Does the Nissan Leaf fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?

The Nissan Leaf records 5.94 brakes failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 3.16 expected for a ev of the same age mix: more than expected for its class and age (+2.78, 95% interval +2.67 to +2.90). It ranks 189 of 712 models on brakes (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on brakes · check a Nissan Leaf by registration

What exactly fails on brakes?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Nissan Leaf is “Parking brake inoperative on one side”, recorded 1,405 times in 2019–2024.

Nissan Leaf: most frequent brakes defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
Parking brake inoperative on one side	1,405	0.80
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement	1,379	0.79
Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake	1,142	0.65
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm	1,135	0.65
Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn	1,126	0.64

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 175,078 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

If a Nissan Leaf gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?

9.8% of Nissan Leaf MOTs with a brakes advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12 months and 6,006 miles later (21,511 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 21,511 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

Does the Nissan Leaf fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?

What exactly fails on brakes?

If a Nissan Leaf gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?

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