Pass rate
79.9%
Around average — 4.1 pts behind the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 6,486 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£76
2016 Kia Carens MOT pass rate
- 2016
- typical 67,238 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
33.9% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£40 for Brake pads under 1.5 mm. What fitting it takes →
1.4 pts up across model years — 4.7% in 2006, 6.1% in 2018.
Which year to buy
- Best 2018 83.4% pass
- Avoid 2005 61.3% pass
Across the 17 years on record, a spread of 22.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 75.3%
- Typical mileage
- 67k mi
The 2016 Kia Carens MOT pass rate is 79.9% of its MOT tests — 4.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 33.9% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Kia Carens does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.6× the national share
Brakes make up 33.9% of everything recorded on the 2016 Kia Carens, against 20.9% nationally — 13.0 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 84.0%; this one manages 79.9% — 4.1 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 25% 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 Kia Carens? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2016 Kia Carens compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 4.1 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 75.3%. The median 2016 Kia Carens in this dataset had covered 67,238 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 86% of tests, with a 80.2% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 79.6% of the time, April–September 80.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick", noted on 2.62% of tests.
- 6,486 recorded tests behind this page.
- 79.9% overall pass rate, 75.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Kia Carens, the average is 76.6% — best year 2018 (83.4%), worst 2005 (61.3%).
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
- 6,486
- Typical mileage (median)
- 67,238 mi
- Make and model
- Kia Carens
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Brake Pads Set
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Carens MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 66% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (86% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Carens
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,440 | 81.9% |
| North West | 730 | 78.2% |
| East of England | 690 | 82.2% |
| Scotland | 688 | 74.9% |
| South West | 649 | 74.6% |
| West Midlands | 582 | 80.6% |
| Yorkshire | 558 | 80.5% |
| East Midlands | 403 | 82.4% |
| Wales | 299 | 79.6% |
| London | 256 | 90.6% |
| North East | 191 | 76.4% |
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 2016 Carens
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 2016 Carens
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 brakes 2.6% of tests
“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.
-
Check the shock absorbers 2.5% of tests
“shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
-
Check the windscreen 2.3% 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.
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 2016 Carens through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£76 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£76
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 90%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 6,486 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 Carens, side by side
17 model years on record, from 2003 to 2019. Across them the pass rate runs from 61.3% to 83.4% — a spread of 22.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 65.9% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2004 64.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 61.3% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2006 62.7% rbt (sp) efficiency below…
- 2007 67.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 68.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 70.7% ball joint excessively worn
- 2010 71.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 68.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 72.3% ball joint excessively worn
- 2013 76.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 78.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 78.7% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2016 79.9%brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2017 81.7% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2018 83.4% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2019 82.1% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
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 2016 Kia Carens 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 2016 cars with a similar record
- Vauxhall Corsa 80.0%
- Renault Twingo 79.8%
- Volkswagen Beetle 79.8%
- Nissan Leaf 80.1%
- Fiat 500 79.7%
- SsangYong Tivoli 80.2%
Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 Kia Carens 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 9,631 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 3,295 | 33.90% | 20.89% | +13.01 |
| Tyres | 2,414 | 24.90% | 19.76% | +5.14 |
| Suspension | 1,204 | 12.40% | 20.98% | −8.58 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 735 | 7.60% | 12.21% | −4.61 |
| Non-component advisories | 728 | 7.50% | 4.18% | +3.32 |
| Visibility | 458 | 4.70% | 4.97% | −0.27 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 396 | 4.10% | 5.52% | −1.42 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 203 | 2.10% | 1.76% | +0.34 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 125 | 1.30% | 5.57% | −4.27 |
| Steering | 73 | 0.80% | 2.57% | −1.77 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 2.6% | £18–45 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 2.5% | £30–75 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.3% | £80–200 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.1% | £45–110 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.0% | £3–12 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.5% | £45–95 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.4% | £3–12 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.1% | £5–25 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.1% | £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 | 17.7% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 14.6% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 14.3% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.3% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 5.1% | £20–80 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 4.5% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 277 | 89.9% | 22,872 mi |
| 30-60k | 2,256 | 82.9% | 47,666 mi |
| 60-90k | 2,699 | 78.4% | 73,756 mi |
| 90-120k | 953 | 74.9% | 101,312 mi |
| 120k+ | 300 | 77.0% | 150,426 mi |
Source: 6,486 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.
2016 Carens MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Kia Carens?
79.9% of the 6,486 2016 Kia Carens tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 75.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Kia Carens?
The three most recorded items are brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (2.62%), shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (2.50%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.28%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 Kia Carens MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 89.9% of the time, falling to 77.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Kia Carens in this dataset had covered 67,238 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 Kia Carens?
Diesel: 80.2% pass rate across 5,603 tests. Petrol: 78.1% pass rate across 883 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2016 Kia Carens MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 79.6% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 80.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.