2005 Nissan Primastar: MOT pass rate and reliability

54.9% of 2005 Nissan Primastars pass the MOT first time, measured across 968 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 148,675 miles.

How the 2005 compares

  • Against all Nissan Primastars (54.3%, 9,647 tests): +0.6 points
  • Against all 2005 cars (64.2%): -9.3 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Nissan Primastar model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2005 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Nissan Primastar:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2003 54.7% 470 152,258
2004 53.7% 722 154,110
2005 54.9% 968 148,675
2006 57.4% 1,057 151,983
2007 53.8% 1,317 149,497
2008 55.1% 894 144,243
2009 57.5% 760 141,212
2010 48.7% 431 140,822
2011 52.4% 947 137,584
2012 51.8% 629 135,459
2013 53.4% 637 125,961
2014 53.6% 769 116,006

What this means if you are buying a 2005 Primastar

The 2005 sits close to the Nissan Primastar average, so there is no strong model-year signal either way. Judge the individual car on its own history. Check the exact car with the free MOT history checker before you buy, and run its VIN and mileage through our free VIN decoder and clocking check.

What a 21-year-old car fails on

A 2005 car is 21 years old now, and age drives the failure mix more than the badge does. Across all cars tested, these are the categories that actually cause failures:

  • Lights and electrical: 10.36% of all cars tested
  • Suspension: 8.65% of all cars tested
  • Tyres: 6.23% of all cars tested
  • Brakes: 6.1% of all cars tested
  • Visibility: wipers, washers, glass: 4.65% of all cars tested
  • Body, chassis and structure: 3.18% of all cars tested

That is very high mileage. Clutches, dual-mass flywheels and head gaskets have usually been through at least one repair by this point, so ask for evidence rather than assume the car is original everywhere. On a 2005 Nissan Primastar the average at test was 148,675 miles, so treat anything far above that as a car that has worked harder than its peers, and anything far below as one worth checking for the faults that come from standing still.

The strongest year for this model is 2009 at 57.5%, and the weakest in our data is 2010 at 48.7%. That 8.8 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2005 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Nissan Primastar MOT data · Every model