All generations and engines together · 537,934 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 60k
Split by first-registration year. Cars registered in a changeover year can belong to either generation.
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. 211,740 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.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
Owners across both the J10 and J11 generations report a clunk or knock from the steering when turning at low speed or crossing bumps, usually traced to worn rack bushings, tie rod ends or the rack's internal mounting. It tends to show up from around 50k miles, and some dealers have only greased the grommets rather than replacing the worn parts, so the noise comes back within weeks. This lines up with the measured data: steering is the standout MOT failure category for this model, and rack and bush wear like this is the everyday version of it, present well before it is bad enough to fail a test.
A metallic rattle on cold start, sometimes fading once the engine warms, is widely reported on the turbocharged 1.2 (J11) and 1.3 (J11/J12) DIG-T petrol engines, put down to a chain that stretches early, especially on cars used mostly for short trips. Nissan has told some owners the noise is normal, but UK trade press has covered cases that progressed to jumped timing and serious engine damage. No UK recall or TSB has been confirmed, so a chain going bad will not show up on an MOT until something actually breaks.
Automatic Qashqais use Nissan's Xtronic CVT, and owners report a jerky or juddering feel pulling away at low speed, getting worse as the car ages, with some needing a full transmission replacement. Nissan has resisted a recall, saying only a small number of cars are affected, but the judder fault codes are tied to the box's stored calibration data and can't just be cleared with a reset. Repairs range from a software recalibration to a replacement unit costing well over £2,000; regular CVT fluid changes are said to lower the risk.
The 1.5 dCi diesel's piezo injectors are repeatedly named by owners and independent garages as failure-prone, sometimes failing on more than one cylinder over the car's life. Symptoms include a rough or difficult start, a smell of diesel in the cabin, a tapping noise and the engine warning light. Replacement runs roughly £300-£700 per injector depending on reconditioned versus new, and there's no known TSB or recall covering it.
Several owners report the auto stop-start system killing the engine at a junction or lights and then failing to restart, in some cases also disabling the electric handbrake so the car can't be moved. Honest John reports Nissan mechanics acknowledging this as a known fault the manufacturer was working on, though no public recall has been traced. It seems to cluster around a battery that's weakening but not yet flagged as faulty, since stop-start puts extra demand on it, so a battery health check is worth asking for.
Diesel Qashqai owners regularly report the DPF warning light and limp mode, sometimes only a few thousand miles after the last regen, mostly on cars used for short, low-speed trips. It's a genuinely disputed one: some owners point to a design flaw, an issue BBC Watchdog covered, while most garages say it's just normal diesel-filter behaviour made worse by town driving. A forced regen or clean usually runs £100-£300; a full filter replacement is more, £500-£1,500.
Built from the two sections above.
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Head to head with the other popular cars in its class on reliability and common faults.