Nissan Leaf MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Nissan Leaf in Great Britain in 2025 — 53,144 tests. Figures cover every Leaf first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. How the Leaf ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
80.3%
8.0 points above the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
53,144
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
6.0%
of Leaf first tests; national 7.3%
Typical mileage at 10 years
58,750
middle half: 43,750–76,250 miles (2,500-mile-band midpoints)

How many Nissan Leaf cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 62,674 Nissan Leaf cars that were taxed or on SORN: 60,916 taxed and 1,758 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper). The MOT figures above count tests; these count cars, across the whole United Kingdom, cars only. Nissan Leaf vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures.

Still taxed, end of 2025
60,916
97.2% of the 62,674 Leaf cars taxed or on SORN; 28 model variants grouped
On SORN, end of 2025
1,758
declared off the road by their keepers — 2.8% of that total

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed Leaf cars peaked at 62,106 at the end of 2024 and has since fallen by 1,190 (1.9%) to 60,916 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 104 at the end of 2014 to 1,758 at the end of 2025, up 1590.4%. A car leaves the taxed count when it is scrapped, exported or declared off the road; the year-end counts do not say which.

Taxed Leaf cars, year by year

Cars of this model taxed and on the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025.

020k40k60k80k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Taxed Leaf cars, year 2014: 7kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2015: 11kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2016: 15kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2017: 20kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2018: 25kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2019: 28kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2020: 36kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2021: 45kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2022: 52kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2023: 57kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2024: 62kTaxed Leaf cars, year 2025: 61k61k
View this chart as a table
YearTaxed Leaf cars
20146,838
201511,219
201614,718
201719,624
201824,742
201928,395
202035,950
202144,927
202252,106
202357,410
202462,106
202560,916

Leaf cars on SORN, year by year

Cars of this model declared off the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025. Its own scale — SORN counts are a fraction of the taxed count.

05001k2k2k2014201620182020202220242025Year (count at the end of the year)Leaf cars on SORN, year 2014: 104Leaf cars on SORN, year 2015: 138Leaf cars on SORN, year 2016: 298Leaf cars on SORN, year 2017: 339Leaf cars on SORN, year 2018: 422Leaf cars on SORN, year 2019: 531Leaf cars on SORN, year 2020: 655Leaf cars on SORN, year 2021: 688Leaf cars on SORN, year 2022: 942Leaf cars on SORN, year 2023: 1kLeaf cars on SORN, year 2024: 1kLeaf cars on SORN, year 2025: 2k2k
View this chart as a table
YearLeaf cars on SORN
2014104
2015138
2016298
2017339
2018422
2019531
2020655
2021688
2022942
20231,053
20241,384
20251,758

Which model years survive

Taxed Leaf cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 60,916 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. 2 taxed Leaf cars have no recorded year of manufacture and are not in the table, so the rows add up to 60,914. A build year's count depends on how many were sold that year as well as how many have lasted.

Year of manufacture Taxed, end of 2025Share of taxed Leaf cars
20245,7699.5%
20235,0098.2%
20228,19713.5%
20218,14413.4%
20207,30912.0%
20194,6397.6%
20184,6227.6%
20174,7267.8%
20163,7316.1%
20153,8816.4%
20142,8864.7%
20131,1691.9%
All other build years (three years, each under 1%)8321.4%

Population source: Department for Transport / DVLA vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026; counts of the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, United Kingdom, cars only, excluding cars recorded with no model name. SortedCars groups DVLA's model name LEAF under this model. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, DVLA or the Department for Transport.

How the Leaf ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, Leaf vs all cars, 2025.

Nissan LeafAll cars
50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 3: 91%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 4: 89.1%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 5: 85.5%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 6: 83.8%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 7: 80.6%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 8: 76.1%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 9: 66.3%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 10: 65.1%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 11: 60.4%Nissan Leaf, vehicle age 12: 57.5%All cars, vehicle age 3: 88.5%All cars, vehicle age 4: 87.2%All cars, vehicle age 5: 86%All cars, vehicle age 6: 83.5%All cars, vehicle age 7: 80.9%All cars, vehicle age 8: 78.2%All cars, vehicle age 9: 74.9%All cars, vehicle age 10: 71.9%All cars, vehicle age 11: 68.6%All cars, vehicle age 12: 65.8%All cars, vehicle age 13: 63.5%All cars, vehicle age 14: 61.2%All cars, vehicle age 15: 59.3%All cars, vehicle age 16: 58.3%All cars, vehicle age 17: 57.2%All cars, vehicle age 18: 57.4%All cars, vehicle age 19: 57%All cars, vehicle age 20: 57.6%All cars 57.6%Nissan Leaf 57.5%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Leaf testsLeaf pass rateAll cars
38,75391.0%88.5%
48,76489.1%87.2%
57,74885.5%86.0%
64,99583.8%83.5%
74,92480.6%80.9%
84,87276.1%78.2%
93,87366.3%74.9%
103,96965.1%71.9%
112,96360.4%68.6%
121,20657.5%65.8%

Better or worse than the average car?

The Leaf's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the Leaf beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

Leaf aheadLeaf behind
-10-5+0+5+10Age 3: +2.5 points vs the average car3Age 4: +1.9 points vs the average carAge 5: -0.5 points vs the average car5Age 6: +0.3 points vs the average carAge 7: -0.3 points vs the average car7Age 8: -2.1 points vs the average carAge 9: -8.6 points vs the average car9Age 10: -6.8 points vs the average carAge 11: -8.2 points vs the average car11Age 12: -8.3 points vs the average carVehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
3+2.5
4+1.9
5-0.5
6+0.3
7-0.3
8-2.1
9-8.6
10-6.8
11-8.2
12-8.3

The Leaf fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the Leaf fleet still in use.

