Ford Kuga vs Nissan Qashqai
Take the Ford Kuga for lower age-adjusted MOT risk: its index is 91.3 versus 122.9 for the Nissan Qashqai, and the 95% confidence intervals do not overlap.
Lower is better. The index adjusts for each fleet's exact age profile; the raw failure rate below does not. The index gap is 31.6 points. Data release dvsa-2024-v1.
Side-by-side evidence
| Measure | Ford Kuga | Nissan Qashqai |
|---|---|---|
| Age-adjusted MOT Risk Index | 91.3 (90.8–91.9) | 122.9 (122.5–123.3) |
| Raw initial failure rate | 20.40% | 30.07% |
| Dangerous defects per 100 tests | 11.38 | 15.81 |
| Initial tests | 396,566 | 800,602 |
Where their MOT failures diverge
These are component groups present in both models' published top-six failure lists, sorted by the absolute gap. A positive difference means the Ford Kuga records more failure items; a negative one means the Nissan Qashqai does.
| Component group | Ford Kuga | Nissan Qashqai | Difference | Lower rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 5.9 | 31.8 | -25.9 pp | Ford Kuga |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 13.0 | 20.3 | -7.3 pp | Ford Kuga |
| Body, chassis, structure | 3.7 | 10.4 | -6.7 pp | Ford Kuga |
| Brakes | 8.9 | 15.0 | -6.1 pp | Ford Kuga |
| Visibility | 9.8 | 10.1 | -0.3 pp | Ford Kuga |
Counts are defect items, not the share of cars: one failed test can contain several items. A group absent from a model's top six is not treated as zero.
What the six-year test history says
The longitudinal layer follows the same vehicles between MOTs from 2019 to 2024. It separates a one-day retest from the harder question of what returns next year, and puts failures against miles actually driven.
| Component | Ford Kuga | Nissan Qashqai | Difference | Tracked advisories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 10.3% | 29.0% | -18.7 pp | 64,222 / 324,577 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 13.3% | 31.8% | -18.5 pp | 3,840 / 13,926 |
| Steering | 10.4% | 25.1% | -14.7 pp | 4,916 / 66,091 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 10.0% | 23.5% | -13.5 pp | 8,599 / 22,471 |
| Brakes | 8.0% | 12.4% | -4.4 pp | 186,528 / 527,461 |
| Visibility | 7.7% | 10.2% | -2.5 pp | 1,030 / 2,658 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 3.0% | 5.2% | -2.3 pp | 3,011 / 10,197 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 2.0% | 3.5% | -1.5 pp | 11,295 / 25,167 |
| Tyres | 7.7% | 8.0% | -0.3 pp | 249,538 / 565,468 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 5.1% | 4.8% | +0.3 pp | 19,777 / 60,437 |
| Measure | Ford Kuga | Nissan Qashqai |
|---|---|---|
| Repaired and passed the same day | 50.7% | 45.3% |
| Passed 1–10 days later | 47.6% | 52.1% |
| Median retest delay | 0.0 days | 1.0 days |
| Failures per 10,000 miles | 0.282 | 0.426 |
| Three-test clean streak | 40.4% | 32.9% |
| Same advisory repeated 3+ times | 22.0% | 33.4% |
Care proxy is descriptive, not a claim about an owner's character: a clean streak means three or more consecutive tests with nothing recorded; the repeat measure means the same advisory appeared at least three times.
Safety recalls
| Model | Campaigns listed | Per 10,000 licensed |
|---|---|---|
| Ford Kuga | 132 | 3.59 |
| Nissan Qashqai | 25 | 0.37 |
More campaigns do not by themselves mean a less reliable car: recalls are manufacturer remedies, and the licensed-fleet denominator is unavailable for some families. Check a registration for outstanding work before buying.
Do other countries see the same thing?
Both models appear in the same independent national inspection datasets below. Compare each model with that country's own average; absolute pass rates are not portable between rulebooks.
| Country / test | Model | Model fails | National average | Position | Inspections |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland · Katsastus | Ford Kuga | 14.5% | 26.3% | -11.8 pp | 4,188 |
| Finland · Katsastus | Nissan Qashqai | 28.6% | 26.3% | +2.3 pp | 36,002 |
| Norway · PKK | Ford Kuga | 29.4% | 33.5% | -4.1 pp | 2,725 |
| Norway · PKK | Nissan Qashqai | 36.7% | 33.5% | +3.2 pp | 5,608 |
Sources are the national PKK, Katsastus and APK datasets recorded in each family artifact. Position is model failure rate minus that country's national rate.
Quick answers
- Is the Ford Kuga or the Nissan Qashqai more reliable?
- The Ford Kuga has the stronger age-adjusted MOT result: index 91.3 against 122.9 for the Nissan Qashqai, with non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals.
- Does the Ford Kuga or the Nissan Qashqai fail more MOTs?
- 20.40% of Ford Kuga initial tests and 30.07% of Nissan Qashqai initial tests found a failing defect in 2024. The lower raw rate belongs to the Ford Kuga, but the age-adjusted index is the fairer model comparison because the fleets can be different ages.
- What are the main MOT problem areas on the Ford Kuga and Nissan Qashqai?
- The leading published failure group for the Ford Kuga is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 13.0 items per 100 tests; for the Nissan Qashqai it is suspension at 31.8 per 100.
- Should I buy a Ford Kuga or a Nissan Qashqai?
- If MOT reliability is the deciding factor, the Ford Kuga is the evidence-led choice. Still check the individual car's MOT history and condition: these figures describe whole model populations, not a particular vehicle.
Model pages and nearby comparisons
See the Ford Kuga and Kia Sportage comparisonSee the Honda Civic and Mercedes A Class comparisonSee the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf comparison
Browse all car reliability comparisons.
How to read and cite this comparison
Scope: class-4 vehicles, initial tests only, Great Britain 2024. PRS fixed-on-the-spot results count as failures because a defect was present on arrival. Index = observed initial failures ÷ age-profile-expected failures × 100; intervals are 95% confidence intervals. Every model family combines all generations and engines. Full method: methodology.
Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Ford Kuga vs Nissan Qashqai: MOT reliability comparison, 2024 (dvsa-2024-v1). https://motriskindex.co.uk/compare/ford-kuga-vs-nissan-qashqai/