Kia Sportage MOT pass rate & common failures
1,498,303 MOT tests on the Kia Sportage (1995–2025) give it an 84.3% pass rate. That is 1.1 percentage points worse than mid-size SUVs of a similar age, which fail at 14.6%. Its most common failure areas are brakes, tyres and lighting & signalling.
Best and worst Sportage years
Ranked across Sportage years with at least 1,000 tests. Older cars fail more simply because they are older — compare years close together in age before drawing conclusions.
What the MOT record shows
The strongest year on this record is 2023 (95.7% pass rate); the weakest is 2005 (67.6%). Older cars carry more of the difference than the average implies.
No single area dominates — brakes (6.4%) and tyres (5.1%) are close, so failures are spread across several systems rather than one weak point.
At component level the recurring items are tread depth, brake pads and wipers — tread depth alone was recorded 60,771 times.
Condition tracks the odometer closely. Failures run at 7.5% in the 0-30k band and 30.3% in the 150k+ band, a 22.7-point spread — more than double.
The hybrid cars hold up better: 9.0% fail against 17.7% for diesel, a 8.6-point gap across 942,938 tests.
Tyres is the most common advisory, noted on 26.1% of tests — work that passed today but is likely due soon.
The trend is worsening — 14.6% of tests failed in 2021 against 16.4% in 2025, the usual pattern as a fleet ages.
How it compares
By model year
Every Sportage model year with a usable sample. Years with their own detailed report are linked.
| Year | Tests | Pass rate | Fail rate | Most common failure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | 33 | 72.7% | 27.3% | Lighting & signalling |
| 1999 | 54 | 72.2% | 27.8% | Body, structure & corrosion |
| 2000 | 121 | 67.8% | 32.2% | Body, structure & corrosion |
| 2001 | 109 | 73.4% | 26.6% | Lighting & signalling |
| 2002 | 92 | 73.9% | 26.1% | Suspension |
| 2003 | 255 | 72.9% | 27.1% | Lighting & signalling |
| 2004 | 59 | 81.4% | 18.6% | Lighting & signalling |
| 2005 | 10,390 | 67.6% | 32.4% | Suspension |
| 2006 | 10,128 | 68.0% | 32.0% | Suspension |
| 2007 | 11,157 | 67.8% | 32.2% | Suspension |
| 2008 | 11,444 | 71.8% | 28.2% | Suspension |
| 2009 | 17,081 | 72.4% | 27.6% | Lighting & signalling |
| 2010 | 28,417 | 74.1% | 25.9% | Suspension |
| 2011 | 50,325 | 75.1% | 24.9% | Suspension |
| 2012 | 83,333 | 75.1% | 24.9% | Suspension |
| 2013 | 115,593 | 76.8% | 23.2% | Brakes |
| 2014 | 114,981 | 82.2% | 17.8% | Brakes |
| 2015 | 124,515 | 83.1% | 16.9% | Brakes |
| 2016 | 214,648 | 85.5% | 14.5% | Brakes |
| 2017 | 207,458 | 87.4% | 12.6% | Brakes |
| 2018 | 188,753 | 89.1% | 10.9% | Tyres |
| 2019 | 148,956 | 89.4% | 10.6% | Tyres |
| 2020 | 64,431 | 89.7% | 10.3% | Visibility |
| 2021 | 60,670 | 90.5% | 9.5% | Visibility |
| 2022 | 33,037 | 92.9% | 7.1% | Visibility |
| 2023 | 2,036 | 95.7% | 4.3% | Visibility |
| 2024 | 148 | 97.3% | 2.7% | Tyres |
| 2025 | 41 | 100.0% | 0.0% | - |
Most common failures (all years)
| # | Category | % of tests affected | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brakes | 6.4% | 95,773 |
| 2 | Tyres | 5.1% | 76,786 |
| 3 | Lighting & signalling | 4.4% | 66,058 |
| 4 | Suspension | 4.0% | 59,457 |
| 5 | Visibility | 3.9% | 58,508 |
| 6 | Steering | 1.5% | 22,812 |
| 7 | Emissions & environmental | 1.1% | 17,170 |
| 8 | Body, structure & corrosion | 0.7% | 10,763 |
Most common specific failures
The exact components most often recorded as failures — more specific than the categories above.
