Pass rate
73.0%
Below average — 0.8 pts ahead of the 72.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 126 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £48–£141
2004 Kia Magentis MOT pass rate
- 2004
- typical 69,427 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
22.0% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Which year to buy
- Best 2005 77.1% pass
- Avoid 2009 69.3% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 7.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 66.7%
- Typical mileage
- 69k mi
The 2004 Kia Magentis MOT pass rate is 73.0% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.0% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Kia Magentis does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Emissions & leaks: 2.6× the national share
Emissions & leaks make up 14.6% of everything recorded on the 2004 Kia Magentis, against 5.5% nationally — 9.1 points above. Suspension is still the single largest share at 22.0%, but at 21.0% nationally that one is ordinary. A smoky diesel or a leaking joint fails on emissions more often than on wear, so ask for a recent emissions printout.
- Based on a small sample. 126 tests back this page. That is enough to publish and to index, not enough to treat the decimal places as precise — read the pattern, not the second digit.
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 Magentis? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2004 Kia Magentis compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.2%, so this figure is 0.8 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 66.7%. The median 2004 Kia Magentis in this dataset had covered 69,427 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 69.2% of the time, April–September 77.0%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Headlamp lens slightly defective", noted on 11.11% of tests.
- 126 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.0% overall pass rate, 66.7% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Kia Magentis, the average is 71.6% — best year 2005 (77.1%), worst 2009 (69.3%).
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
- 126
- Typical mileage (median)
- 69,427 mi
- Make and model
- Kia Magentis
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Headlight Bulb
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Magentis MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 52% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Magentis
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 41 | 63.4% |
| East Midlands | 20 | 75.0% |
| London | 16 | 81.3% |
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 2004 Magentis
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 2004 Magentis
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 11.1% of tests
“headlamp lens slightly defective”
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 4.8% 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 3.2% of tests
“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 2004 Magentis through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £48–£141 — and 37% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £48–£141
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 37%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 126 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 Magentis, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2003 to 2010. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.3% to 77.1% — a spread of 7.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 76.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2004 73.0%headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 77.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 70.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 70.9% linkage ball joints ball joint…
- 2008 70.7% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2009 69.3% service brake performance…
- 2010 72.3% track rod end ball joint has…
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 2004 Kia Magentis 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 2004 cars with a similar record
- Audi Tt 73.1%
- Mercedes-Benz Ml 72.9%
- Mercedes-Benz A-Class 73.1%
- BMW 316 73.1%
- Suzuki Wagon-R+ 73.2%
- SEAT Arosa 72.8%
Closest pass rates among 2004 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 2004 Kia Magentis 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 355 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 | 80 | 22.00% | 20.98% | +1.02 |
| Brakes | 57 | 15.70% | 20.89% | −5.19 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 53 | 14.60% | 5.52% | +9.08 |
| Tyres | 48 | 13.20% | 19.76% | −6.56 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 44 | 12.10% | 5.57% | +6.53 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 33 | 9.10% | 12.21% | −3.11 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 15 | 4.10% | 1.76% | +2.34 |
| Visibility | 10 | 2.80% | 4.97% | −2.17 |
| Steering | 8 | 2.20% | 2.57% | −0.37 |
| Non-component advisories | 7 | 1.90% | 4.18% | −2.28 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 11.1% | £5–25 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 6.3% | £80–250 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 5.6% | £3–12 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.8% | £180–450 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 4.0% | £80–250 |
| Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 3.2% | £18–45 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 3.2% | £45–120 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 2.4% | £18–45 |
| Emissions not tested unable to be completed Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 2.4% | £60–250 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 30.2% | £200–700 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 18.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 11.9% | £45–110 |
| Registration plates inscription illegible Identification of the vehicle | Advisory | 11.9% | £20–80 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 11.9% | £45–95 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 11.1% | £80–180 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 2 | 100.0% | 26,169 mi |
| 30-60k | 40 | 70.0% | 47,855 mi |
| 60-90k | 51 | 80.4% | 73,176 mi |
| 90-120k | 30 | 60.0% | 101,418 mi |
| 120k+ | 3 | 100.0% | 162,918 mi |
Source: 126 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.
2004 Magentis MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2004 Kia Magentis?
73.0% of the 126 2004 Kia Magentis tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.2% for cars first used in 2004. First-attempt pass rate: 66.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2004 Kia Magentis?
The three most recorded items are headlamp lens slightly defective (11.11%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (6.35%), malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction (5.56%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2004 Kia Magentis MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 100.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2004 Kia Magentis in this dataset had covered 69,427 mi.
Does the season affect the 2004 Kia Magentis MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 69.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 77.0%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.