71%
Kia Venga pass rate
Used Kia Venga buying guide
In 2025, Kia Venga cars passed 71% of 46,382 initial MOT tests, 1.3 points below the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Venga? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
Kia Venga MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
−1.3
percentage points below average
Ranked on pass rate the Venga sits 337th of 575 models in the data. Kia as a brand averaged 75.2%, so this model runs 4.2 points behind its own brand. Kia Venga cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 88.7% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 58.7%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full Kia Venga MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Venga compares with similar cars.
Venga fuel types
Petrol was the most common fuel among Kia Venga cars tested in 2025. Diesel still made up 24% of tests.
Where the Venga fails its MOT
Where Kia Venga 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 track rod end ball joint has excessive play (10.9%), position lamp not working (9.7%) and stop lamp not working (6.4%). See every common Venga MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every Kia Venga that failed, not a claim that every Venga has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Venga?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
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. 31.1% of Venga failure items.
2
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. 15.7% of Venga failure items.
3
Suspension
Listen for knocks over bumps, check the car sits level, and look for leaking shock absorbers and split rubber gaiters. 14.7% of Venga failure items.
4
Steering
Feel for play, knocking or stiffness in the steering, and check there is no steering warning light. 13.2% of Venga failure items.
5
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. 10.4% of Venga 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.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing Kia Venga failures cluster around lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment and brakes 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 Venga 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 Venga.
Used Kia Venga FAQs
Is the Kia Venga 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 71% first-time pass rate for the Kia Venga across 46,382 tests in 2025, below the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older Kia Venga cars fail their MOT more often?
Kia Venga cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 88.7% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 11 years and over that fell to 58.7%. 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 Venga?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, brakes and suspension. 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 Venga'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.