Pass rate
83.4%
Around average — 4.5 pts behind the 87.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 5,641 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £26–£62
2018 Kia Carens MOT pass rate
- 2018
- typical 48,624 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
33.2% 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 · this year
- Avoid 2005 61.3% pass
Across the 17 years on record, a spread of 22.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 80.4%
- Typical mileage
- 49k mi
The 2018 Kia Carens MOT pass rate is 83.4% of its MOT tests — 4.5 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 33.2% 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
Tyres: 1.7× the national share
Tyres make up 32.7% of everything recorded on the 2018 Kia Carens, against 19.8% nationally — 12.9 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 33.2%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. 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.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 87.9%; this one manages 83.4% — 4.5 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
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 2018 Kia Carens compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 87.9%, so this figure is 4.5 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 80.4%. The median 2018 Kia Carens in this dataset had covered 48,624 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 61% of tests, with a 83.7% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 82.5% of the time, April–September 84.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick", noted on 2.46% of tests.
- 5,641 recorded tests behind this page.
- 83.4% overall pass rate, 80.4% 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
- 5,641
- Typical mileage (median)
- 48,624 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 67% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (61% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Carens
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,304 | 84.3% |
| Scotland | 656 | 83.1% |
| North West | 625 | 84.2% |
| South West | 522 | 82.2% |
| West Midlands | 505 | 84.0% |
| East of England | 503 | 83.5% |
| Yorkshire | 474 | 82.3% |
| East Midlands | 418 | 83.7% |
| Wales | 253 | 81.8% |
| London | 242 | 83.9% |
| North East | 139 | 78.4% |
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 2018 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 2018 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 2.5% 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 lights 1.4% 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 wipers and washers 1.3% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the 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 2018 Carens through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £26–£62 — and 44% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £26–£62
- Cheapest common item: srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp…
- £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
- 44%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 5,641 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 2018 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 2018 cars with a similar record
- Citroen C4 Cactus 83.4%
- Volkswagen Polo 83.3%
- Ford Grand C-Max 83.3%
- Ford Allied 83.6%
- SsangYong Korando 83.6%
- DS DS3 83.7%
Closest pass rates among 2018 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 2018 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 6,628 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 | 2,219 | 33.20% | 20.89% | +12.31 |
| Tyres | 2,191 | 32.70% | 19.76% | +12.94 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 549 | 8.20% | 12.21% | −4.01 |
| Non-component advisories | 543 | 8.10% | 4.18% | +3.92 |
| Visibility | 345 | 5.20% | 4.97% | +0.23 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 288 | 4.30% | 5.52% | −1.22 |
| Suspension | 207 | 3.10% | 20.98% | −17.88 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 126 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 103 | 1.50% | 0.82% | +0.68 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 57 | 0.90% | 5.57% | −4.67 |
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 | 2.5% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.9% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp not working on dipped beam Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.4% | £5–25 |
| Srs malfunction indicator lamp warning lamp indicates a fault Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | Major | 1.3% | £3–12 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.3% | £8–22 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.2% | £80–200 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.1% | £3–12 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.1% | £45–95 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 1.1% | £8–22 |
| Has ply or cords exposed 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 | 16.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 15.9% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 12.0% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.5% | £45–110 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 5.4% | £20–80 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 4.2% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 810 | 88.1% | 22,913 mi |
| 30-60k | 3,104 | 84.1% | 44,763 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,287 | 80.7% | 71,463 mi |
| 90-120k | 299 | 75.9% | 102,384 mi |
| 120k+ | 139 | 78.4% | 145,529 mi |
Source: 5,641 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.
2018 Carens MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2018 Kia Carens?
83.4% of the 5,641 2018 Kia Carens tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 87.9% for cars first used in 2018. First-attempt pass rate: 80.4%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2018 Kia Carens?
The three most recorded items are brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (2.46%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.93%), headlamp not working on dipped beam (1.40%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2018 Kia Carens MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 88.1% of the time, falling to 78.4% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2018 Kia Carens in this dataset had covered 48,624 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2018 Kia Carens?
Diesel: 83.7% pass rate across 3,435 tests. Petrol: 82.8% pass rate across 2,206 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2018 Kia Carens MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 82.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 84.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.