| # | Failure item | Times recorded |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tread depth | 60,771 |
| 2 | Brake pads | 50,450 |
| 3 | Wipers | 44,901 |
| 4 | Headlamp aim | 36,293 |
| 5 | Rbt (sp) | 24,696 |
| 6 | Track rod end | 24,433 |
| 7 | Washers | 23,651 |
| 8 | Pins and bushes | 21,179 |
Top advisory categories
Advisories aren't failures, but they flag work likely needed soon — useful when budgeting.
| # | Category | % of tests with advisory | Tests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tyres | 26.1% | 390,677 |
| 2 | Brakes | 21.3% | 319,644 |
| 3 | Other defects | 9.9% | 148,686 |
| 4 | Suspension | 9.7% | 145,644 |
| 5 | Lighting & signalling | 3.8% | 57,567 |
| 6 | Visibility | 3.4% | 50,934 |
Failure rate by mileage
Higher-mileage cars tend to fail more — often the most useful guide to real condition.
| Mileage band | Tests | Fail rate |
|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 282,120 | 7.5% |
| 30-60k | 561,466 | 12.5% |
| 60-90k | 385,893 | 19.0% |
| 90-120k | 188,036 | 25.3% |
| 120-150k | 62,749 | 28.4% |
| 150k+ | 17,930 | 30.3% |
Failure rate by age
By fuel type
| Fuel | Tests | Fail rate |
|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 880,996 | 17.7% |
| Petrol | 555,350 | 13.4% |
| Hybrid | 61,942 | 9.0% |
Trend over time
| Dataset year | Tests | Fail rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 241,283 | 14.6% |
| 2022 | 277,981 | 14.8% |
| 2023 | 298,862 | 15.7% |
| 2024 | 326,022 | 16.7% |
| 2025 | 354,155 | 16.4% |
What to check before buying a Kia Sportage
- Brakes (6.4% of tests): Pads/discs are routine wear; binding, imbalance or corroded pipes are more serious — test for pulling under braking. Typical repair: £100–£350 per axle.
- Tyres (5.1% of tests): Usually a quick, known-cost fix, but check tread, age and uneven wear (which can hint at alignment or suspension issues). Typical repair: £50–£120 per tyre.
- Lighting & signalling (4.4% of tests): Often a cheap bulb, but persistent issues can mean wiring or corrosion in the units. Typical repair: £10–£150.
Repair costs are rough UK ballpark ranges to set expectations, not quotes — actual prices vary widely by car, parts and garage.
Frequently asked questions
What is the MOT pass rate for the Kia Sportage?
84.3% of the 1,498,303 Kia Sportage MOT tests in this dataset passed, a 15.7% fail rate, across model years 1995–2025.
What does the Kia Sportage most often fail its MOT on?
Brakes, recorded in 6.4% of tests, then tyres (5.1%).
Which Sportage years are best and worst for MOT results?
2023 has the best pass rate at 95.7% and 2005 the weakest at 67.6%, from 2,036 and 10,390 tests respectively.
How much does mileage affect Sportage MOT results?
Fail rates run at 7.5% for cars in the 0-30k band and 30.3% for 150k+, a 22.7-point difference.
Is the hybrid or diesel Sportage more reliable at MOT time?
On MOT-testable defects the hybrid fails 9.0% of the time against 17.7% for the diesel. This covers testable items only, not engine or gearbox reliability.
Methodology & source. Based on 1,498,303 MOT tests. Dataset: DVSA MOT testing data (2021,2022,2023,2024,2025). Data last updated 2026-07-27. Figures reflect MOT-testable defects only — read the methodology for how these are calculated and what they don't measure.