77.1%
Kia Sportage pass rate
Used Kia Sportage buying guide
In 2025, Kia Sportage cars passed 77.1% of 301,419 initial MOT tests, 4.8 points above the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Sportage? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Kia Sportage MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
+4.8
percentage points above average
Ranked on pass rate the Sportage sits 240th of 575 models in the data. Kia as a brand averaged 75.2%, so this model runs 1.9 points ahead of its own brand. Kia Sportage cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 84.8% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 60.2%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Kia Sportage MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Sportage compares with similar cars.
Sportage fuel types
Diesel made up 47.4% of Kia Sportage MOT tests in 2025, against 39.3% across all models in this data. The rest ran on other fuels, so tested examples were a genuine mix.
Where the Sportage fails its MOT
Where Kia Sportage cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (8.6%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (7.6%) and wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (5.6%). See every common Sportage MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Kia Sportage that failed, not a claim that every Sportage has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Sportage?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 27.1% of Sportage failure items.
2
Tyres
Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear. 17% of Sportage failure items.
3
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting. 15.6% of Sportage failure items.
4
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 15.4% of Sportage failure items.
5
Visibility
Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 10.4% of Sportage failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
Sportage vs similar cars
Head-to-head comparisons on the same 2025 DVSA data.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Kia Sportage failures cluster around brakes and tyres tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact Sportage you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the Kia history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used Kia models
The most-tested Kia models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Sportage.
Used Kia Sportage FAQs
Is the Kia Sportage reliable?
MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is a 77.1% first-time pass rate for the Kia Sportage across 301,419 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Kia Sportage cars fail their MOT more often?
Kia Sportage cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 84.8% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 60.2%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used Kia Sportage?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: brakes, tyres and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a Kia Sportage's history?
Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.
MOT figures are 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.