77.1%
Kia Sportage
Kia Sportage MOT pass rate and common problems
The Kia Sportage passed 77.1% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 4.8 percentage points above the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm.
Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.
How the Sportage 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 Sportage runs 1.9 points ahead of the Kia average. It is 8th of the 16 Kia models in the data. The average Sportage arrived at its test 7.9 years old with 63,448 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.
Sportage MOT pass rate by age
The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.
Kia Sportage cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 84.8% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 60.2%, a drop of 24.6 percentage points.
| Age at test | Tests | Pass rate | vs UK average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 to 5 years | 74,078 | 84.8% | 12.5 pts above |
| 6 to 10 years | 149,214 | 77.4% | 5.1 pts above |
| 11 years and over | 54,095 | 60.2% | 12.1 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 Sportage failures cluster
Every failure item recorded on Kia Sportage cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.
Brakes and tyres together account for 44.1% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.
The 10 most common Sportage MOT failures
Specific items recorded on Kia Sportage cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.
Together these 10 items make up 44.5% of everything testers recorded against failed Kia Sportage cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.
What to look at on a Sportage
The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.
1
Tyres
Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm and condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords. 11.8% of failure items.
2
Brakes
Recorded most often: brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick and rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements. 10.9% of failure items.
3
Visibility
Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively and washers provides insufficient washer liquid. 8.2% of failure items.
4
Suspension
Recorded most often: pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn and ball joint excessively worn. 7.2% of failure items.
The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Sportage has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used Kia Sportage buying guide.
Already found one?
Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.
Kia Sportage MOT FAQs
What is the Kia Sportage MOT pass rate?
77.1% of Kia Sportage cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 301,419 tests. That is 4.8 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 240th of 575 models.
What does a Kia Sportage most commonly fail its MOT on?
The item testers recorded most often on Kia Sportage cars failing their 2025 MOT was tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, on 8.6% of failure items. Next were brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (7.6%) and wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively (5.6%).
Which area causes the most Kia Sportage MOT failures?
Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was brakes at 27.1%, followed by tyres at 17%.
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, against 60.2% for cars aged 11 years and over.
Does this mean every Kia Sportage has these problems?
No. These are the items testers recorded across every Kia Sportage 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 Sportage'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.