Nissan Qashqai 2021: reliability & common MOT faults

At a glance

How 28,472 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time: 88 in every 100
Did not pass first time: 12 in every 1003,483 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car: 4 yearsabout 29,340 miles
First tests counted: 28,472

What failed most often

Windscreen wipers (front)18 in every 100 failed tests
Brake pads (rear)13 in every 100 failed tests
Tyre condition (front)11 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 2021 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 (rear), 2.9 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 3,482 of 3,483 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 (rear)

Failed on 449 first tests2.9 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.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 455 first tests, 2.5 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.

MOT pass rates

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

Passed first time: 88in 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: 9in every 100; Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 87.8% of 28,472 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 90.9%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 9 not fixed make the 12 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

By fuel type

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

Petrol15,43930,114 miles8888

Hybrid12,92628,454 miles8887

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	87 in every 100	31,521
2021 This car	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 2021 Qashqai.

Of 2021 Qashqai vehicles with under 19,000 miles, 93 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 43,000 miles or more, 84 in every 100 did.

Under 19,0005,353 tests

93

19,000–26,0005,905 tests

90

26,000–33,000 Typical car5,989 tests

87

33,000–43,0005,687 tests

85

43,000 and over5,537 tests

84

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 19,000	26,000–33,000	43,000 and over
Windscreen wipers (front)	1.3	2.2	2.9
Brake pads (rear)	0.4	1.6	2.6
Tyre condition (front)	0.8	1.7	1.3
Tyre tread depth (front)	0.1	0.9	1.5
Headlight aim	0.6	0.9	0.9

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

When a car fails

64in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

12in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

4in 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 2021 Nissan Qashqai reliable?

The 2021 Nissan Qashqai follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Windscreen wipers (front), about 18 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 87.8% of 28,472 first MOTs on the 2021 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 90.9%. Among 3,483 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 2021 Nissan Qashqai?

Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2021 Nissan Qashqai at the first attempt were Windscreen wipers (front) (18.2%), Brake pads (rear) (12.9%) and Tyre condition (front) (10.9%), 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.

What does this Nissan Qashqai 2021 MOT report cover?

This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2021 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.