MOT cost .
Kia Sorento
MOT 2023
Wikimedia

Kia

Sorento

44,545 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where Sorentos pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 1.7 points below the UK fleet average across our 1,988 tracked models — buyers should expect more first-time fails than the typical UK car.

Pass

74.0%

Pass-after-fix

3.8%

Fail

21.5%

Avg miles

82,589

Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%

The picture

Sorento: middle-of-the-pack on first-time pass

Across 44,545 MOT tests, the Sorento returns 74.0% first-time pass — below the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is a number-plate lamp out. Brake pads worn below 1.5 mm and a worn steering ball joint round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 82,589, which is the lens to read those failure rankings through. If you own one and the next test is close, the ranked list below is a sensible pre-test checklist.

Top ten reasons for rejection.

  1. 01

    A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources

    1,497 occurrences · 3.4% of tests

  2. 02

    a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

    1,414 occurrences · 3.2% of tests

  3. 03

    A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play

    1,375 occurrences · 3.1% of tests

  4. 04

    Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

    1,258 occurrences · 2.8% of tests

  5. 05

    Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view

    1,136 occurrences · 2.6% of tests

  6. 06

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    1,106 occurrences · 2.5% of tests

  7. 07

    Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded

    1,042 occurrences · 2.3% of tests

  8. 08

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    927 occurrences · 2.1% of tests

  9. 09

    A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning

    871 occurrences · 2.0% of tests

  10. 10

    Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement

    742 occurrences · 1.7% of tests

Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.

Worst-case fix budget · top 4 failures

£228–£530

If every one of this Sorento's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →

Try the calculator

Build your own retest budget.

Tools that pre-empt a retest.

Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.

Item 01 · Amazon UK

H7 / W21W bulb pack

A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.

Search Amazon UK

Item 02 · Amazon UK

Brake pad measurement gauge

Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.

Search Amazon UK

Item 03 · Amazon UK

Digital tyre-tread depth gauge

Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.

Search Amazon UK

Buying or keeping a Sorento?

Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.

If you own a Sorento and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.