2015 Kia Optima: MOT pass rate and reliability

79.4% of 2015 Kia Optimas pass the MOT first time, measured across 602 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 84,128 miles.

How the 2015 compares

  • Against all Kia Optimas (82.2%, 11,284 tests): -2.8 points
  • Against all 2015 cars (78.3%): +1.1 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Kia Optima model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2015 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Kia Optima:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2012 62.7% 641 99,975
2013 73.1% 327 97,314
2014 73% 597 92,294
2015 79.4% 602 84,128
2016 83.8% 1,260 80,273
2017 83.7% 3,316 79,816
2018 85.9% 2,703 71,190
2019 85.3% 1,667 62,243

What this means if you are buying a 2015 Optima

The 2015 is a weaker year for this model, passing 2.8 points less often than the Kia Optima average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2015 figure for all cars above rather than against newer examples. Check the exact car with the free MOT history checker before you buy, and run its VIN and mileage through our free VIN decoder and clocking check.

What an 11-year-old car fails on

A 2015 car is 11 years old now, and age drives the failure mix more than the badge does. Across all cars tested, these are the categories that actually cause failures:

  • Lights and electrical: 10.36% of all cars tested
  • Suspension: 8.65% of all cars tested
  • Tyres: 6.23% of all cars tested
  • Brakes: 6.1% of all cars tested
  • Visibility: wipers, washers, glass: 4.65% of all cars tested
  • Body, chassis and structure: 3.18% of all cars tested

That is above average, the point where suspension bushes, drop links and exhaust corrosion start showing up as advisories before they become failures. On a 2015 Kia Optima the average at test was 84,128 miles, so treat anything far above that as a car that has worked harder than its peers, and anything far below as one worth checking for the faults that come from standing still.

The strongest year for this model is 2018 at 85.9%, and the weakest in our data is 2012 at 62.7%. That 23.2 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2015 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Kia Optima MOT data · Every model