Pass rate
68.2%
Below average — 4.2 pts behind the 72.4% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 1,279 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £42–£107
2005 Kia Cerato MOT pass rate
- 2005
- typical 80,887 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
28.7% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Part only £25–£55 for Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2005 68.2% pass · this year
- Avoid 2004 65.6% pass
Across the 4 years on record, a spread of 2.6 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 58.1%
- Typical mileage
- 81k mi
The 2005 Kia Cerato MOT pass rate is 68.2% of its MOT tests — 4.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.7% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Kia Cerato does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.4× the national share
Brakes make up 28.7% of everything recorded on the 2005 Kia Cerato, against 20.9% nationally — 7.8 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 72.4%; this one manages 68.2% — 4.2 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 Cerato? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2005 Kia Cerato compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.4%, so this figure is 4.2 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 58.1%. The median 2005 Kia Cerato in this dataset had covered 80,887 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 87% of tests, with a 68.7% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 65.7% of the time, April–September 72.2%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 8.68% of tests.
- 1,279 recorded tests behind this page.
- 68.2% overall pass rate, 58.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Kia Cerato, the average is 67.8% — best year 2005 (68.2%), worst 2004 (65.6%).
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
- 1,279
- Typical mileage (median)
- 80,887 mi
- Make and model
- Kia Cerato
- 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 Cerato MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 54% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (87% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Cerato
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 303 | 72.6% |
| South West | 173 | 64.7% |
| East of England | 164 | 70.1% |
| West Midlands | 145 | 68.3% |
| North West | 132 | 63.6% |
| East Midlands | 132 | 65.2% |
| Yorkshire | 83 | 65.1% |
| Wales | 51 | 60.8% |
| London | 46 | 89.1% |
| North East | 26 | 65.4% |
| Scotland | 24 | 54.2% |
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 2005 Cerato
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 2005 Cerato
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 8.7% 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 corrosion 4.7% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the suspension joints 4.1% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover 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 2005 Cerato through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £42–£107 — and 41% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £42–£107
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 41%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 1,279 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 Cerato, side by side
4 model years on record, from 2004 to 2007. Across them the pass rate runs from 65.6% to 68.2% — a spread of 2.6 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 65.6% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 68.2%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 68.2% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 66.4% registration plate lamp(s)…
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 2005 Kia Cerato 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 2005 cars with a similar record
- Mazda Bongo 68.2%
- Volkswagen Sharan 68.2%
- Volkswagen Polo 68.3%
- Toyota Aygo 68.3%
- Citroen Xsara 68.1%
- Renault Clio 68.0%
Closest pass rates among 2005 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 2005 Kia Cerato 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 4,714 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 | 1,376 | 28.70% | 20.89% | +7.81 |
| Suspension | 1,068 | 22.30% | 20.98% | +1.32 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 676 | 14.10% | 12.21% | +1.89 |
| Tyres | 483 | 10.10% | 19.76% | −9.66 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 344 | 7.20% | 5.57% | +1.63 |
| Visibility | 179 | 3.70% | 4.97% | −1.27 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 178 | 3.70% | 5.52% | −1.82 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 169 | 3.50% | 1.76% | +1.74 |
| Steering | 146 | 3.00% | 2.57% | +0.43 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 95 | 2.00% | 0.82% | +1.18 |
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 | 8.7% | £5–20 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 8.1% | £5–25 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 6.0% | £45–110 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.7% | £180–450 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 4.1% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 4.1% | £60–150 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Major | 3.9% | £80–180 |
| Position lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 3.8% | £5–25 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.5% | £60–140 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.3% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 30.6% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 16.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.3% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 14.4% | £45–95 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 12.1% | £20–80 |
| Sub-frame corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 9.9% | £180–450 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 36 | 75.0% | 24,417 mi |
| 30-60k | 315 | 71.7% | 47,641 mi |
| 60-90k | 405 | 71.1% | 73,883 mi |
| 90-120k | 317 | 62.8% | 103,464 mi |
| 120k+ | 205 | 63.9% | 143,994 mi |
Source: 1,279 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.
2005 Cerato MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2005 Kia Cerato?
68.2% of the 1,279 2005 Kia Cerato tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.4% for cars first used in 2005. First-attempt pass rate: 58.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2005 Kia Cerato?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (8.68%), headlamp lens slightly defective (8.13%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (6.02%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2005 Kia Cerato MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 75.0% of the time, falling to 63.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2005 Kia Cerato in this dataset had covered 80,887 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2005 Kia Cerato?
Petrol: 68.7% pass rate across 1,107 tests. Diesel: 64.5% pass rate across 172 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2005 Kia Cerato MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 65.7% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 72.2%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.