Pass rate
89.5%
Above average — 3.5 pts ahead of the 86.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 41,683 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £27–£68
2017 Ford Ka MOT pass rate
- 2017
- 3 trims combined
- typical 34,651 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Tyres
35.0% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2019 92.6% pass
- Avoid 2008 66.2% pass
Across the 20 years on record, a spread of 26.4 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 88.3%
- Typical mileage
- 35k mi
The 2017 Ford Ka MOT pass rate is 89.5% of its MOT tests — 3.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 35.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.8× the national share
Tyres make up 35.0% of everything recorded on the 2017 Ford Ka, against 19.8% nationally — 15.2 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- Beats its own age and mileage. Once you allow for how old and how far these cars have been driven, the expected pass rate is 86.0% and this one manages 89.5% — 3.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 30% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a Ford Ka? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Ford Ka first registered in 2017 is combined here — 3 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2017 Ford Ka compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 86.0%, so this figure is 3.5 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 88.3%. The median 2017 Ford Ka in this dataset had covered 34,651 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 89.5% of the time, April–September 89.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp not working on dipped beam", noted on 1.10% of tests.
- 41,683 recorded tests behind this page.
- 89.5% overall pass rate, 88.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Ford Ka, the average is 78.0% — best year 2019 (92.6%), worst 2008 (66.2%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 41,683
- Typical mileage (median)
- 34,651 mi
- Make and model
- Ford Ka
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Ka MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Ford Ka is most common
Across all Ka model years on record (2000–2019): 253,674 Ford Ka cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 655,731 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 8,526 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 8,526 | 79.9% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 5,823 | 79.8% |
| 3 | Cardiff (CF) | 5,618 | 74.4% |
| 4 | Nottingham (NG) | 5,150 | 75.7% |
| 5 | Leicester (LE) | 4,977 | 80.4% |
| 6 | Bristol (BS) | 4,861 | 74.1% |
| 7 | Chelmsford (CM) | 4,617 | 80.8% |
| 8 | Basildon (SS) | 4,434 | 81.1% |
| 9 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 4,214 | 78.2% |
| 10 | Manchester (M) | 3,981 | 78.3% |
| 11 | Peterborough (PE) | 3,967 | 80.2% |
| 12 | Portsmouth (PO) | 3,930 | 76.3% |
| 13 | Norwich (NR) | 3,848 | 79.7% |
| 14 | Maidstone (ME) | 3,809 | 80.5% |
| 15 | Liverpool (L) | 3,781 | 79.4% |
| 16 | Derby (DE) | 3,751 | 79.2% |
| 17 | Coventry (CV) | 3,719 | 78.4% |
| 18 | Ashford (TN) | 3,568 | 79.3% |
| 19 | Romford (RM) | 3,508 | 85.0% |
| 20 | Doncaster (DN) | 3,455 | 78.6% |
The twenty areas with the most Ford Ka cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Ka
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 7,367 | 91.1% |
| North West | 5,029 | 89.6% |
| Scotland | 4,673 | 83.0% |
| East of England | 4,668 | 92.3% |
| Yorkshire | 4,084 | 89.1% |
| South West | 3,822 | 89.4% |
| West Midlands | 3,477 | 90.9% |
| East Midlands | 2,721 | 90.0% |
| Wales | 2,505 | 89.6% |
| North East | 2,247 | 88.8% |
| London | 1,090 | 90.8% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2017 Ka
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2017 Ka
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the lights 1.1% of tests
“headlamp not working on dipped beam”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the windscreen 1.1% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the suspension joints 1.1% of tests
“ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2017 Ka through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £27–£68 — and 30% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £27–£68
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 30%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 41,683 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the Ka, side by side
20 model years on record, from 2000 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 66.2% to 92.6% — a spread of 26.4 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2000 69.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2001 66.3% component mounting prescribed…
- 2002 67.2% component mounting prescribed…
- 2003 68.0% component mounting prescribed…
- 2004 66.7% component mounting prescribed…
- 2005 67.3% component mounting prescribed…
- 2006 66.8% component mounting prescribed…
- 2007 66.4% component mounting prescribed…
- 2008 66.2% component mounting prescribed…
- 2009 71.9% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2010 72.8% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2011 75.6% ball joint excessively worn
- 2012 77.5% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2013 79.1% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2014 80.9% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2015 80.6% shock absorbers has a serious…
- 2016 82.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2017 89.5%headlamp not working on dipped…
- 2018 88.7% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2019 92.6% windscreen damaged but not…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2017 Ford Ka with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2017 cars with a similar record
- Toyota C-Hr 89.5%
- Mazda Cx-3 89.5%
- Hyundai IX20 89.5%
- BMW 2 Series 89.5%
- Audi A3 89.4%
- Suzuki Vitara 89.6%
Closest pass rates among 2017 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2017 Ford Ka 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 37,546 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 13,363 | 35.00% | 19.76% | +15.24 |
| Brakes | 7,446 | 19.50% | 20.89% | −1.39 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4,836 | 12.70% | 12.21% | +0.49 |
| Suspension | 4,796 | 12.60% | 20.98% | −8.38 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,017 | 5.30% | 4.18% | +1.12 |
| Visibility | 1,961 | 5.10% | 4.97% | +0.13 |
| Steering | 1,316 | 3.50% | 2.57% | +0.93 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 808 | 2.10% | 5.57% | −3.47 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 652 | 1.70% | 5.52% | −3.82 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 351 | 0.90% | 0.82% | +0.08 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.1% | £5–25 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.1% | £80–200 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 1.1% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 0.98% | £18–45 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 0.93% | £18–45 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 0.89% | £5–20 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 0.82% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.81% | £5–25 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.79% | £30–80 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 0.73% | £45–95 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 14.3% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 8.3% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 4.2% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 2.1% | £25–65 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 1.9% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 16,748 | 94.3% | 19,679 mi |
| 30-60k | 19,331 | 87.8% | 42,565 mi |
| 60-90k | 4,793 | 81.6% | 70,693 mi |
| 90-120k | 660 | 78.5% | 100,271 mi |
| 120k+ | 144 | 74.3% | 144,341 mi |
Source: 41,683 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2017 Ka MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2017 Ford Ka?
89.5% of the 41,683 2017 Ford Ka tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 86.0% for cars first used in 2017. First-attempt pass rate: 88.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2017 Ford Ka?
The three most recorded items are headlamp not working on dipped beam (1.10%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.09%), ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated (1.06%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2017 Ford Ka MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 94.3% of the time, falling to 74.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2017 Ford Ka in this dataset had covered 34,651 mi.
Does the season affect the 2017 Ford Ka MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 89.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 89.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.