems
The Nissan Primera passed 57.2% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 15.1 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Primera 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 Primera runs 10.6 points behind the Nissan average. It is 22nd of the 25 Nissan models in the data. The average Primera arrived at its test 22.4 years old with 93,498 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.
Primera MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 to 10 years (small sample) | 3 | 66.7% | 5.6 pts below |
| 11 years and over | 2,487 | 57.2% | 15.1 pts below |
Too few tests fall into some age groups to compare them reliably. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Primera failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Nissan Primera cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and brakes together account for 49% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Primera MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Nissan Primera cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 32.7% of everything testers recorded against failed Nissan Primera cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Primera
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect, stop lamp not working and position lamp not working. 13% of failure items.
2
Suspension
Recorded most often: component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn. 6.8% of failure items.
3
Brakes
Recorded most often: rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements and service brake performance excessively binding. 4.8% of failure items.
4
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively. 3.5% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Primera has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Nissan Primera buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Nissan Primera MOT FAQs
What is the Nissan Primera MOT pass rate?
57.2% of Nissan Primera cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 2,490 tests. That is 15.1 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 518th of 575 models.
What does a Nissan Primera most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Nissan Primera cars failing their 2025 MOT was headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect, on 4.9% of failure items. Next were stop lamp not working (4.1%) and component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (4.1%).
Which area causes the most Nissan Primera MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 31.4%, followed by brakes at 17.6%.
Does this mean every Nissan Primera has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Nissan Primera 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 Primera'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.