71.4%
Kia Picanto
Kia Picanto MOT pass rate and common problems
The Kia Picanto passed 71.4% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 0.9 percentage points below the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was position lamp not working.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Picanto compares
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.
75.2%
Kia average
72.3%
UK average, all cars
The Picanto runs 3.8 points behind the Kia average. It is 10th of the 16 Kia models in the data. The average Picanto arrived at its test 10.1 years old with 48,108 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.
Picanto MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Kia Picanto cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.8% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 57.7%, a drop of 28.1 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 34,314 | 85.8% | 13.5 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 69,145 | 77.6% | 5.3 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 78,014 | 57.7% | 14.6 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 Picanto failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Kia Picanto cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Brakes and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment together account for 45.3% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Picanto MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Kia Picanto cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 38.3% of everything testers recorded against failed Kia Picanto cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Picanto
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Brakes
Recorded most often: rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements, rigid brake pipes excessively corroded and parking brake performance inoperative on one side. 11.7% of failure items.
2
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords and condition has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure. 9.1% of failure items.
3
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively and washers provides insufficient washer liquid. 8.8% of failure items.
4
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working. 5.8% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Picanto has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Kia Picanto buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Kia Picanto MOT FAQs
What is the Kia Picanto MOT pass rate?
71.4% of Kia Picanto cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 190,252 tests. That is 0.9 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 325th of 575 models.
What does a Kia Picanto most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Kia Picanto cars failing their 2025 MOT was position lamp not working, on 5.8% of failure items. Next were wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (5.7%) and rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (5.1%).
Which area causes the most Kia Picanto MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was brakes at 26.3%, followed by lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 19%.
Do older Kia Picanto cars fail their MOT more often?
Kia Picanto cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.8% of MOT tests in 2025, against 57.7% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Kia Picanto has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Kia Picanto 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 Kia Picanto'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.