Pass rate
73.6%
Below average — 2.3 pts behind the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 29,571 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £31–£82
2011 Kia Sportage MOT pass rate
- 2011
- 2 trims combined
- typical 104,244 mi
Most common fault
Suspension
28.5% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £35–£75 for Suspension pin or bush excessively worn. What fitting it takes →
9.7 pts down across model years — 11.1% in 2005, 1.4% in 2021.
Which year to buy
- Best 2024 95.9% pass
- Avoid 2007 67.0% pass
Across the 21 years on record, a spread of 28.9 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 65.1%
- Typical mileage
- 104k mi
The 2011 Kia Sportage MOT pass rate is 73.6% of its MOT tests — 2.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how Kia Sportage does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.4× the national share
Suspension accounts for 28.5% of everything recorded on the 2011 Kia Sportage, against 21.0% nationally — 7.5 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 21% 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 Sportage? Get an email when these numbers change .
Every Kia Sportage first registered in 2011 is combined here — 2 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2011 Kia Sportage compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 2.3 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 65.1%. The median 2011 Kia Sportage in this dataset had covered 104,244 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 83% of tests, with a 73.3% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 73.5% of the time, April–September 73.7%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 7.41% of tests.
- 29,571 recorded tests behind this page.
- 73.6% overall pass rate, 65.1% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the Kia Sportage, the average is 83.3% — best year 2024 (95.9%), worst 2007 (67.0%).
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
- 29,571
- Typical mileage (median)
- 104,244 mi
- Make and model
- Kia Sportage
- 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 Sportage MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 62% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (83% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Sportage
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 5,276 | 75.5% |
| East of England | 3,667 | 75.0% |
| North West | 3,645 | 73.8% |
| Yorkshire | 3,405 | 73.8% |
| South West | 3,135 | 70.9% |
| West Midlands | 2,885 | 75.2% |
| East Midlands | 2,567 | 73.2% |
| Scotland | 1,958 | 67.5% |
| Wales | 1,398 | 71.7% |
| North East | 1,179 | 71.1% |
| London | 456 | 85.5% |
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 Sportage
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 Sportage
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 7.4% 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 4.9% of tests
“ball joint excessively worn”
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 coil springs 3.8% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
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 Sportage through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £31–£82 — and 21% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £31–£82
- 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
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 21%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 29,571 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 Sportage, side by side
21 model years on record, from 2003 to 2024. Across them the pass rate runs from 67.0% to 95.9% — a spread of 28.9 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2003 74.5% headlamp lens slightly defective
- 2005 67.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2006 67.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2007 67.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2008 70.9% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2009 71.1% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2010 73.0% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2011 73.6%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 73.8% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 74.9% track rod end ball joint dust…
- 2014 80.3% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 81.5% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2016 84.0% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2017 85.8% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2018 87.7% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2019 88.7% brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick
- 2020 89.7% wipers does not clear the…
- 2021 90.4% wipers does not clear the…
- 2022 92.6% wipers does not clear the…
- 2023 95.0% has a cut in excess of the…
- 2024 95.9% 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 2011 Kia Sportage 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
- Fiat Punto 73.6%
- SEAT Ibiza 73.5%
- Vauxhall Zafira 73.7%
- Fiat 500C 73.7%
- Citroen Nemo 73.4%
- Isuzu Rodeo 73.4%
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 Sportage 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 64,400 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 | 18,471 | 28.50% | 20.98% | +7.52 |
| Brakes | 15,873 | 24.50% | 20.89% | +3.61 |
| Tyres | 11,637 | 18.00% | 19.76% | −1.76 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 7,082 | 10.90% | 12.21% | −1.31 |
| Non-component advisories | 2,748 | 4.20% | 4.18% | +0.02 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 2,671 | 4.10% | 5.52% | −1.42 |
| Visibility | 2,421 | 3.70% | 4.97% | −1.27 |
| Steering | 1,649 | 2.50% | 2.57% | −0.07 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 1,296 | 2.00% | 5.57% | −3.57 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 552 | 0.90% | 1.76% | −0.86 |
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 | 7.4% | £5–20 |
| Ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.9% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.0% | £45–110 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 3.8% | £25–65 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 3.4% | £40–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.7% | £80–200 |
| Parking brake performance inoperative on one side Brakes | Major | 2.3% | £60–150 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 2.3% | £45–95 |
| Linkage ball joints ball joint excessively worn Suspension | Major | 2.2% | £18–45 |
| Track rod end ball joint has excessive play Steering | Major | 2.0% | £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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 22.9% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 14.1% | £40–150 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.6% | £45–110 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 12.1% | £18–45 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 7.6% | £45–95 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 6.5% | £25–65 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 160 | 82.5% | 23,145 mi |
| 30-60k | 1,653 | 80.9% | 48,905 mi |
| 60-90k | 7,212 | 76.7% | 77,793 mi |
| 90-120k | 11,607 | 72.6% | 104,594 mi |
| 120k+ | 8,927 | 70.8% | 142,551 mi |
Source: 29,571 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 Sportage MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 Kia Sportage?
73.6% of the 29,571 2011 Kia Sportage tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 65.1%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 Kia Sportage?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (7.41%), ball joint excessively worn (4.90%), rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements (3.99%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 Kia Sportage MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 82.5% of the time, falling to 70.8% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 Kia Sportage in this dataset had covered 104,244 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2011 Kia Sportage?
Diesel: 73.3% pass rate across 24,480 tests. Petrol: 75.2% pass rate across 5,091 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2011 Kia Sportage MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 73.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 73.7%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.