Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Nissan Pixo 2010: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 62 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2010 Nissan Pixo were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Individual sidelight or tail light (front).

Summary

The 2010 Nissan Pixo follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 3,504 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
62 in every 100
Did not pass first time
38 in every 1001,345 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
15 yearsabout 64,568 miles
First tests counted
3,504

What failed most often

  1. Individual sidelight or tail light (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Brake light9 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Windscreen wipers (front)8 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2010 Nissan Pixo vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Lamps and electrical

Three faults. The strongest is the horn: 6.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,344 of 1,345 failed first attempts (99.9%) that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Horn

Failed on 94 first tests6.7 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A horn that does not work, or is likely to be confused with an emergency vehicle siren, is graded Major. Gongs, bells, sirens and anything with more than one tone, which includes a horn that alternates between its notes, are not allowed, except a gong, bell or siren on vehicles first used before a set date. Sound defects are Minor for named cases such as a bell or harsh sound, and Major under a general row.

Number plate lights (rear)

Failed on 81 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Registration plate lamps must light up the rear registration plate and operate at the same time as the position lamps. A missing or inoperative lamp is Major when the plate has only one lamp or all its lamps are not working, and Minor when the plate has several lamps or light sources and not all have failed. A lamp throwing direct white light to the rear is also Minor.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 118 first tests2.0 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

All stop lamps missing or not working is graded Dangerous, and so is a stop lamp that stays on when the brakes are released. A stop lamp that is missing or not working is Major. On some vehicles with LED rear lamps, part of the stop lamp can go out when the rear fog lamp is lit, which is not regarded as a defect.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Suspension

One fault: wheel bearings (front), 6.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Wheel bearings (front)

Failed on 76 first tests6.3 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Excessive play in a wheel bearing, or a bearing that is excessively rough, is Major. Play so excessive that the bearing is likely to break up or directional control is impaired is Dangerous, and so is a bearing so rough that it is likely to overheat or break up.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 44 first tests, 5.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Brakes

Two faults. The strongest is the rigid brake pipes (front): 4.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (front)

Failed on 58 first tests4.5 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 186 first tests, 4.9 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Failed on 93 first tests4.3 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 210 first tests, 3.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Seat belts and restraints

One fault: airbag warning light, 2.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Airbag warning light

Failed on 37 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

The airbag warning lamp (SRS MIL in DVSA's wording) is failed only if it indicates a system malfunction, which is Major. A lamp lit to show the passenger airbag is disabled is not to be regarded as a defect. Dashboard messages are not a defect in their own right, though they can help the tester confirm a malfunction.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Visibility

One fault: windscreen wipers (front), 2.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Windscreen wipers (front)

Failed on 105 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Only a clearly damaged or worn windscreen wiper needs to be rejected. A wiper that is missing or not working is graded Major, and so is a blade that is missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen. A defective blade is graded Minor.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Headlight (front)

Noted on 50 first tests3.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Coil spring

Noted on 37 first tests3.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension mounting area (rear)

Noted on 41 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Noted on 281 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Other suspension component (rear)

Noted on 22 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
62in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
10in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
28in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 61.6% of 3,504 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 71.5%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 10 fixed and the 28 not fixed make the 38 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

40608010020092010201120122013Older carsNewer cars
40608010020092010201120122013Newer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200962 in every 1002,973
2010 This car62 in every 1003,504
201165 in every 1001,799
201266 in every 1001,677
201369 in every 100458

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2010 Pixo.

Of 2010 Pixo vehicles with under 42,000 miles, 75 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 93,000 miles or more, 53 in every 100 did.

Under 42,000688 tests
75
42,000–58,000713 tests
65
58,000–73,000 Typical car690 tests
60
73,000–93,000726 tests
56
93,000 and over686 tests
53

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 42,00058,000–73,00093,000 and over
Individual sidelight or tail light (front)0.14.19.9
Brake light0.94.95.7
Windscreen wipers (front)2.83.62.9
Tyre condition (front)2.33.34.1
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)2.02.93.6

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

27in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

47in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

8in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2010 Nissan Pixo follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Individual sidelight or tail light (front), about 12 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 61.6% of 3,504 first MOTs on the 2010 Nissan Pixo passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 71.5%. Among 1,345 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Horn appears more often than on similar cars (7.0% of those tests; 94 observed failures; about 6.7× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2010 Nissan Pixo at the first attempt were Individual sidelight or tail light (front) (12.1%), Brake light (9.1%) and Windscreen wipers (front) (7.8%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Horn (7.0% of those tests; 94 observed failures; about 6.7× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Horn shows up more often than on similar cars (7.0% of those tests; 94 observed failures; about 6.7× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2010 Nissan Pixo include Horn, Wheel bearings (front), Rigid brake pipes (front). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2010 Nissan Pixo (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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