Kia Soul MOT Pass Rate & Official DVSA Failure Statistics

Kia Soul MOT History and Failure Rates vs UK National Average

The Kia Soul passed on its first attempt in 75.5%, and its overall record sits −1.0 percentage points below the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the Kia Soul in the 2023–2025 data: 87,780 tests across 13 model years (2009–2021). A test still carries exactly one pass or fail verdict.

Figures are computed from every recorded DVSA test for this model in the 2023–2025 data.

Most Common Kia Soul MOT Problems by Failure Category

Every MOT failure a tester records belongs to one inspection section of the DVSA manual. For the Kia Soul, the Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment section leads the record — the breakdown below shows where the recorded failures cluster, then the exact strings behind the three biggest sections.

Shares are over the Kia Soul's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.

Top Recorded Kia Soul DVSA MOT Test Statistics & Defect Descriptions

The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the Kia Soul, each with how many of the model's 87,780 tests it was noted on.

• "Track rod end ball joint has excessive play" (Major) — noted on about 4,516 Kia Soul tests, 5.1% of the model's MOT record.
• "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (Minor) — noted on about 2,920 Kia Soul tests, 3.3% of the model's MOT record.
• "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources" (Minor) — noted on about 2,818 Kia Soul tests, 3.2% of the model's MOT record.
• "Position lamp not working" (Major) — noted on about 2,020 Kia Soul tests, 2.3% of the model's MOT record.
• "Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements" (Major) — noted on about 1,496 Kia Soul tests, 1.7% of the model's MOT record.
• "Ball joint excessively worn" (Major) — noted on about 1,449 Kia Soul tests, 1.7% of the model's MOT record.

Best and Worst Kia Soul Model Years by Pass Rate

The strongest Kia Soul model year on record is 2021 (92.1% across 2,186 tests), and the weakest is 2009 (71.3%). The gap between them is 20.8 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.

Kia Soul reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 1.0 points a year across the most recent model years shown above.

Newest model year first. Only years with at least 50 recorded tests are listed.

Pre-MOT Inspection Checklist for Kia Soul Owners

These checks follow this Kia Soul's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a Kia Soul.

• the suspension joints — “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.

• the windscreen — “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.

• the lights — “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.

Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the Kia Soul. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.

Where the Kia Soul is most common

Across every Soul model year on record (2009–2021): 34,123 Kia Soul cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 87,773 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 948 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.

The twenty areas with the most Kia Soul 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 →

Frequently Asked Questions: Kia Soul MOT & Reliability