2012 Nissan Leaf Electric · VE62 AEL

The Nissan Leaf currently sits in an unroadworthy state following its most recent MOT failure on 12 June 2026 at 52,443 miles. The maintenance trend has shifted from stable to clearly worsening. Between the clean passes of 2023 and 2024, the 2025 test introduced advisories on all four brake discs and both sets of pads, and by 2026 the vehicle failed outright on five separate items. The most concerning is excessive corrosion to the nearside rear cab or chassis within 30cm of a mounting, a structural defect that directly compromises body integrity. Combined with worn front suspension bushes and a degraded anti-roll bar linkage dust cover, this points to a car that has deteriorated rapidly in the last twelve months after several years of relatively trouble-free testing. The mileage profile tells a specific story. At roughly 14 years old with 52,443 miles, the annual average sits at approximately 3,746 miles, which is notably low. The record shows the car covered 3,653 miles between May 2022 and May 2023, then 2,753 miles between May 2023 and May 2024, before jumping 10,499 miles between May 2024 and June 2026. That sudden acceleration in usage over the final two-year window is significant. A vehicle that sat largely idle for years and then saw intensive use would place accelerated demands on components that had aged through calendar deterioration rather than mileage wear, which is consistent with the sudden emergence of corrosion and suspension failures. A buyer must treat the structural corrosion as the primary concern. The nearside rear chassis defect is not a surface issue; it is a load-bearing area compromised within the prescribed 30cm zone of a mounting point. Any prospective inspection should include a thorough probe of the sill, subframe mounting points, and floor pan using a sharp tool to check for soft metal. The front suspension bushes flagged in the 2026 failure should be physically levered to confirm play, and the anti-roll bar linkage ball joint should be examined for split or perished dust covers that allow moisture and grit ingress. Brake pads were reported thin across all four corners at the last test, and the advisories on all four discs in 2025 suggest the braking system has been running close to minimum tolerances for over a year. Expect to replace pads and likely discs imminently. Beyond the immediate failure items, the pattern of neglect raises questions about fluid changes, battery health monitoring, and tyre age. The offside rear tyre advisory noted in 2022 was never formally re-tested as resolved, so a buyer should check all four tyres for date codes and cracking. The Leaf's battery should be subjected to an independent state-of-health check, as a low-mileage vehicle that has spent extended periods stationary risks accelerated cell degradation. Suspension components, including drop links, track rod ends, and coil springs, should be inspected for the kind of dry rot and fatigue common in vehicles that have spent time stationary rather than in regular use.