Kia Venga: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The Kia Venga passes its MOT first time more often than the average UK car, by 1.7 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 47,444 individual Kia Venga tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 78.4% first-time pass rate means roughly 22 in every 100 Kia Vengas presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is better than average, so a well-kept example is a reasonably safe used buy. The average Kia Venga tested had covered 54,028 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 Venga bought as a repairable salvage, the mechanical side is less likely to spring surprises, so your repair estimate should hold up reasonably well.

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 Venga 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 Vengas actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a Kia Venga

1. A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, 5% of tests (5.33x the national rate for this defect)
2. A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 2.5% of tests (1.89x the national rate for this defect)
3. A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 2.5% of tests (1.54x the national rate for this defect)
4. Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 1.5% of tests (1.52x the national rate for this defect)
5. Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn, 0.9% of tests (1.5x the national rate for this defect)
6. Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen, 1.8% of tests (1.45x the national rate for this defect)
7. a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm, 1.9% of tests (1.22x the national rate for this defect)
8. A tyre seriously damaged, 1.7% of tests
9. Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements, 1.6% of tests
10. A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn, 1.4% of tests

From 65,591 DVSA-tracked Kia Venga tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 4.8% of these flagged Kia Venga defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

Kia Venga 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 Venga year:

• 2010 Kia Venga - 61.9% first-time pass, 2,889 tests
• 2011 Kia Venga - 64.2% first-time pass, 4,254 tests
• 2012 Kia Venga - 66.8% first-time pass, 4,943 tests
• 2013 Kia Venga - 70% first-time pass, 5,624 tests
• 2014 Kia Venga - 74.4% first-time pass, 5,385 tests
• 2015 Kia Venga - 84.8% first-time pass, 6,216 tests
• 2016 Kia Venga - 87.3% first-time pass, 5,673 tests
• 2017 Kia Venga - 89.7% first-time pass, 5,916 tests
• 2018 Kia Venga - 91.8% first-time pass, 3,664 tests
• 2019 Kia Venga - 93.1% first-time pass, 2,684 tests

Kia Venga by fuel type

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

• Petrol Kia Venga - 81.3% first-time pass, 35,712 tests
• Diesel Kia Venga - 70.4% first-time pass, 11,558 tests

Other Kia models

• Kia Sportage - 79.4%
• Kia Picanto - 75.7%
• Kia Ceed - 71.6%
• Kia Rio - 74.3%
• Kia Niro - 90.3%
• Kia Sorento - 72.6%
• Kia Soul - 73.7%
• Kia Stonic - 89.9%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Vauxhall Combo 2000 Griffin Ed Turbo D - 78.6%
• Jaguar Xkr - 78.5%
• Citroen Dispatch 1000 En-Prise Bhdi Ss - 78.5%
• Suzuki Baleno - 78.4%
• MINI Cooper Sd - 78.4%
• BMW 635 - 78.4%

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