Nissan Pulsar: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Nissan Pulsar fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 0.7 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 21,251 individual Nissan Pulsar tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 76% first-time pass rate means roughly 24 in every 100 Nissan Pulsars presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average Nissan Pulsar tested had covered 57,988 miles and was built around 2016.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Nissan Pulsar bought as a repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific Nissan Pulsar rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see what damaged Nissan Pulsars actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Nissan Pulsar

1. A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, 3.2% of tests (3.38x the national rate for this defect)
2. A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened, 3.3% of tests (1.98x the national rate for this defect)
3. A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn, 6.7% of tests (1.82x the national rate for this defect)
4. a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm, 2.7% of tests (1.78x the national rate for this defect)
5. Parking brake inoperative on one side, 0.7% of tests (1.58x the national rate for this defect)
6. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 1.3% of tests (1.57x the national rate for this defect)
7. Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements, 3% of tests (1.29x the national rate for this defect)
8. A tyre seriously damaged, 1.8% of tests
9. A tyre cords visible or damaged, 1.2% of tests
10. A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 1.2% of tests

From 28,634 DVSA-tracked Nissan Pulsar tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 6.87% of these flagged Nissan Pulsar defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Nissan Pulsar pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each Nissan Pulsar year:

• 2014 Nissan Pulsar - 65.9% first-time pass, 1,307 tests
• 2015 Nissan Pulsar - 71.1% first-time pass, 7,507 tests
• 2016 Nissan Pulsar - 77.2% first-time pass, 6,161 tests
• 2017 Nissan Pulsar - 82.5% first-time pass, 4,097 tests
• 2018 Nissan Pulsar - 87.4% first-time pass, 2,008 tests

Nissan Pulsar by fuel type

Diesel and petrol versions of the same car fail on different things, so the fuel type moves the number:

• Petrol Nissan Pulsar - 80.8% first-time pass, 14,664 tests
• Diesel Nissan Pulsar - 66.4% first-time pass, 6,488 tests

Other Nissan models

• Nissan Qashqai - 72.7%
• Nissan Juke - 71.8%
• Nissan Micra - 71.7%
• Nissan Note - 72.1%
• Nissan X-Trail - 73.5%
• Nissan Navara - 72.9%
• Nissan Leaf - 83.1%
• Nissan Nv200 - 65.1%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Renault Koleos - 76.1%
• Smart Fortwo Pulse Mhd Auto - 76.1%
• Mercedes-Benz 190 - 76.1%
• Renault Unclassified - 76%
• Smart Fortwo Passion Mhd Auto - 75.9%
• MINI Cooper D - 75.8%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences

Embed this data

Run a site about the Nissan Pulsar? Embed the real DVSA pass-rate badge free, linked back to this page.

<a href="https://www.salvageprophet.co.uk/mot/nissan-pulsar"><img src="https://www.salvageprophet.co.uk/badge/nissan-pulsar.svg" width="340" height="92" alt="Nissan Pulsar MOT Pass Rate: 76% - Salvage Prophet"></a>

All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate