Ford Kuga MOT Pass Rate & Official DVSA Failure Statistics

Ford Kuga MOT History and Failure Rates vs UK National Average

The Ford Kuga passed on its first attempt in 83.9%, and its overall record sits +5.0 percentage points above the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the Ford Kuga in the 2023–2025 data: 990,804 tests across 16 model years (2008–2023). A test still carries exactly one pass or fail verdict.

Figures are computed from every recorded DVSA test for this model in the 2023–2025 data.

Most Common Ford Kuga MOT Problems by Failure Category

Every MOT failure a tester records belongs to one inspection section of the DVSA manual. For the Ford Kuga, the Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment section leads the record — the breakdown below shows where the recorded failures cluster, then the exact strings behind the three biggest sections.

Shares are over the Ford Kuga's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.

Top Recorded Ford Kuga DVSA MOT Test Statistics & Defect Descriptions

The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the Ford Kuga, each with how many of the model's 990,804 tests it was noted on.

• "Position lamp not working" (Major) — noted on about 22,632 Ford Kuga tests, 2.3% of the model's MOT record.
• "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources" (Minor) — noted on about 18,302 Ford Kuga tests, 1.8% of the model's MOT record.
• "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (Minor) — noted on about 17,101 Ford Kuga tests, 1.7% of the model's MOT record.
• "Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick" (Major) — noted on about 13,825 Ford Kuga tests, 1.4% of the model's MOT record.
• "Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively" (Major) — noted on about 13,067 Ford Kuga tests, 1.3% of the model's MOT record.
• "Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm" (Major) — noted on about 12,028 Ford Kuga tests, 1.2% of the model's MOT record.

Best and Worst Ford Kuga Model Years by Pass Rate

The strongest Ford Kuga model year on record is 2023 (96.0% across 1,248 tests), and the weakest is 2009 (74.9%). The gap between them is 21.1 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.

Ford Kuga reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 1.3 points a year across the most recent model years shown above.

Newest model year first. Only years with at least 50 recorded tests are listed.

Pre-MOT Inspection Checklist for Ford Kuga Owners

These checks follow this Ford Kuga's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a Ford Kuga.

• the lights — “position lamp not working”

  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.

• the windscreen — “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.

• the brakes — “brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick”

  Look through the spokes of each wheel at the pad — less than 3mm of friction material, or a lip on the disc edge, is the usual failure. Check the handbrake holds on a slope with a few clicks, not at the top of its travel.

Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the Ford Kuga. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.

Where the Ford Kuga is most common

Across every Kuga model year on record (2008–2023): 435,662 Ford Kuga cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 990,792 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 12,509 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.

The twenty areas with the most Ford Kuga 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 →

Frequently Asked Questions: Ford Kuga MOT & Reliability