MOT cost .
Kia Sportage
MOT 2023
Wikimedia

Kia

Sportage

290,096 MOT tests analysed. sits above the UK fleet average — here's where Sportages pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.

That's 4.3 points above the UK fleet average across our 1,988 tracked models — a confident result.

Pass

80.0%

Pass-after-fix

3.6%

Fail

15.9%

Avg miles

60,700

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

The picture

Sportage: above-average pass rates, with caveats

Across 290,096 MOT tests, the Sportage returns 80.0% first-time pass — above the UK fleet average. The single most-logged Major fail is tyre tread under the limit. Brake pads worn below 1.5 mm and a number-plate lamp out round out the top three. Average tested mileage sits at 60,700, 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

    Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements

    11,687 occurrences · 4.0% of tests

  2. 02

    a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm

    9,564 occurrences · 3.3% of tests

  3. 03

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

    5,855 occurrences · 2.0% of tests

  4. 04

    Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen

    5,350 occurrences · 1.8% of tests

  5. 05

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

    5,026 occurrences · 1.7% of tests

  6. 06

    Wiper blade defective

    4,626 occurrences · 1.6% of tests

  7. 07

    Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated

    4,096 occurrences · 1.4% of tests

  8. 08

    Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement

    3,651 occurrences · 1.3% of tests

  9. 09

    A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn

    3,051 occurrences · 1.1% of tests

  10. 10

    A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened

    2,947 occurrences · 1.0% 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

£168–£335

If every one of this Sportage'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

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

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

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

Owner reports · Honest John

What owners actually report.

Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.

Where it falls short

Looks are potentially divisive. Hybrid system’s noisy when pushed. Driving experience lacks sparkle.

Buying or keeping a Sportage?

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 Sportage 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.