Nissan X Trail MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Nissan X Trail took 94,627 MOT tests in Britain and passed 71% of them first time, close to the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.

MOT tests in 2023: 94,627
First-time pass rate: 71%
All cars: 71%

What the X Trail fails on

Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.

Suspension11.7% (all cars 9.0%)
Brakes9.1% (all cars 6.8%)
Lights and electrics7.5% (all cars 11.3%)
Tyres5.2% (all cars 6.4%)
Visibility4.2% (all cars 4.8%)
Body and structure3.9% (all cars 3.5%)
Steering3.6% (all cars 1.8%)
Exhaust and emissions3.4% (all cars 3.1%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Suspension arms, ball joint: ball joint excessively worn 5.7%
Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick 4.3%
Track rod end: ball joint has excessive play 3.0%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 2.3%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.2%
Position lamp: not working 2.2%
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction 2.1%
Joints: constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt 1.8%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 17.9%
Brake pads: wearing thin 15.2%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 12.1%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 8.5%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 8.2%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 5.3%
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material 5.1%
Suspension arms, ball joint: ball joint has slight play 3.8%

Pass rate by year of registration

Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare a car with others of the same age.

First registered	Tests	Pass rate
2002	490	55%
2003	1,539	55%
2004	2,753	52%
2005	4,256	53%
2006	5,032	51%
2007	4,347	52%
2008	3,304	51%
2009	2,060	53%
2010	1,413	53%
2011	2,111	58%
2012	1,709	60%
2013	1,594	67%
2014	3,884	69%
2015	8,279	70%
2016	14,961	76%
2017	17,081	81%
2018	8,960	84%
2019	5,704	85%
2020	4,946	88%

Typical mileage by age

Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.

Age at test	Average mileage
3 years	25,249 miles
4 years	31,761 miles
5 years	42,824 miles
6 years	53,825 miles
7 years	63,105 miles
8 years	74,744 miles
9 years	81,851 miles
10 years	84,962 miles
11 years	94,970 miles
12 years	106,579 miles
13 years	113,497 miles
14 years	114,059 miles
15 years	123,118 miles
16 years	122,022 miles
17 years	124,144 miles
18 years	127,475 miles
19 years	126,319 miles
20 years	122,075 miles

Check a particular X Trail

Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.

Other Nissan models

Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.