All generations and engines together · 314,027 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 51k
Middling for its age among small SUVs, but one of the worst per mile driven. Watch brakes and steering. One to judge on its mileage rather than its age, and worth it only if its MOT history has no repeating brakes advisories.
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press, with how well each report stands up. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
The Xtronic CVT fitted to 1.6 petrol Mk1 cars is the single biggest reason not to buy one on trust. Owners report jerky pull-away, whining, shuddering under load and, in a fair number of cases, outright failure well before 50,000 miles. Full replacement runs £4,000-7,000 since the unit is rarely repairable, and Nissan does not treat it as a design fault outside of goodwill claims.
A rattle on cold start that owners trace to a stretched timing chain or worn tensioner, most commonly flagged on the 1.2 DIG-T turbo petrol and early 1.6 DIG-T units. Left alone it can jump time and bend valves, turning a chain job into a full engine rebuild or replacement. Reported anywhere from 35,000 to 100,000 miles, and it's frequent enough on the 1.2 that Nissan dealers and independents both recognise the noise on sight; repair cost ranges from a few hundred pounds for a chain kit to £2,000-8,000 if it's let go too long.
On the 1.5 dCi diesel, short runs and poor servicing let the diesel particulate filter clog, killing performance and sometimes triggering a limp mode; a filter that won't regenerate itself can mean a £300 professional clean or, in the worst case, a £800-2,000+ replacement including labour. The turbo's oil feed pipe can also silt up on both petrol and diesel turbo engines, starving the turbo of oil and shortening its life if services are stretched.
An internal leak in the clutch master cylinder lets the pedal go soft, sluggish to return, or drop to the floor with no warning. Some owners report it appearing as early as 15,000-22,000 miles, well inside what most buyers would call "still new", and it's a repeated enough theme on manual Jukes that Parkers flags it as a specific thing to test-drive for. Parts and labour are modest, typically a few hundred pounds, but it's an easy thing for a seller to hide with a quick pedal pump before you arrive.
Owners describe front discs needing replacement unusually early, sometimes 8,000-18,000 miles, and rear brakes corroding or binding even on low-mileage cars, which lines up with brakes being the standout measured MOT fault for this class of car. The folklore version is about premature wear and sticking rather than outright failure: pads and discs going in far sooner than a normal service interval would suggest, and rear calipers seizing on cars that sit for long periods.
The newer Juke has a genuinely bad reliability reputation in owner surveys, finishing last of 38 small SUVs in What Car?'s most recent poll with a 55.2% score, and Nissan as a brand placed 29th of 30 manufacturers. Reports point at electrical gremlins and infotainment glitches rather than one single headline fault, which makes it harder to pin down than the Mk1's CVT or timing chain, but it's consistent enough across surveys to flag rather than dismiss as noise.
Ranked from this model’s own MOT record, then from what owners report.
Saveable checklistThe physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
The physical checks its own defect data says are worth your time, most telling first.
These judge the seller’s upkeep rather than the model, and they are where the haggling money is.
Drawn from the reports above rather than the MOT data. These are the model-specific ones.
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 125,341 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.
Head to head with the other popular cars in its class on reliability and common faults.