Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Nissan X-Trail 2019: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 83 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2019 Nissan X-Trail were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Brake pads (front).

Summary

The 2019 Nissan X-Trail follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 5,424 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
83 in every 100
Did not pass first time
17 in every 100920 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
6 yearsabout 46,240 miles
First tests counted
5,424

What failed most often

  1. Brake pads (front)17 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Suspension arm ball joint (front)14 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Diesel engine warning light11 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 2019 Nissan X-Trail 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.

Suspension

One fault: suspension arm ball joint (front), 7.3 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 919 of 920 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.

Suspension arm ball joint (front)

Failed on 133 first tests7.3 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

A suspension arm ball joint is failed under the general suspension pin, bush or joint wording. Excessively worn is Major, and likely to become detached is graded Dangerous.

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

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel engine warning light, 3.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 99 first tests3.8 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

An engine malfunction indicator lamp that is illuminated to show a malfunction is graded Major on a diesel, but only on the diesels the test covers, which depends on the vehicle type and when it was first used. DVSA lists it under exhaust emissions for compression ignition engines, and the detail line for the row also names an inoperative lamp.

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

Brakes

Two wear patterns. The strongest is the brake pads (front): 2.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake pads (front)

Failed on 153 first tests2.4 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.

Brake pads (rear)

Failed on 131 first tests2.1 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 148 first tests, 2.1 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.

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.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Noted on 122 first tests4.6 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
83in 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
14in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 83.0% of 5,424 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 85.6%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 3 fixed and the 14 not fixed make the 17 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel3,69649,462 miles8283
Petrol1,72639,844 miles8584

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.

4060801002005201020152019Older carsNewer cars
40608010020102019Older cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 84 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200352 in every 100784
200452 in every 1001,380
200554 in every 1002,274
200650 in every 1002,987
200750 in every 1002,795
200850 in every 1002,418
200954 in every 1001,598
201052 in every 1001,208
201155 in every 1001,859
201257 in every 1001,555
201362 in every 1001,504
201462 in every 1003,609
201564 in every 1007,783
201669 in every 10014,205
201774 in every 10016,308
201881 in every 1008,513
2019 This car83 in every 1005,424
202086 in every 1004,495
202186 in every 1002,167
202293 in every 100536

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2019 X-Trail.

Of 2019 X-Trail vehicles with under 32,000 miles, 89 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 63,000 miles or more, 78 in every 100 did.

Under 32,0001,118 tests
89
32,000–42,0001,087 tests
85
42,000–51,000 Typical car1,047 tests
82
51,000–63,0001,060 tests
81
63,000 and over1,111 tests
78

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Diesel49,462 miles8283
Petrol39,844 miles8584

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 49,462 against 39,844). 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 32,00042,000–51,00063,000 and over
Brake pads (front)1.33.43.8
Suspension arm ball joint (front)0.32.74.6
Diesel engine warning light1.31.52.2
Windscreen wipers (front)2.21.11.0
Tyre tread depth (front)0.71.11.9

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

When a car fails

57in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

15in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

6in 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 2019 Nissan X-Trail follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Brake pads (front), about 17 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 83.0% of 5,424 first MOTs on the 2019 Nissan X-Trail passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 85.6%. Among 920 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm ball joint (front) appears more often than on similar cars (14.5% of those tests; 133 observed failures; about 7.3× 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 2019 Nissan X-Trail at the first attempt were Brake pads (front) (16.6%), Suspension arm ball joint (front) (14.5%) and Diesel engine warning light (10.8%), 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: Suspension arm ball joint (front) (14.5% of those tests; 133 observed failures; about 7.3× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm ball joint (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (14.5% of those tests; 133 observed failures; about 7.3× 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 2019 Nissan X-Trail include Suspension arm ball joint (front), Diesel engine warning light. 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 2019 Nissan X-Trail (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.

Check any vehicle’s MOT history

Full MOT history, mileage records, and reliability insights for any UK vehicle.

Run a free check