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Used comparison · 2025 DVSA data

Hyundai I30 vs Kia Ceed

Sister cars with long original warranties, so used buyers should check what is left and what the history says.

Across 220,417 initial MOT tests in 2025, the Kia Ceed passed 73.58% against 71.21% for the Hyundai I30. A real gap, but not a decisive one on its own.

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Head to head on the MOT record

Measure Hyundai I30 Kia Ceed
First-time MOT pass rate 71.21% 73.58%
Tests in 2025 100,723 119,694
Average mileage at test 82,256 79,814
Average age at test 11.2 years 10.2 years
Most common fuel Petrol Diesel
Diesel share of tests 45.54% 56.44%

The UK average across all cars in this data is 77.3%. The Hyundai I30 sits below it by 6.1 points, and the Kia Ceed sits below it by 3.7 points.

Which one holds up better as it ages

This is the part that matters when you are buying used. A headline pass rate mixes three-year-old cars in with fifteen-year-old ones. Split by age, you can see what each model actually does over time.

Age at test Hyundai I30 Kia Ceed
3 to 5 years 89.48% 88.59%
6 to 10 years 80.02% 81.07%
11 years and over 63.61% 63.57%

Both models age at much the same rate, losing around 25.5 percentage points between the youngest and oldest brackets. Neither has an advantage worth paying for on this measure.

What each one fails on

These are the areas testers recorded most often across every failed 2025 test for each model. Read them as a viewing checklist for that model, not as a fault list for any particular car.

Hyundai I30

  • Brakes 26.11%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 22.8%
  • Suspension 17.77%
  • Tyres 12.03%
  • Steering 8.56%

Share of all recorded failure items.

Full Hyundai I30 failure detail

Kia Ceed

  • Brakes 22.07%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 21.04%
  • Suspension 19.75%
  • Tyres 14.4%
  • Steering 7.78%

Share of all recorded failure items.

Full Kia Ceed failure detail

Both models fail most often on brakes, which is normal for cars of this age and tells you what to look at on either. The difference between them is in what comes next on each list.

The specific items testers wrote down

One level deeper than the category. These are the individual defects recorded most often on each model.

Hyundai I30

  • Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements
  • Track rod end ball joint has excessive play
  • Tread depth tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm

Kia Ceed

  • Track rod end ball joint has excessive play
  • Tread depth tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm
  • Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn

What this comparison cannot tell you

Everything above describes two models across the whole UK fleet. It says nothing about the one car in the advert you are looking at. Two I30s of the same year and mileage can be worth thousands apart because of things that never appear in MOT data:

  • Outstanding finance. If a lender still has an agreement recorded against the car, that claim does not disappear because you paid the seller.
  • Insurance write-off history. A Cat S or Cat N marker is permanent, changes what the car is worth, and does not appear on the V5C.
  • Stolen markers. A car recorded as stolen can be seized even from a buyer who bought it honestly.
  • Mileage history. The readings taken at every MOT are the clearest way to spot a clocked odometer.
  • Previous keepers. An unusual number of keepers for the age of the car is worth asking about.

A Carpeep car history check reports all of those against the registration, plus tax status, import and export markers, scrapped status and the recorded vehicle identity, in one £15 report.

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Hyundai I30 vs Kia Ceed FAQs

Is the Hyundai I30 or the Kia Ceed more likely to pass its MOT?

The Kia Ceed passed 73.58% of its initial MOT tests in the DVSA 2025 data against 71.21% for the Hyundai I30, a gap of 2.4 percentage points. That is a fleet-wide average, not a prediction about the specific car you are looking at.

Does a higher MOT pass rate mean a more reliable car?

No. An MOT records whether a vehicle met the roadworthiness standard on the day it was tested. It does not test the engine, clutch or gearbox, and it does not measure how often a car breaks down. Pass rates are useful for comparing how two models are holding up across the whole UK fleet, and nothing more than that.

Which is cheaper to keep on the road, the Hyundai I30 or the Kia Ceed?

This data does not price servicing or repairs, so it cannot answer that directly. What it does show is what each model most often fails on, which is a fair guide to where the money goes. The Hyundai I30 fails most often on brakes. The Kia Ceed fails most often on brakes.

How do I check the actual Kia Ceed I have found?

Enter its registration. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, insurance write-off markers, stolen markers, the mileage recorded at every MOT, previous keepers, tax and MOT status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report. None of that appears in model-level MOT statistics.

MOT figures aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.