All generations and engines together · 45,880 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 57k
Worse than most family hatchbacks, by age and by mileage. Watch suspension and steering. A used buy worth some caution. Check the MOT history for repeating suspension advisories before you go.
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.
Every Leaf loses range as the pack ages, but 2011-2016 24kWh cars are the ones to worry about: owners regularly report State of Health below 70% by 8-10 years or 60-90k miles, with real-world range dropping from around 75 miles new to 40-50 miles in winter. Nissan's own 8-year/100,000-mile warranty only pays out once you're down to 9 of 12 capacity bars, roughly a 25% loss, which tacitly admits the problem exists. A refurbished pack from an independent specialist runs £3,000-£6,000; dealer-fit is £5,000-£7,000 plus.
The 30kWh battery introduced for 2016 was meant to be a durability upgrade over the 24kWh cell, but early cars showed capacity dropping quicker than owners expected, prompting Nissan to push a software recalibration to the battery management system. It only affects cars built with the 30kWh pack, not the 24kWh or the later 40kWh/62kWh units, which don't show the same pattern.
A separate issue from the traction battery: the small 12V battery that runs the electrics can be drained overnight by the Telematics Control Unit failing to power down properly, often while it's stuck trying to find a mobile signal. Owners find the car effectively dead after sitting for 16-20 hours, needing a jump start before it will even wake up. Nissan dealers have told owners to disable telematics as a workaround rather than offering a fix, so it isn't an officially acknowledged fault.
Owners regularly report creaks and knocks from the front end, usually top mounts, drop links and control arm bushes, from around 40-70k miles. The theory on the forums is that the Leaf shares suspension hardware with the lighter Nissan Note, and the extra weight of the battery pack wears the bushes faster than the parts were designed for. The measured MOT data backs this up: suspension is the standout claim category for this model, well ahead of other systems. A set of bushes and links typically runs £150-400 per corner fitted.
On cars fitted with the heat pump, owners report it cycling on for only seconds at a time in cold conditions before handing over to the old-fashioned resistive PTC heater, which works but eats into range. Some describe barely feeling any heat pump output at all below a few degrees, meaning you're back to burning battery on electric heating in exactly the weather when range already suffers most. There's no manufacturer acknowledgement of a fault here, just a widely reported pattern of underwhelming cold-weather performance.
Some owners get a NissanConnect touchscreen that freezes on the Nissan logo or drops into a reboot loop, most commonly reported on 2011-2017 cars, while plenty of others never see it in years of ownership, hence the disagreement. A dealer reset or software reflash usually clears it for free, but a handful of owners have needed the head unit replaced after repeat failures, which is closer to £300-500.
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. 17,404 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 (Family hatchbacks), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.