Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 430,570 tests

Pass rate climbs 22.8 points across the cohorts — newer Micra examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 389,136

Pass

68.9%

Fail

23.6%

PRS

6.9%

Avg mileage at test

68,886 mi

2018–2020 cohort 30,423

Pass

85.5%

Fail

11.6%

PRS

2.6%

Avg mileage at test

29,389 mi

2021+ cohort 11,011

Pass

91.8%

Fail

5.6%

PRS

2.2%

Avg mileage at test

17,592 mi

Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.

Generations on file · 5

Nissan Micra · UK market

Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.

The picture

Suspension bushes and a 70.88% pass rate

Suspension pin and bush wear leads the Nissan Micra's MOT failure chart — confirmed by owner reports of crunching from the front of K14 models, followed by steering rack replacements at Nissan dealers. Headlamp reflector defects and fractured spring components also feature. Across 320,258 tests at an average of 62,956 miles, the Micra's 70.88% pass rate puts it in the lower third of the city car segment.

The 2019 DIG-T 117 stalling issue was traced to a batch of intake pipes with a one-way valve fitted the wrong way around — Nissan sorted it, but not before some owners went through multiple ECU reprogrammes. At 75,000 miles, one owner reported a crankshaft pulley shearing off, taking the alternator belt and most of the engine oil with it. Check the front suspension geometry, the headlamp condition, and the spring integrity before presenting the Micra to any MOT centre.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 4–14

A low-group car — among the cheapest to insure in the UK. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.

Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →

4–14

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

Hide wear items to see the model's real defects.

01

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

14,069 occurrences · 3.3% of tests
02

Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

11,919 occurrences · 2.8% of tests
03

The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements

9,870 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
04

A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

9,591 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
05

Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

9,526 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
06

A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

8,941 occurrences · 2.1% of tests
07

Wiper blade defective

8,117 occurrences · 1.9% of tests
08

A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

7,969 occurrences · 1.9% of tests
09

Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

7,934 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
10

A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps

7,684 occurrences · 1.8% of tests

Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.

Worst-case fix budget · top 4 failures

£120–£445

If every one of this Micra's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →

Try the calculator

Build your own retest budget.

Year-band analysis

Best year to buy. Worst to avoid.

First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 22.8-point gap between bands means the year you buy Nissan Micra has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

91.8%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 91.8% — a 22.8-point improvement. Tests in this band average 17,592 miles — roughly 51K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: blade defective, pin or bush excessively worn — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. Post-2020 examples are early in their MOT life and generally show the cleanest records.

Band to be cautious about

68.9%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 68.9% pass rate against a fleet average of 91.8% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: pin or bush excessively worn, lens slightly defective, and projected beam image is obviously incorrect. Average mileage on test for this band is 68,886 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: 2021+ (91.8% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (68.9% pass). That's a 22.8-point spread across 389,136 older tests and 11,011 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.

Year-spread leaderboard →

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.

Item 01 · Amazon UK

Headlight restoration kit

Yellowed lenses fail the light-output test. A restoration kit lifts the haze in an afternoon for £20.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

Bosch Aerotwin wiper blades

Cheap wipers fail the test on smear streaks. Bosch Aerotwins last a winter and clear a screen properly.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Summit

Summit ASRG-1005 Nissan Replacement Stick-On Wide Angle Mirror Glass RHS

£24.19

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ASRG-1004BH Nissan Replacement Wide Angle Mirror Glass with Heated Backing Plate LHS

£32.99

View at My Motor World →

Summit

Summit ASRG-1005BH Nissan Replacement Wide Angle Mirror Glass with Heated Backing Plate RHS

£32.99

View at My Motor World →

Hycote

Hycote Touch Up Colour Paint Brush Nissan Intense Blue Metallic 12.5ml

£6.59

View at My Motor World →

Click Mechanic · affiliate

Book a mobile mechanic

Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.

Mobile mechanic · UK-wide

Book a mechanic at your door.

Fixed-price quotes upfront. No garage needed. Click Mechanic sends a vetted local mechanic to you — home, work, or roadside.

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Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.

What's good

Peppy engines. Good quality and comfortable interior. Generous safety equipment.

Recent owner-reported faults

13 Nov 2019
Report of front suspension problems with 2017 Nissan Mictra K14 bought used independently. Started with a crunching sound from the front in March 2017, dealt with by local Nissan dealer who changed the front suspension bushes and the steering rack. Since then owner has been getting a banging noise in 3 loud bangs in quick succession which can be heard from outside the car and by owner's feet through the floor as she pulls away within the first 2 seconds but not every time (could go for 10 days with no sound.) Nissan dealer has been excellent and has changed both lower arm suspension and the offside drive shaft on the offside to no avail.
25 Aug 2019
Stalling issue of a new Nissan Micra DIG-T 117 (19-8-2019) was resolved by Nissan. There are 3 pipes that supply air to engine. Each of these 3 pipes has a one-way valve. Unfortunately, a batch of these pipes we made by the supplier with one of the one-way valves facing the wrong way. This caused oxygen starvation when the engine was idling. Removing and re-seating the one-way valve the correct way around has solved the problem. Nissan has just issued a technical bulletin to dealers about this. The following link shows a photo of the engine and the offending pipes (But was 'down' when we tried to link): https://mega.nz/#!2MR1kKBB!UyQfUMiT1onqI_d_hUwRz9oYIz0mvR4xJokP4mFZCKw .
19 Aug 2019
Report of new Nissan Micra DIG-T 117 stalling when idling. Nissan dealer checked all the earth connections and reprogrammed the ECU, yet the car still keept stalling.

Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 3 reports indexed

Buying or keeping a Micra?

Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.

If you own a Micra and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.