Pass rate
70.1%
Below average — 3.0 pts behind the 73.1% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 18,258 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £30–£86
2008 Kia Ceed MOT pass rate
- 2008
- typical 104,655 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
29.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2024 98.4% pass
- Avoid 2007 69.5% pass
Across the 18 years on record, a spread of 28.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 59.5%
- Typical mileage
- 105k mi
The 2008 Kia Ceed MOT pass rate is 70.1% of its MOT tests — 3.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 29.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Kia Ceed does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.4× the national share
Suspension accounts for 29.5% of everything recorded on the 2008 Kia Ceed, against 21.0% nationally — 8.5 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.1%; this one manages 70.1% — 3.0 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 Ceed? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2008 Kia Ceed compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.1%, so this figure is 3.0 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 59.5%. The median 2008 Kia Ceed in this dataset had covered 104,655 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 58% of tests, with a 71.0% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 69.8% of the time, April–September 70.5%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 9.78% of tests.
- 18,258 recorded tests behind this page.
- 70.1% overall pass rate, 59.5% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Kia Ceed, the average is 78.3% — best year 2024 (98.4%), worst 2007 (69.5%).
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
- 18,258
- Typical mileage (median)
- 104,655 mi
- Make and model
- Kia Ceed
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Ceed MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 58% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (58% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Ceed
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 3,618 | 73.1% |
| East of England | 2,324 | 72.0% |
| South West | 2,120 | 65.7% |
| North West | 2,037 | 69.5% |
| Yorkshire | 2,010 | 68.8% |
| West Midlands | 1,729 | 73.3% |
| East Midlands | 1,501 | 70.3% |
| Scotland | 1,040 | 61.3% |
| Wales | 691 | 64.5% |
| London | 628 | 79.5% |
| North East | 559 | 68.5% |
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 2008 Ceed
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 2008 Ceed
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 9.8% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
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 suspension joints 6.5% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
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.
-
Check the battery 3.5% of tests
“battery(ies) insecure”
Check the battery is secure and its terminals are clean and tight — a loose battery is a fail on its own, and a weak one shows up as slow cranking on a cold morning.
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 2008 Ceed through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £30–£86 — and 38% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £30–£86
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 80%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 38%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 18,258 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 Ceed, side by side
18 model years on record, from 2007 to 2024. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.5% to 98.4% — a spread of 28.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2007 69.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 70.1%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 71.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 70.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 71.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 72.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 74.7% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2014 77.0% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2015 81.5% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2016 83.7% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2017 85.5% pins and bushes pin or bush…
- 2018 87.1% wipers does not clear the…
- 2019 88.2% wipers does not clear the…
- 2020 89.0% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 88.8% wipers does not clear the…
- 2022 90.6% wipers does not clear the…
- 2023 93.3% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2024 98.4% 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 2008 Kia Ceed 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 2008 cars with a similar record
- Citroen C-Crosser 70.1%
- Volvo V50 70.0%
- Vauxhall Zafira 70.2%
- Vauxhall Agila 70.2%
- LDV Maxus 70.2%
- Citroen C3 69.9%
Closest pass rates among 2008 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 2008 Kia Ceed 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 62,912 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 18,683 | 29.50% | 20.98% | +8.52 |
| Brakes | 12,215 | 19.30% | 20.89% | −1.59 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 9,869 | 15.60% | 12.21% | +3.39 |
| Tyres | 7,015 | 11.10% | 19.76% | −8.66 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 4,429 | 7.00% | 5.57% | +1.43 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,943 | 4.60% | 4.18% | +0.42 |
| Steering | 2,362 | 3.70% | 2.57% | +1.13 |
| Visibility | 2,175 | 3.40% | 4.97% | −1.57 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1,987 | 3.10% | 5.52% | −2.42 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 1,234 | 1.90% | 1.76% | +0.14 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 9.8% | £5–20 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 8.1% | £80–250 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 6.5% | £18–45 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 5.5% | £5–25 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 4.2% | £3–12 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.8% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 3.6% | £60–150 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.5% | £60–140 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.5% | £45–110 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 3.4% | £18–45 |
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 | 20.3% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 19.0% | £40–150 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 16.8% | £25–65 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 16.2% | £45–110 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 11.5% | £180–450 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 10.6% | £120–300 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 160 | 83.8% | 23,088 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,490 | 79.3% | 48,473 mi |
| 60-90k | 4,356 | 72.9% | 77,027 mi |
| 90-120k | 6,186 | 69.3% | 104,643 mi |
| 120k+ | 6,063 | 66.3% | 145,632 mi |
Source: 18,258 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.
2008 Ceed MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2008 Kia Ceed?
70.1% of the 18,258 2008 Kia Ceed tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.1% for cars first used in 2008. First-attempt pass rate: 59.5%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2008 Kia Ceed?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (9.78%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (8.13%), ball joint excessively worn (6.47%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2008 Kia Ceed MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.8% of the time, falling to 66.3% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2008 Kia Ceed in this dataset had covered 104,655 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2008 Kia Ceed?
Petrol: 71.0% pass rate across 10,651 tests. Diesel: 68.9% pass rate across 7,603 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2008 Kia Ceed MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 69.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 70.5%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.