70.3%
Kia Rio
Kia Rio MOT pass rate and common problems
The Kia Rio passed 70.3% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 2 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 Rio 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 Rio runs 4.9 points behind the Kia average. It is 13th of the 16 Kia models in the data. The average Rio arrived at its test 10.3 years old with 65,354 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.
Rio MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Kia Rio cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.7% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 57.9%, a drop of 27.8 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 11,460 | 85.7% | 13.4 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 41,310 | 76.9% | 4.6 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 42,880 | 57.9% | 14.4 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 Rio failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Kia Rio cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and brakes together account for 42.7% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Rio MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Kia Rio cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 39.5% of everything testers recorded against failed Kia Rio cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Rio
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Recorded most often: position lamp not working, stop lamp not working and headlamp not working on dipped beam. 10.9% of failure items.
2
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively and washers provides insufficient washer liquid. 7.9% of failure items.
3
Suspension
Recorded most often: ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt and ball joint excessively worn. 7.8% of failure items.
4
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm. 4.9% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Rio has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Kia Rio buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Kia Rio MOT FAQs
What is the Kia Rio MOT pass rate?
70.3% of Kia Rio cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 99,483 tests. That is 2 percentage points below the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 347th of 575 models.
What does a Kia Rio most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Kia Rio cars failing their 2025 MOT was position lamp not working, on 5.6% of failure items. Next were wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (5%) and tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (4.9%).
Which area causes the most Kia Rio MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment at 23.6%, followed by brakes at 19.1%.
Do older Kia Rio cars fail their MOT more often?
Kia Rio cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 85.7% of MOT tests in 2025, against 57.9% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Kia Rio has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Kia Rio 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 Rio'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.