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Nissan Leaf MOT Pass Rate

The Nissan Leaf has an MOT pass rate of 84.5%, compared with a UK average of 79.1%, based on 4,975 DVSA MOT tests from 2004 to March 2026. It ranks 84th of 386 cars we track by pass rate.

The most common MOT problem area on the Nissan Leaf is tyres, at 37.7% of all defects and advisories recorded.

Data: DVSA MOT test results, 2004 to March 2026. Last updated 3 October 2026.

Nissan Leaf MOT pass rate
84.5%
UK average pass rate
79.1%
MOT tests analysed
4,975

Ranked 84 of 386 models by MOT pass rate (1 is the highest).

What the Nissan Leaf fails on

Every defect and advisory recorded at MOT, grouped by area. Includes advisories as well as failure items.

Nissan Leaf: MOT defects and advisories by area, 2004 to March 2026
Area Share of all items Items per 100 tests Items recorded
Tyres 37.7% 51.7 2,572
Brakes 26.8% 36.8 1,833
Suspension 14.9% 20.4 1,014
Windscreen and wipers 6.7% 9.2 456
Lights and signalling 5% 6.8 339
Bodywork 3.9% 5.4 268
Other items 3.3% 4.6 227
Corrosion 0.8% 1.1 56
Electrical 0.4% 0.6 30
Steering 0.3% 0.5 23
Exhaust and emissions 0.1% 0.1 6
Structure 0% 0.1 3
Fuel system 0% 0 1

Fail rate by mileage

How the Nissan Leaf holds up as the miles build, using the odometer reading at each test.

Nissan Leaf: MOT fail rate by mileage at test
Mileage at test Leaf fail rate UK fail rate Tests
Under 40,000 miles 10.2% 13.1% 2,675
40,000 to 79,999 miles 20.3% 21.7% 1,875
80,000 to 119,999 miles 29.6% 28.3% 372
120,000 miles or more 18.6% 31.4% 43

Which years to avoid

Fail rate by year first registered, next to the UK fail rate for all cars registered that year. Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare each year with its own UK figure.

Nissan Leaf: MOT fail rate by year first registered
Year Leaf fail rate UK fail rate, same year Tests
2011 20% 23.4% 90
2012 20.4% 22.6% 113
2013 19.3% 21.6% 243
2014 20.1% 20.2% 437
2015 18.8% 18.7% 558
2016 18.7% 17.3% 635
2017 15.6% 15.6% 736
2018 12.2% 14.7% 609
2019 11% 13.8% 520
2020 13.9% 13.3% 461
2021 11.1% 12.9% 343
2022 8.8% 12.7% 159
2023 11.3% 11.9% 71

Years with fewer than 50 tests, and cars too new to have reached their first MOT, are left out.

Nissan Leaf MOT questions

Is the Nissan Leaf reliable?

On MOT results the Nissan Leaf is better than average: it passes 84.5% of tests against a UK average of 79.1%, ranking 84th of 386 cars we track. Allowing for the age of the cars tested, its fail rate of 15.5% is 0.8 percentage points lower than the 16.3% you would expect from the average car of the same registration years. A pass rate is one useful signal of how well a model holds up, but it does not capture breakdowns between tests, repair costs or how an individual car has been looked after, so always check the history of the specific car.

What does the Nissan Leaf usually fail its MOT on?

Across 4,975 MOT tests, the areas most often flagged on the Nissan Leaf were tyres (37.7%), brakes (26.8%) and suspension (14.9%), shown as a share of all defects and advisories recorded. These counts include advisories as well as failure items, so they show where problems tend to appear rather than only what caused a fail.

How does the Nissan Leaf compare with the national average?

The Nissan Leaf passes 84.5% of MOT tests, 5.4 percentage points above the UK average of 79.1% across all 6,681,613 tests in the data. That places it 84th of 386 cars with at least 1,000 tests, where 1st has the highest pass rate.

Check a specific Nissan Leaf

See the full MOT history of the exact car you're looking at, free.

Data: DVSA MOT test results for Great Britain, 2004 to March 2026, published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures cover 4,975 tests. Last updated 3 October 2026. How these figures are calculated.

How to cite this data: Source: CarBuyerIQ analysis of DVSA MOT test data, https://www.carbuyeriq.com/mot-pass-rates/nissan/leaf