Kia Rio: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Kia Rio fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 2.4 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 97,646 individual Kia Rio tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 74.3% first-time pass rate means roughly 26 in every 100 Kia Rios 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 Rio tested had covered 63,904 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 Rio 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 Rio 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 Rios actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Kia Rio

1. A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, 2.7% of tests (2.88x the national rate for this defect)
2. A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 3.1% of tests (2.27x the national rate for this defect)
3. Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn, 1% of tests (1.8x the national rate for this defect)
4. Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen, 2.1% of tests (1.72x the national rate for this defect)
5. Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen, 2.2% of tests (1.59x the national rate for this defect)
6. Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake, 1.2% of tests (1.56x the national rate for this defect)
7. Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded, 1.2% of tests (1.4x 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, 2.2% of tests (1.35x the national rate for this defect)
9. Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements, 3.1% of tests (1.34x the national rate for this defect)
10. Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 1.3% of tests (1.28x the national rate for this defect)

From 135,669 DVSA-tracked Kia Rio tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 5.5% of these flagged Kia Rio defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Kia Rio 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 Rio year:

• 2004 Kia Rio - 53.2% first-time pass, 299 tests
• 2005 Kia Rio - 59.6% first-time pass, 493 tests
• 2006 Kia Rio - 59.2% first-time pass, 914 tests
• 2007 Kia Rio - 56.2% first-time pass, 1,163 tests
• 2008 Kia Rio - 57.8% first-time pass, 2,019 tests
• 2009 Kia Rio - 62.4% first-time pass, 4,736 tests
• 2010 Kia Rio - 62.4% first-time pass, 6,034 tests
• 2011 Kia Rio - 62.1% first-time pass, 6,814 tests
• 2012 Kia Rio - 65.8% first-time pass, 8,986 tests
• 2013 Kia Rio - 68.8% first-time pass, 9,935 tests
• 2014 Kia Rio - 72.6% first-time pass, 11,053 tests
• 2015 Kia Rio - 80.5% first-time pass, 11,371 tests
• 2016 Kia Rio - 82.3% first-time pass, 8,813 tests
• 2017 Kia Rio - 86% first-time pass, 8,084 tests
• 2018 Kia Rio - 88.3% first-time pass, 5,732 tests
• 2019 Kia Rio - 88% first-time pass, 4,876 tests
• 2020 Kia Rio - 90.2% first-time pass, 3,142 tests
• 2021 Kia Rio - 94.4% first-time pass, 2,229 tests

Kia Rio by fuel type

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

• Petrol Kia Rio - 76.8% first-time pass, 77,352 tests
• Diesel Kia Rio - 66.1% first-time pass, 19,769 tests

Other Kia models

• Kia Sportage - 79.4%
• Kia Picanto - 75.7%
• Kia Ceed - 71.6%
• 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

• Austin MINI 1000 City E - 74.5%
• Fiat Ducato Motorhome - 74.5%
• Ford Focus - 74.4%
• Mercedes-Benz Sprinter - 74.3%
• MINI One D - 74.3%
• Lexus Is220 - 74.2%

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