66.3%
Ford Ka
Ford Ka MOT pass rate and common problems
The Ford Ka passed 66.3% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 6 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Ka compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
68.8%
Ford average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Ka runs 2.5 points behind the Ford average. It is 21st of the 27 Ford models in the data. The average Ka arrived at its test 12.1 years old with 57,922 miles recorded.
A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.
Ka MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Ford Ka cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 87.6% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 60%, a drop of 27.6 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 7,197 | 87.6% | 15.3 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 58,195 | 74.9% | 2.6 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 103,936 | 60% | 12.3 pts below |
That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.
Where Ka failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Ford Ka cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Suspension and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment together account for 52.3% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Ka MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Ford Ka cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 38.6% of everything testers recorded against failed Ford Ka cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Ka
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Suspension
Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak, shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush, ball joint excessively worn and component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength. 21.3% of failure items.
2
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: stop lamp not working and position lamp not working. 7.8% of failure items.
3
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. 3.6% of failure items.
4
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively. 3.3% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Ka has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Ford Ka buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Ford Ka MOT FAQs
What is the Ford Ka MOT pass rate?
66.3% of Ford Ka cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 169,328 tests. That is 6 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 412th of 575 models.
What does a Ford Ka most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Ford Ka cars failing their 2025 MOT was pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn, on 5.8% of failure items. Next were shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (4.4%) and shock absorbers has an excessively worn bush (4.2%).
Which area causes the most Ford Ka MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 31.2%, followed by lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 21.1%.
Do older Ford Ka cars fail their MOT more often?
Ford Ka cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 87.6% of MOT tests in 2025, against 60% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Ford Ka has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Ford Ka that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.
How do I see a specific Ford Ka's MOT history?
Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.