Nissan Primastar MOT pass rates & common failures

Every completed first-attempt MOT on a Nissan Primastar in Great Britain in 2025 — 8,383 tests. Figures cover every Primastar first-tested in 2025, all trims grouped. The Primastar is a van, tested in the car MOT class (class 4) to the same standard. How the Primastar ages, what it fails on, and what mileage is normal, computed directly from the official DVSA record of every test.

Pass rate 2025
51.0%
21.3 points below the class-4 average (72.3%); unadjusted for age — the age-matched comparison is below
Tests analysed
8,383
first tests, 2025
Arrived with a dangerous fault
13.2%
of Primastar first tests; national 7.3%

How the Primastar ages

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

Nissan PrimastarAll cars
40%50%60%70%80%90%100%3579111315171920Vehicle age (years)Nissan Primastar, vehicle age 3: 78.6%Nissan Primastar, vehicle age 14: 48.7%Nissan Primastar, vehicle age 16: 47.8%Nissan Primastar, vehicle age 17: 48%Nissan Primastar, vehicle age 18: 50.1%Nissan Primastar, vehicle age 19: 50.8%Nissan Primastar, vehicle age 20: 46.8%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 Primastar 46.8%
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Primastar testsPrimastar pass rateAll cars
365578.6%88.5%
1482348.7%61.2%
1664247.8%58.3%
1775648.0%57.2%
181,08750.1%57.4%
1984150.8%57.0%
2079746.8%57.6%

Better or worse than the average car?

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

Primastar behind
-14-7+0+7+14Age 3: -9.9 points vs the average car3Age 14: -12.5 points vs the average carAge 16: -10.5 points vs the average carAge 17: -9.2 points vs the average car17Age 18: -7.3 points vs the average carAge 19: -6.2 points vs the average car19Age 20: -10.8 points vs the average car20Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)Gap (points)
3-9.9
14-12.5
16-10.5
17-9.2
18-7.3
19-6.2
20-10.8

The Primastar fleet on the road, by age

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

05001k1k2kAge 3: 6553Age 14: 823Age 16: 642Age 17: 75617Age 18: 1kAge 19: 84119Age 20: 79720Vehicle age (years)
View this chart as a table
Age (years)First tests
3655
14823
16642
17756
181,087
19841
20797

What a Primastar fails on

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

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment26.6%
Suspension22.3%
Brakes21.0%
Steering7.2%
Visibility6.5%
Body, chassis, structure6.4%
Tyres4.3%
Noise, emissions and leaks2.9%

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (97.3% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

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

Brakes: 30.4% of advisories30.4%Suspension: 23.9% of advisories23.9%Tyres: 15.1% of advisories15.1%Noise, emissions and leaks: 8.9% of advisories8.9%Non-component advisories: 5.7% of advisoriesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 4.6% of advisories
BrakesSuspensionTyresNoise, emissions and leaksNon-component advisoriesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
View this chart as a table
CategoryShare of advisories
Brakes30.4%
Suspension23.9%
Tyres15.1%
Noise, emissions and leaks8.9%
Non-component advisories5.7%
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment4.6%

What mileage is normal for a Primastar?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Primastar; 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 Primastar (median)
0k25k50k75k100k125k150k175k200k3171920Vehicle age (years)Age 3: typical 38,750 miles (middle half 28,750–56,250)Age 14: typical 138,750 miles (middle half 111,250–166,250)Age 16: typical 143,750 miles (middle half 111,250–171,250)Age 17: typical 146,250 miles (middle half 116,250–173,750)Age 18: typical 148,750 miles (middle half 118,750–178,750)Age 19: typical 151,250 miles (middle half 118,750–178,750)Age 20: typical 146,250 miles (middle half 118,750–181,250)146k mi

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

View this chart as a table
Age (years)Lower quarterTypical (median)Upper quarter
328,75038,75056,250
14111,250138,750166,250
16111,250143,750171,250
17116,250146,250173,750
18118,750148,750178,750
19118,750151,250178,750
20118,750146,250181,250

What fails at each age

The Primastar'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.

BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspensionTyresVisibilitySteeringBody, chassis, structureEverything else
View this chart as a table
Age bandCategoryShare of the band's failure items
3-5 yrsBrakes27.0%
3-5 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment24.8%
3-5 yrsSuspension19.4%
3-5 yrsTyres13.1%
3-5 yrsVisibility7.2%
3-5 yrsEverything else8.5%
10-13 yrsSuspension23.5%
10-13 yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment22.4%
10-13 yrsBrakes21.0%
10-13 yrsSteering9.5%
10-13 yrsBody, chassis, structure6.6%
10-13 yrsEverything else17.0%
14+ yrsSuspension24.1%
14+ yrsLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment23.3%
14+ yrsBrakes22.6%
14+ yrsSteering7.5%
14+ yrsBody, chassis, structure6.9%
14+ yrsEverything else15.6%

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. “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.