2004 Kia Sorento: MOT pass rate and reliability

55.6% of 2004 Kia Sorentos pass the MOT first time, measured across 531 DVSA tests on that model year alone. The average one had covered 114,740 miles.

How the 2004 compares

  • Against all Kia Sorentos (73.1%, 33,116 tests): -17.5 points
  • Against all 2004 cars (64%): -8.4 points
  • National first-time pass rate, all cars and years: 77%

Every Kia Sorento model year

Pass rates fall as cars age, so the only fair comparison for a 2004 car is other cars of the same age. The full run for the Kia Sorento:

Year Pass rate Tests Avg mileage
2004 55.6% 531 114,740
2005 58.1% 913 114,560
2006 57.5% 1,718 115,739
2007 60.3% 1,182 113,163
2008 59.8% 905 108,467
2009 62.4% 1,241 105,846
2010 62.6% 1,783 113,515
2011 64.2% 1,600 110,262
2012 65% 1,884 104,707
2013 66.8% 2,114 97,831
2014 71.7% 2,887 88,003
2015 77.8% 3,988 81,043
2016 80.2% 3,136 73,116
2017 84% 3,104 62,391
2018 85.9% 2,741 53,892
2019 87.9% 2,770 43,566
2020 89.3% 450 37,358

What this means if you are buying a 2004 Sorento

The 2004 is a weaker year for this model, passing 17.5 points less often than the Kia Sorento average. Some of that is simply age, so compare it against the 2004 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 a 22-year-old car fails on

A 2004 car is 22 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 high mileage, so timing belts, clutches, suspension bushes and corrosion are the items worth budgeting for rather than the MOT itself. On a 2004 Kia Sorento the average at test was 114,740 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 2020 at 89.3%, and the weakest in our data is 2004 at 55.6%. That 33.7 point spread across the model's life is why comparing a 2004 car against a newer one tells you very little.

Nearby model years

All Kia Sorento MOT data · Every model