The picture
Suspension bushes and a 70.88% pass rate
Suspension pin and bush wear leads the Nissan Micra's MOT failure chart — confirmed by owner reports of crunching from the front of K14 models, followed by steering rack replacements at Nissan dealers. Headlamp reflector defects and fractured spring components also feature. Across 320,258 tests at an average of 62,956 miles, the Micra's 70.88% pass rate puts it in the lower third of the city car segment.
The 2019 DIG-T 117 stalling issue was traced to a batch of intake pipes with a one-way valve fitted the wrong way around — Nissan sorted it, but not before some owners went through multiple ECU reprogrammes. At 75,000 miles, one owner reported a crankshaft pulley shearing off, taking the alternator belt and most of the engine oil with it. Check the front suspension geometry, the headlamp condition, and the spring integrity before presenting the Micra to any MOT centre.
Top ten reasons for rejection.
- 01
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
11,060 occurrences · 3.5% of tests
- 02
Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective
9,999 occurrences · 3.1% of tests
- 03
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened
9,849 occurrences · 3.1% of tests
- 04
The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements
9,032 occurrences · 2.8% of tests
- 05
A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
8,758 occurrences · 2.7% of tests
- 06
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
8,612 occurrences · 2.7% of tests
- 07
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
7,691 occurrences · 2.4% of tests
- 08
Wiper blade defective
7,254 occurrences · 2.3% of tests
- 09
A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps
6,782 occurrences · 2.1% of tests
- 10
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
6,509 occurrences · 2.0% of tests
Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.
Worst-case fix budget · top 4 failures
£180–£640
If every one of this Micra's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →
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Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.
Owner reports · Honest John
What owners actually report.
Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.
What's good
Peppy engines. Good quality and comfortable interior. Generous safety equipment.
Recent owner-reported faults
- 13 Nov 2019
Report of front suspension problems with 2017 Nissan Mictra K14 bought used independently. Started with a crunching sound from the front in March 2017, dealt with by local Nissan dealer who changed the front suspension bushes and the steering rack. Since then owner has been getting a banging noise in 3 loud bangs in quick succession which can be heard from outside the car and by owner's feet through the floor as she pulls away within the first 2 seconds but not every time (could go for 10 days with no sound.) Nissan dealer has been excellent and has changed both lower arm suspension and the offside drive shaft on the offside to no avail.
- 25 Aug 2019
Stalling issue of a new Nissan Micra DIG-T 117 (19-8-2019) was resolved by Nissan. There are 3 pipes that supply air to engine. Each of these 3 pipes has a one-way valve. Unfortunately, a batch of these pipes we made by the supplier with one of the one-way valves facing the wrong way. This caused oxygen starvation when the engine was idling. Removing and re-seating the one-way valve the correct way around has solved the problem. Nissan has just issued a technical bulletin to dealers about this. The following link shows a photo of the engine and the offending pipes (But was 'down' when we tried to link): https://mega.nz/#!2MR1kKBB!UyQfUMiT1onqI_d_hUwRz9oYIz0mvR4xJokP4mFZCKw .
- 19 Aug 2019
Report of new Nissan Micra DIG-T 117 stalling when idling. Nissan dealer checked all the earth connections and reprogrammed the ECU, yet the car still keept stalling.
Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 3 reports indexed
Buying or keeping a Micra?
Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.
If you own a Micra and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.