Nissan Qashqai 2020: reliability & common MOT faults

At a glance

How 31,521 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time: 87 in every 100
Did not pass first time: 13 in every 1004,083 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car: 5 yearsabout 35,306 miles
First tests counted: 31,521

What failed most often

Brake pads (front)16 in every 100 failed tests
Windscreen wipers (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
Tyre condition (front)12 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 2020 Nissan Qashqai vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Brakes

One wear pattern: brake pads (front), 2.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 4,082 of 4,083 failed first attempts 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.

Brake pads (front)

Failed on 636 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A pad worn down to its wear indicator, or contaminated with oil or grease, is Major. A pad worn below the set thickness limit, missing or incorrectly mounted is Dangerous. The manual treats an illuminated brake wear indicator as no reason for failure, although DVSA also lists an illuminated indicator as a Major row.

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.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Noted on 240 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Seat belt condition (front)

Noted on 22 first tests2.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Brake pads (rear)

Noted on 626 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

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: 87in every 100; Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station: 3in every 100; Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed: 10in every 100; Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 87.0% of 31,521 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 89.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 10 not fixed make the 13 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage

Petrol28,76234,615 miles8787

Diesel2,75743,509 miles8586

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

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

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 90 in every 100 passed first time.

Year	Passed first time	First tests
2007	44 in every 100	7,157
2008	42 in every 100	10,306
2009	42 in every 100	18,193
2010	45 in every 100	26,166
2011	47 in every 100	29,126
2012	50 in every 100	36,763
2013	52 in every 100	42,253
2014	65 in every 100	41,861
2015	68 in every 100	53,336
2016	71 in every 100	55,751
2017	76 in every 100	57,212
2018	79 in every 100	45,117
2019	83 in every 100	47,673
2020 This car	87 in every 100	31,521
2021	88 in every 100	28,472
2022	90 in every 100	40,576

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2020 Qashqai.

Of 2020 Qashqai vehicles with under 24,000 miles, 92 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 50,000 miles or more, 82 in every 100 did.

Under 24,0006,481 tests

92

24,000–32,0006,470 tests

89

32,000–39,000 Typical car5,673 tests

87

39,000–50,0006,466 tests

85

50,000 and over6,429 tests

82

Petrol or diesel?

	Typical mileage	Passed first time, as tested	Passed first time, same mileage
Petrol	34,615 miles	87	87
Diesel	43,509 miles	85	86

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 43,509 against 34,615). At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

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 24,000	32,000–39,000	50,000 and over
Brake pads (front)	0.3	2.5	2.6
Windscreen wipers (front)	1.4	1.8	1.7
Tyre condition (front)	1.2	1.6	1.7
Tyre tread depth (front)	0.3	1.2	2.4
Headlight aim	0.7	0.5	0.7

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

When a car fails

62in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

12in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

5in 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.

Is the 2020 Nissan Qashqai reliable?

A 2020 Nissan Qashqai passed first time about 2 in every 100 more often than the average of the 2019 and 2021 model years. In 2025, 87.0% of 31,521 first MOTs on the 2020 Nissan Qashqai passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 89.8%. Among 4,083 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), we highlight MOT failure patterns that show up more often than on cars of a similar age and mileage when the sample is large enough to trust. 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.

What is most likely to fail on a 2020 Nissan Qashqai?

Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2020 Nissan Qashqai at the first attempt were Brake pads (front) (15.6%), Windscreen wipers (front) (12.4%) and Tyre condition (front) (12.1%), 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.

How should I read advisories vs fails?

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.

What does this Nissan Qashqai 2020 MOT report cover?

This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2020 Nissan Qashqai (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.

Does this include engine and gearbox problems?

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.