Pass rate
68.3%
Below average — 7.6 pts behind the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 126 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £36–£92
2011 Kia Optima MOT pass rate
- 2011
- typical 99,661 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
28.3% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2020 89.4% pass
- Avoid 2011 68.3% pass · this year
Across the 10 years on record, a spread of 21.1 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 57.0%
- Typical mileage
- 100k mi
The 2011 Kia Optima MOT pass rate is 68.3% of its MOT tests — 7.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.3% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.4× the national share
Brakes make up 28.3% of everything recorded on the 2011 Kia Optima, against 20.9% nationally — 7.4 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 75.9%; this one manages 68.3% — 7.6 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 16% 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 Optima? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2011 Kia Optima compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 7.6 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 57.0%. The median 2011 Kia Optima in this dataset had covered 99,661 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.1% of the time, April–September 60.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 7.94% of tests.
- 126 recorded tests behind this page.
- 68.3% overall pass rate, 57.0% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Kia Optima, the average is 84.7% — best year 2020 (89.4%), worst 2011 (68.3%).
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)
- 99,661 mi
- Make and model
- Kia Optima
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
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 Optima MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 53% so small gaps stay visible.
Where the Kia Optima is most common
Across all Optima model years on record (2011–2020): 16,883 Kia Optima cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 38,912 tests. Glasgow (G) has the most, with 556 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glasgow (G) | 556 | 83.5% |
| 2 | Birmingham (B) | 516 | 87.0% |
| 3 | Peterborough (PE) | 506 | 86.2% |
| 4 | Sheffield (S) | 444 | 86.9% |
| 5 | Nottingham (NG) | 385 | 83.8% |
| 6 | Edinburgh (EH) | 332 | 83.1% |
| 7 | Doncaster (DN) | 322 | 84.7% |
| 8 | Manchester (M) | 311 | 84.8% |
| 9 | Leicester (LE) | 298 | 87.5% |
| 10 | Bolton (BL) | 276 | 84.5% |
| 11 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 273 | 78.8% |
| 12 | Derby (DE) | 267 | 87.7% |
| 13 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 246 | 84.9% |
| 14 | Coventry (CV) | 246 | 85.2% |
| 15 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 230 | 84.3% |
| 16 | Oldham (OL) | 225 | 84.9% |
| 17 | Hamilton (ML) | 216 | 83.2% |
| 18 | Cardiff (CF) | 213 | 83.1% |
| 19 | Northampton (NN) | 211 | 85.9% |
| 20 | Leeds (LS) | 208 | 82.7% |
The twenty areas with the most Kia Optima cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Optima
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| North West | 30 | 63.3% |
| Scotland | 29 | 62.1% |
| East of England | 17 | 64.7% |
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 2011 Optima
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 2011 Optima
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 7.9% 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 7.1% of tests
“track rod end ball joint has excessive play”
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 windscreen 4.0% 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 2011 Optima through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £36–£92 — and 16% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £36–£92
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 16%
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 Optima, side by side
10 model years on record, from 2011 to 2020. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.3% to 89.4% — a spread of 21.1 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2011 68.3%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 72.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 77.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2014 78.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 81.9% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2016 86.4% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2017 85.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 87.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 86.6% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2020 89.4% wipers does not clear the…
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 2011 Kia Optima 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 2011 cars with a similar record
- Renault Clio 68.4%
- Nissan Qashqai 68.6%
- Chevrolet Aveo 69.2%
- Renault Grand Scenic 69.4%
- Renault Megane 69.5%
- Chevrolet Captiva 69.5%
Closest pass rates among 2011 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 2011 Kia Optima 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 387 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 | 110 | 28.30% | 20.89% | +7.41 |
| Suspension | 91 | 23.40% | 20.98% | +2.42 |
| Tyres | 64 | 16.50% | 19.76% | −3.26 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 43 | 11.10% | 12.21% | −1.11 |
| Steering | 29 | 7.50% | 2.57% | +4.93 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 20 | 5.10% | 5.52% | −0.42 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 11 | 2.80% | 5.57% | −2.77 |
| Visibility | 8 | 2.10% | 4.97% | −2.87 |
| Non-component advisories | 8 | 2.10% | 4.18% | −2.08 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 3 | 0.80% | 1.76% | −0.96 |
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 | 7.9% | £5–20 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 7.1% | £60–150 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 7.1% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 5.6% | £45–95 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.0% | £18–45 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.0% | £18–45 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 4.0% | £80–200 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £60–150 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.2% | £40–150 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 3.2% | £45–110 |
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 | 23.0% | £45–95 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 16.7% | £35–85 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 15.1% | £45–110 |
| Engine oil leaks leaking excessively from engine Noise, emissions and leaks | Advisory | 13.5% | £200–700 |
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 13.5% | £80–180 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 12.7% | £40–150 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 3 | 66.7% | 28,288 mi |
| 30-60k | 6 | 83.3% | 48,676 mi |
| 60-90k | 38 | 73.7% | 76,810 mi |
| 90-120k | 45 | 66.7% | 104,304 mi |
| 120k+ | 34 | 61.8% | 150,372 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.
2011 Optima MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 Kia Optima?
68.3% of the 126 2011 Kia Optima tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 57.0%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 Kia Optima?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.94%), service brake performance excessively binding (7.14%), track rod end ball joint has excessive play (7.14%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 Kia Optima MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 66.7% of the time, falling to 61.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Kia Optima in this dataset had covered 99,661 mi.
Does the season affect the 2011 Kia Optima MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 60.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.