Nissan Leaf — MOT statistics 2024
All Nissan Leaf variants tested in Great Britain in 2024 — 70,882 MOT tests, every generation and engine together.
This car fails its MOT about 9% more often than expected for its age.
Rank 17 of 25 families published so far · margin of error ±2 points
What this means for buyers
- Worse than average: 17.69% of tests found a failing defect — more than cars of the same age normally show.
- Most common specific failures: a suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn · wiper blade defective · a tyre seriously damaged.
- ≈9 dangerous defects found per 100 tests — a dangerous defect means the car legally cannot be driven away from the test.
- Listen for knocks over bumps — worn suspension joints are common
- Check wipers, washers and windscreen chips in the driver's view
- Check tyre tread depth across the full width
Top specific failures
Exact defect wording from test records, per 100 tests.
| What failed | per 100 |
|---|---|
| A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn | 6.76 |
| Wiper blade defective | 5.93 |
| A tyre seriously damaged | 4.11 |
| Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements | 3.33 |
| Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen | 2.38 |
| Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view | 1.8 |
| A tyre cords visible or damaged | 1.63 |
| Parking brake inoperative on one side | 1 |
| Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen | 1 |
| Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement | 1 |
Failures by component area
Early warnings (advisories)
Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.
How it ages
Takeaway: a 10-year-old Leaf has roughly a 37% chance of failing its MOT; from about age 6 it does worse than the average car.
Data table
| Age | Nissan Leaf | All cars |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 8.8% | 10.9% |
| 4 | 11.0% | 11.6% |
| 5 | 12.7% | 13.5% |
| 6 | 16.2% | 15.6% |
| 7 | 21.3% | 18.2% |
| 8 | 27.3% | 21.3% |
| 9 | 31.5% | 24.4% |
| 10 | 37.4% | 27.7% |
| 11 | 41.5% | 30.6% |
| 12 | 34.4% | 33.4% |
| 13 | 31.4% | 36.0% |
Petrol, diesel, hybrid — which ages best?
| Fuel | Tests | % failing |
|---|---|---|
| Electric | 66,833 | 18.1% |
| Electric | 4,049 | 11.3% |
Where they fail most
Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. Raw rates: coastal and rural areas run older fleets and salted roads.
| Toughest areas | % failing |
|---|---|
| Glasgow (G) | 15.92% |
| Easiest areas | % failing |
|---|---|
| Glasgow (G) | 15.92% |
Does the test month matter?
Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 5.2 percentage points — noticeable seasonality.
bars: Nissan Leaf · dashed: all class-4 cars
Month-by-month table
| Month | Nissan Leaf | All cars |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 17.47% | 27.37% |
| Feb | 16.95% | 26.14% |
| Mar | 14.95% | 24.75% |
| Apr | 19% | 26.01% |
| May | 16.66% | 25.01% |
| Jun | 17.11% | 25.01% |
| Jul | 16.84% | 26.04% |
| Aug | 19.25% | 25.79% |
| Sep | 18.46% | 25.19% |
| Oct | 19.79% | 27.13% |
| Nov | 20.17% | 27.2% |
| Dec | 16.19% | 26.29% |
Is the mileage normal?
A typical 8-year-old Leaf has ~54,342 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.
line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)
Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
| Age | p25 | Median | p75 | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 14,530 | 21,256 | 29,645 | 15,997 |
| 4 | 19,239 | 27,796 | 38,610 | 14,341 |
| 5 | 22,838 | 34,766 | 50,399 | 7,573 |
| 6 | 31,073 | 44,343 | 62,059 | 7,187 |
| 7 | 34,065 | 46,774 | 60,249 | 6,934 |
| 8 | 39,628 | 54,342 | 72,500 | 5,522 |
| 9 | 41,200 | 54,561 | 69,334 | 5,592 |
| 10 | 46,737 | 62,227 | 79,406 | 4,137 |
| 11 | 50,690 | 67,065 | 83,600 | 1,662 |
| 12 | 41,905 | 55,291 | 71,361 | 623 |
| 13 | 45,918 | 61,413 | 79,049 | 644 |
Quick answers
- What most commonly fails on a Nissan Leaf MOT?
- The most frequent specific failures in 2024 were: a suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn; wiper blade defective; a tyre seriously damaged.
- Is the Nissan Leaf reliable for its age?
- Across 70,882 initial tests in 2024, it fails its MOT about 9% more often than expected for its age (MOT Risk Index 109.2, where 100 = normal for its age).
- What mileage is normal for a 8-year-old Leaf?
- The median is about 54,342 miles; the middle half of the fleet sits between 39,628 and 72,500.
- How often are dangerous defects found on the Nissan Leaf?
- About 9 dangerous defects were recorded per 100 initial tests in 2024 — with a dangerous defect the car legally cannot be driven away.
Compare with
Tesla Model 3 · 122.9Mitsubishi Outlander · 100.5Honda E · 84.6DS 3 · 150.2
Data details & how to cite
Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dvsa-2024-v1, frozen baseline. Full method: methodology.
Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Nissan Leaf MOT statistics 2024 (dvsa-2024-v1). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/nissan-leaf/ · Published 2026-07-30.