MOT cost .
Nissan X Trail
MOT 2024

Wikimedia Commons — CC-BY-SA (image-specific)

Nissan

X Trail

171,997 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where X Trails pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 0.9 points below the UK fleet average across our 1,984 tracked models — buyers should expect more first-time fails than the typical UK car.

Pass

76.7%

Pass-after-fix

2.9%

Fail

19.8%

Avg miles

80,907

Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%

ULEZ borderline — check VRM

Some examples of this model are borderline — a small number of diesels were certified Euro 6 before September 2015. Check your registration on the government's ULEZ checker to be certain. Daily charges if driven in the zone: London £12.50 · Birmingham £8.00 · Bristol £9.00 .

UK ULEZ & CAZ guide →

Performance by cohort

3 year bands · 171,997 tests

Pass rate climbs 15.8 points across the cohorts — newer X Trail examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.

Pre-2018 cohort 140,357

Pass

74.2%

Fail

22.1%

PRS

3.0%

Avg mileage at test

90,225 mi

2018–2020 cohort 27,787

Pass

87.2%

Fail

9.9%

PRS

2.5%

Avg mileage at test

41,477 mi

2021+ cohort 3,853

Pass

90.0%

Fail

7.5%

PRS

2.0%

Avg mileage at test

26,635 mi

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

The picture

Nissan X Trail: mixed MOT record across 116,148 tests

The Nissan X-Trail is a compact crossover SUV produced by the Japanese automaker Nissan since 2000, replacing the Rasheen and Terrano II. Since 2018, it is positioned between the Qashqai and the larger Murano.

MOT data from 116,148 tests puts this car on a 75.8% first-time pass rate, roughly in line with the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 78,500 miles. The most common fail item is worn suspension pin or bush, followed by brake pads worn below 1.5mm.

Buyers weighing up a used X Trail should treat the failure breakdown as a pre-purchase checklist. The pass rate is reasonable, but the gap between first attempt and a clean sheet narrows with age and mileage.

ABI Insurance Group

Group 22–32

Above average — worth comparing quotes before buying. 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 →

22–32

out of 50

Compare quotes →

Top ten reasons for rejection.

Filter failures:

  1. 01

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    7,805 occurrences · 4.5% of tests

  2. 02

    a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

    5,236 occurrences · 3.0% of tests

  3. 03

    A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play

    3,937 occurrences · 2.3% of tests

  4. 04

    A suspension joint dust cover severely deteriorated

    3,534 occurrences · 2.1% of tests

  5. 05

    A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

    3,252 occurrences · 1.9% of tests

  6. 06

    Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

    3,220 occurrences · 1.9% of tests

  7. 07

    Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

    3,218 occurrences · 1.9% of tests

  8. 08

    Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective

    2,879 occurrences · 1.7% of tests

  9. 09

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    2,800 occurrences · 1.6% of tests

  10. 10

    A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated

    2,682 occurrences · 1.6% 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 5 failures

£328–£915

If every one of this X Trail'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 15.8-point gap between bands means the year you buy Nissan X Trail has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.

Best band to buy

90.0%

2021+ registration

the 2021-on band climbs to 90.0% — a 15.8-point improvement. Tests in this band average 26,635 miles — roughly 64K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: less than 1.5 mm thick, blade defective — 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

74.2%

Pre-2018 registration

On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 74.2% pass rate against a fleet average of 90.0% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: ball joint excessively worn, less than 1.5 mm thick, and ball joint has excessive play. Average mileage on test for this band is 90,225 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.

Best band to buy: 2021+ (90.0% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (74.2% pass). That's a 15.8-point spread across 140,357 older tests and 3,853 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

Brake pad measurement gauge

Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

Search Amazon UK

My Motor World · affiliate

Parts & supplies for this fix

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

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

Summit

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

£24.19

View at My Motor World →

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

Summit

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

£32.99

View at My Motor World →

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

Summit

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

£32.99

View at My Motor World →

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

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.

Get a quote →

Buying or keeping a X Trail?

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 X Trail 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.