Pass rate
86.7%
Above average — 2.7 pts ahead of the 84.0% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 7,236 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £43–£107
2016 Kia Soul MOT pass rate
- 2016
- typical 50,390 mi
Most common fault
Brakes
36.8% 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 — 2.8% in 2009, 4.2% in 2019.
Which year to buy
- Best 2021 92.1% pass
- Avoid 2009 71.3% pass
Across the 13 years on record, a spread of 20.8 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 84.8%
- Typical mileage
- 50k mi
The 2016 Kia Soul MOT pass rate is 86.7% of its MOT tests — 2.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 36.8% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Kia Soul does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Brakes: 1.8× the national share
Brakes make up 36.8% of everything recorded on the 2016 Kia Soul, against 20.9% nationally — 15.9 points above. Have the discs and pads measured rather than glanced at, and ask whether the handbrake holds on a slope.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 20% 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 Soul? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2016 Kia Soul compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 84.0%, so this figure is 2.7 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 84.8%. The median 2016 Kia Soul in this dataset had covered 50,390 mi.
67% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Diesel, which passed 86.8% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 86.4% of the time, April–September 86.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 2.82% of tests.
- 7,236 recorded tests behind this page.
- 86.7% overall pass rate, 84.8% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Kia Soul, the average is 80.0% — best year 2021 (92.1%), worst 2009 (71.3%).
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
- 7,236
- Typical mileage (median)
- 50,390 mi
- Make and model
- Kia Soul
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Soul MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 64% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (67% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Soul
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,416 | 88.7% |
| South West | 811 | 85.6% |
| North West | 809 | 85.9% |
| East of England | 805 | 89.9% |
| Scotland | 716 | 79.5% |
| Yorkshire | 675 | 89.6% |
| West Midlands | 634 | 88.8% |
| East Midlands | 522 | 85.6% |
| Wales | 410 | 85.4% |
| North East | 301 | 80.4% |
| London | 137 | 92.7% |
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 2016 Soul
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 2016 Soul
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 windscreen 2.8% 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.
-
Check the brakes 1.3% 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 tyre tread 1.2% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
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 2016 Soul through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £43–£107 — and 20% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £43–£107
- Cheapest common item: wipers blade defective
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 20%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 7,236 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 Soul, side by side
13 model years on record, from 2009 to 2021. Across them the pass rate runs from 71.3% to 92.1% — a spread of 20.8 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2009 71.3% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2010 72.7% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2011 73.2% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2012 73.8% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2013 75.4% track rod end ball joint has…
- 2014 82.6% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2015 85.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2016 86.7%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 88.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 90.5% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 91.7% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 91.7% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2021 92.1% has a cut in excess of 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 2016 Kia Soul 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 2016 cars with a similar record
Closest pass rates among 2016 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 2016 Kia Soul 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 7,533 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 | 2,787 | 36.80% | 20.89% | +15.91 |
| Tyres | 2,416 | 31.90% | 19.76% | +12.14 |
| Suspension | 612 | 8.10% | 20.98% | −12.88 |
| Visibility | 520 | 6.90% | 4.97% | +1.93 |
| Non-component advisories | 459 | 6.10% | 4.18% | +1.92 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 365 | 4.80% | 12.21% | −7.41 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 112 | 1.50% | 1.76% | −0.26 |
| Steering | 111 | 1.50% | 2.57% | −1.07 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 108 | 1.40% | 5.52% | −4.12 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 43 | 0.60% | 5.57% | −4.97 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.8% | £80–200 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.0% | £45–110 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 1.2% | £45–95 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 1.1% | £8–22 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 0.93% | £60–150 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.91% | £8–22 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 0.61% | £8–22 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 0.59% | £40–150 |
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 | 15.2% | £45–95 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 9.9% | £18–45 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.0% | £45–110 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Advisory | 3.7% | £60–150 |
| Brake discs significantly and obviously worn Brakes | Advisory | 2.5% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 1,154 | 92.8% | 21,999 mi |
| 30-60k | 3,579 | 88.1% | 45,095 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,911 | 82.9% | 71,851 mi |
| 90-120k | 471 | 79.8% | 100,945 mi |
| 120k+ | 108 | 72.2% | 140,872 mi |
Source: 7,236 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.
2016 Soul MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2016 Kia Soul?
86.7% of the 7,236 2016 Kia Soul tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 84.0% for cars first used in 2016. First-attempt pass rate: 84.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2016 Kia Soul?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (2.82%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (1.96%), has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.29%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2016 Kia Soul MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 92.8% of the time, falling to 72.2% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2016 Kia Soul in this dataset had covered 50,390 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2016 Kia Soul?
Diesel: 86.8% pass rate across 4,826 tests. Petrol: 86.5% pass rate across 1,950 tests. Electric: 86.3% pass rate across 460 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2016 Kia Soul MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 86.4% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 86.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.