Ford KA MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the Ford KA took 190,207 MOT tests in Britain and passed 68% of them first time, below the national average of 71% for all cars. The figures below come from the DVSA's record of every test, so they show what testers actually found on these cars rather than what owners report.

MOT tests in 2023: 190,207
First-time pass rate: 68%
All cars: 71%

What the KA fails on

Share of tests with at least one failure in each area, against the figure for all cars.

Suspension14.1% (all cars 9.0%)
Lights and electrics11.2% (all cars 11.3%)
Brakes7.3% (all cars 6.8%)
Tyres5.8% (all cars 6.4%)
Visibility5.4% (all cars 4.8%)
Body and structure4.2% (all cars 3.5%)
Exhaust and emissions2.9% (all cars 3.1%)
Seat belts and airbags1.4% (all cars 1.0%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Stop lamp: not working 3.1%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush excessively worn 2.7%
Shock absorbers: has a serious fluid leak 2.6%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 2.5%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.4%
Position lamp: not working 2.3%
Suspension arms, ball joint: ball joint excessively worn 2.3%
Shock absorbers: has an excessively worn bush 2.2%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 17.6%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 10.2%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 10.0%
Coil spring: corroded 8.0%
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil 6.9%
Exhaust system: has a minor leak of exhaust gases 6.5%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 6.5%
Brake pads: wearing thin 5.3%

Pass rate by year of registration

Older cars fail more often whatever the model, so compare a car with others of the same age.

First registered	Tests	Pass rate
2001	628	50%
2002	1,193	53%
2003	1,972	52%
2004	2,639	49%
2005	3,165	50%
2006	3,868	49%
2007	5,324	49%
2008	6,726	48%
2009	18,445	58%
2010	18,926	60%
2011	16,268	64%
2012	17,220	67%
2013	18,698	70%
2014	18,561	74%
2015	13,284	74%
2016	8,326	77%
2017	13,309	86%
2018	10,985	86%
2019	10,017	91%

Typical mileage by age

Average odometer reading at the MOT, by the car's age in years at the test.

Age at test	Average mileage
4 years	20,401 miles
5 years	26,211 miles
6 years	31,449 miles
7 years	36,546 miles
8 years	41,393 miles
9 years	47,407 miles
10 years	53,765 miles
11 years	58,767 miles
12 years	64,704 miles
13 years	70,021 miles
14 years	72,717 miles
15 years	55,598 miles
16 years	55,547 miles
17 years	53,969 miles
18 years	53,835 miles
19 years	54,761 miles
20 years	55,548 miles

Check a particular KA

Model figures tell you what to look out for. To see one car's own MOT history, mileage and tax, enter its registration.

Other Ford models

Source: Department for Transport, Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2023, cars and light vans, normal tests only. Pass rates are first-time passes; a pass after repair at the test station counts as a fail. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.