02k4k6k9kAge 3: 8k3Age 4: 8kAge 5: 7k5Age 6: 4kAge 7: 4k7Age 8: 4kAge 9: 3k9Age 10: 3kAge 11: 2k11Age 12: 1k12Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
38,753
48,764
57,748
64,995
74,924
84,872
93,873
103,969
112,963
121,206

What a Leaf fails on

Where the failure items land when a Leaf fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Suspension26.6%
Tyres24.6%
Brakes17.1%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment13.0%
Visibility12.6%
Steering2.7%
Road Wheels1.2%
Body, chassis, structure1.1%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (98.8% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a Leaf, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Tyres: 42.7% of advisories42.7%Brakes: 28.6% of advisories28.6%Suspension: 18.8% of advisories18.8%Non-component advisories: 6.2% of advisoriesRoad Wheels: 1.5% of advisoriesIdentification of the vehicle: 1.0% of advisories
TyresBrakesSuspensionNon-component advisoriesRoad WheelsIdentification of the vehicle
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Tyres42.7%
Brakes28.6%
Suspension18.8%
Non-component advisories6.2%
Road Wheels1.5%
Identification of the vehicle1.0%

What mileage is normal for a Leaf?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Leaf; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

Typical Leaf (median)
0k25k50k75k100k35791112Vehicle age (years)Age 3: typical 21,250 miles (middle half 13,750–28,750)Age 4: typical 28,750 miles (middle half 18,750–38,750)Age 5: typical 36,250 miles (middle half 23,750–48,750)Age 6: typical 41,250 miles (middle half 28,750–58,750)Age 7: typical 51,250 miles (middle half 36,250–71,250)Age 8: typical 51,250 miles (middle half 38,750–68,750)Age 9: typical 58,750 miles (middle half 43,750–78,750)Age 10: typical 58,750 miles (middle half 43,750–76,250)Age 11: typical 66,250 miles (middle half 51,250–83,750)Age 12: typical 71,250 miles (middle half 53,750–88,750)71k mi

Mileage values are midpoints of 2,500-mile bands.

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
313,75021,25028,750
418,75028,75038,750
523,75036,25048,750
628,75041,25058,750
736,25051,25071,250
838,75051,25068,750
943,75058,75078,750
1043,75058,75076,250
1151,25066,25083,750
1253,75071,25088,750

What fails at each age

The Leaf's failure mix by age band, 2025 — each band's top categories at their true share of that band's failure items; the pale remainder is everything else. How the mix shifts with age is the point of the chart.

TyresVisibilityBrakesSuspensionLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteeringEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsTyres49.5%
3-5 yrsVisibility15.8%
3-5 yrsBrakes12.9%
3-5 yrsSuspension9.8%
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment7.1%
3-5 yrsEverything else4.9%
6-9 yrsSuspension31.4%
6-9 yrsTyres27.3%
6-9 yrsBrakes19.7%
6-9 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment8.7%
6-9 yrsVisibility8.7%
6-9 yrsEverything else4.2%
10-13 yrsSuspension38.5%
10-13 yrsBrakes22.1%
10-13 yrsTyres14.8%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment9.6%
10-13 yrsVisibility6.1%
10-13 yrsEverything else8.9%
14+ yrsSuspension35.0%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment18.1%
14+ yrsSteering13.2%
14+ yrsTyres12.6%
14+ yrsBrakes11.0%
14+ yrsEverything else10.1%

More vehicles we've checked

How these figures are computed. Every number on this page is calculated by SortedCars from the DVSA anonymised MOT results dataset (every MOT test in Great Britain — 2025 for single-year figures; trend figures state their span, currently 2023–2025). Where a figure comes from a sample or uses banded values (mileage is banded to 2,500 miles), the page says so beside the figure. Test class 4 only, first tests only — retests are excluded. Class 4 is the car MOT class and also covers car-derived vans, pickups and motorhomes tested to the same standard; where this page says "cars" it means class 4. Pass rate = passes ÷ (passes + failures + pass-after-rectification): a vehicle that failed and was fixed during the visit counts as a fail. Pass rates describe fleets, not individual machines: they reflect how cars were driven, maintained and used as well as how they were built, and beyond recorded mileage none of that is in the data. A well-kept example of a model with a weak average can still pass; a neglected example of a strong one can still fail. No figure is shown for any group with fewer than 500 tests. Alias spellings of a make in the DVSA file are counted under one make name, and all trims and variants of a model are grouped under one model name, using SortedCars' grouping tables. The taxed and SORN counts on this page are the one exception: they are not computed from MOT records but taken from the Department for Transport's vehicle licensing statistics (DfT/DVLA table VEH0124, updated 15 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0), which count the cars on DVLA's register that were taxed or on SORN at the end of each year shown, UK-wide, cars only. They describe a model as a whole, grouped under SortedCars' model names, and say nothing about any one car. “Dangerous” is DVSA's statutory defect category (in force since May 2018): a defect posing an immediate risk to road safety — driving the vehicle before repair is an offence. What these figures are for. These statistics are general information about groups of vehicles. They are not advice, a valuation or a recommendation to buy, avoid or price any particular vehicle, and no decision about one car should rest on them alone — check the car itself and its own records. We take care over the calculations, but we cannot guarantee they are complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for loss arising from reliance on them. This does not limit any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — see our Terms & Conditions. If you believe any figure on this page is inaccurate, contact us. SortedCars is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the DVSA or DVLA. DVSA publishes the raw test records; the statistics on this page are SortedCars' own calculations from them. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.