70.7%
Nissan Pulsar
Nissan Pulsar MOT pass rate and common problems
The Nissan Pulsar passed 70.7% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 1.6 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 Pulsar 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 Pulsar runs 2.9 points ahead of the Nissan average. It is 8th of the 25 Nissan models in the data. The average Pulsar arrived at its test 9.1 years old with 64,268 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.
Pulsar MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Nissan Pulsar cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 70.7% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 69.9%, a drop of 0.9 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years (small sample) | 2 | 100% | 27.7 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 20,570 | 70.7% | 1.6 pts below |
| 11 years and over | 312 | 69.9% | 2.4 pts below |
That is a smaller decline than most cars show. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Pulsar failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Nissan Pulsar cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Suspension and brakes together account for 50.6% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Pulsar MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Nissan Pulsar cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 57.3% of everything testers recorded against failed Nissan Pulsar cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Pulsar
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: ball joint excessively worn, coil spring fractured or broken and pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn. 25.3% of failure items.
2
Brakes
Recorded most often: brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick and rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. 9.6% of failure items.
3
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm and condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords. 8.1% of failure items.
4
Steering
Recorded most often: track rod end ball joint has excessive play. 7.7% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Pulsar has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Nissan Pulsar buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Nissan Pulsar MOT FAQs
What is the Nissan Pulsar MOT pass rate?
70.7% of Nissan Pulsar cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 20,884 tests. That is 1.6 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 341st of 575 models.
What does a Nissan Pulsar most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Nissan Pulsar cars failing their 2025 MOT was ball joint excessively worn, on 12% of failure items. Next were coil spring fractured or broken (10.7%) and track rod end ball joint has excessive play (7.7%).
Which area causes the most Nissan Pulsar MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 30.7%, followed by brakes at 19.9%.
Do older Nissan Pulsar cars fail their MOT more often?
Nissan Pulsar cars aged 6 to 10 years passed 70.7% of MOT tests in 2025, against 69.9% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Nissan Pulsar has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Nissan Pulsar 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 Pulsar'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.