KIA Picanto MOT failures and reliability

In 2023 the KIA Picanto took 179,070 MOT tests in Britain and passed 71% of them first time, close to 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: 179,070
First-time pass rate: 71%
All cars: 71%

What the Picanto fails on

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

Brakes10.1% (all cars 6.8%)
Lights and electrics9.0% (all cars 11.3%)
Suspension6.9% (all cars 9.0%)
Tyres6.3% (all cars 6.4%)
Visibility6.3% (all cars 4.8%)
Body and structure3.4% (all cars 3.5%)
Exhaust and emissions3.0% (all cars 3.1%)
Steering1.2% (all cars 1.8%)

Most common failure items

Share of tests on which each item was recorded.

Rbt (sp): efficiency below requirements 3.6%
Position lamp: not working 3.5%
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively 3.4%
Parking brake performance: inoperative on one side 2.2%
Tread depth: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm 2.1%
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid 1.9%
Coil spring: fractured or broken 1.7%
Service brake performance: excessively binding 1.7%

Most common advisories

Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge 14.2%
Tyres, condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing 13.1%
Rigid brake pipes: corroded, covered in grease or other material 8.3%
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened 6.7%
Brake pads: wearing thin 5.6%
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive 3.8%
Service brake performance: binding but not excessively 3.7%
Suspension arms, pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement 2.8%

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
2004	2,157	52%
2005	4,197	51%
2006	4,723	50%
2007	3,091	52%
2008	3,411	55%
2009	13,422	56%
2010	13,472	58%
2011	10,848	60%
2012	13,433	63%
2013	12,882	68%
2014	14,631	74%
2015	13,626	78%
2016	12,613	78%
2017	13,338	82%
2018	16,399	85%
2019	17,514	87%
2020	8,942	90%
2021	352	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
3 years	15,367 miles
4 years	19,691 miles
5 years	25,563 miles
6 years	30,652 miles
7 years	35,402 miles
8 years	40,936 miles
9 years	46,740 miles
10 years	52,586 miles
11 years	59,126 miles
12 years	61,684 miles
13 years	61,799 miles
14 years	61,945 miles
15 years	69,315 miles
16 years	69,413 miles
17 years	71,253 miles
18 years	73,325 miles
19 years	75,247 miles

Check a particular Picanto

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

Other KIA 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.