Kia Ceed: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Kia Ceed fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 5.1 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 114,055 individual Kia Ceed tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 71.6% first-time pass rate means roughly 28 in every 100 Kia Ceeds presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average Kia Ceed tested had covered 79,435 miles and was built around 2014.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a Kia Ceed bought as a repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific Kia Ceed rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see what damaged Kia Ceeds actually sold for at UK salvage auction, from 3 real settled sales.

Most common MOT failures on a Kia Ceed

1. A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, 3.2% of tests (3.43x the national rate for this defect)
2. Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake, 2.1% of tests (2.7x the national rate for this defect)
3. Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 2.3% of tests (2.31x the national rate for this defect)
4. A headlamp or light source missing, inoperative or more than ½ not functioning in the case of LED, 1.8% of tests (2.02x the national rate for this defect)
5. Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 1.9% of tests (1.91x the national rate for this defect)
6. Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen, 2.3% of tests (1.83x the national rate for this defect)
7. A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn, 6.4% of tests (1.74x the national rate for this defect)
8. A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 2.6% of tests (1.6x the national rate for this defect)
9. a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm, 2.4% of tests (1.56x the national rate for this defect)
10. A tyre cords visible or damaged, 1.9% of tests (1.55x the national rate for this defect)

From 163,735 DVSA-tracked Kia Ceed tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 5.93% of these flagged Kia Ceed defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Kia Ceed pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each Kia Ceed year:

• 2007 Kia Ceed - 57.1% first-time pass, 2,391 tests
• 2008 Kia Ceed - 58.9% first-time pass, 4,534 tests
• 2009 Kia Ceed - 61% first-time pass, 6,998 tests
• 2010 Kia Ceed - 59.9% first-time pass, 8,023 tests
• 2011 Kia Ceed - 60.1% first-time pass, 7,138 tests
• 2012 Kia Ceed - 62.7% first-time pass, 11,702 tests
• 2013 Kia Ceed - 66.2% first-time pass, 10,969 tests
• 2014 Kia Ceed - 70.6% first-time pass, 11,060 tests
• 2015 Kia Ceed - 77.3% first-time pass, 11,228 tests
• 2016 Kia Ceed - 80.7% first-time pass, 9,639 tests
• 2017 Kia Ceed - 82.4% first-time pass, 8,592 tests
• 2018 Kia Ceed - 85.5% first-time pass, 9,373 tests
• 2019 Kia Ceed - 85.9% first-time pass, 7,658 tests
• 2020 Kia Ceed - 88% first-time pass, 1,822 tests
• 2021 Kia Ceed - 88.8% first-time pass, 1,939 tests
• 2022 Kia Ceed - 92.4% first-time pass, 314 tests

Kia Ceed by fuel type

Diesel and petrol versions of the same car fail on different things, so the fuel type moves the number:

• Diesel Kia Ceed - 70.1% first-time pass, 70,424 tests
• Petrol Kia Ceed - 75% first-time pass, 42,964 tests

Other Kia models

• Kia Sportage - 79.4%
• Kia Picanto - 75.7%
• Kia Rio - 74.3%
• Kia Niro - 90.3%
• Kia Venga - 78.4%
• Kia Sorento - 72.6%
• Kia Soul - 73.7%
• Kia Stonic - 89.9%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Chrysler Crossfire - 71.7%
• Volvo 700 Series - 71.7%
• Fiat 500 - 71.6%
• Toyota Starlet - 71.6%
• Nissan Nv400 - 71.6%
• Peugeot Partner - 71.5%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate