Pass rate
95.0%
Above average — 0.2 pts ahead of the 94.8% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 753 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £34–£82
2023 Kia Sportage MOT pass rate
- 2023
- 8 trims combined
- typical 26,945 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
44.4% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
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
- 94.8%
- Typical mileage
- 27k mi
The 2023 Kia Sportage MOT pass rate is 95.0% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 44.4% 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
Tyres: 2.2× the national share
Tyres make up 44.4% of everything recorded on the 2023 Kia Sportage, against 19.8% nationally — 24.6 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 33% 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 2023 is combined here — 8 trim and body variants in total — so the sample is as large as the DVSA data allows.
How does the 2023 Kia Sportage compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 94.8%, so this figure is 0.2 points ahead of what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 94.8%. The median 2023 Kia Sportage in this dataset had covered 26,945 mi.
70% of the tests on this vehicle ran on Hybrid, which passed 94.9% of the time. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 95.5% of the time, April–September 93.9%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords", noted on 1.59% of tests.
- 753 recorded tests behind this page.
- 95.0% overall pass rate, 94.8% 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
- 753
- Typical mileage (median)
- 26,945 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
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Sportage MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 77% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Hybrid is the most common here (70% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Sportage
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| London | 247 | 96.0% |
| South East | 87 | 95.4% |
| North West | 82 | 98.8% |
| Scotland | 67 | 91.0% |
| East of England | 56 | 89.3% |
| Yorkshire | 55 | 100.0% |
| West Midlands | 48 | 93.8% |
| South West | 46 | 89.1% |
| East Midlands | 31 | 96.8% |
| Wales | 22 | 95.5% |
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 2023 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 2023 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 1.3% of tests
“headlamp aim too high”
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 windscreen 1.2% 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 wipers and washers 0.8% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the 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 2023 Sportage through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £34–£82 — and 33% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £34–£82
- Cheapest common item: malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or…
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 33%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 753 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 2023 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 2023 cars with a similar record
- Polestar Polestar 94.6%
- Toyota Corolla 95.7%
- Mercedes-Benz Eqe 96.5%
- Ford Puma 96.5%
- Levc Tx 97.0%
- Tesla Model Y 92.9%
Closest pass rates among 2023 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 2023 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 241 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 107 | 44.40% | 19.76% | +24.64 |
| Visibility | 35 | 14.50% | 4.97% | +9.53 |
| Non-component advisories | 34 | 14.10% | 4.18% | +9.92 |
| Brakes | 25 | 10.40% | 20.89% | −10.49 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 21 | 8.70% | 12.21% | −3.51 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 8 | 3.30% | 1.76% | +1.54 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 7 | 2.90% | 5.52% | −2.62 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 2 | 0.80% | 5.57% | −4.77 |
| Suspension | 1 | 0.40% | 20.98% | −20.58 |
| Road Wheels | 1 | 0.40% | 0.75% | −0.35 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.6% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.3% | £30–80 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.2% | £80–200 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 0.80% | £8–22 |
| Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunction Noise, emissions and leaks | Major | 0.66% | £3–12 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.66% | £8–22 |
| Headlamp aim too low Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 0.53% | £30–80 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Rectified | 0.53% | £8–22 |
| Tyre pressure monitoring system malfunctioning or obviously inoperative Tyres | Rectified | 0.40% | £45–95 |
| Has ply or cords exposed Tyres | Major | 0.27% | £45–95 |
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 | 7.6% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 3.3% | £45–95 |
| Tread depth tread pattern not visible over the whole tread area when minimum depth required is 1.0mm Tyres | Advisory | 2.1% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 1.5% | £18–45 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 1.1% | £20–80 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Advisory | 0.93% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 415 | 96.4% | 18,161 mi |
| 30-60k | 266 | 92.9% | 42,031 mi |
| 60-90k | 48 | 95.8% | 68,769 mi |
| 90-120k | 15 | 93.3% | 98,634 mi |
| 120k+ | 7 | 85.7% | 136,326 mi |
Source: 753 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.
2023 Sportage MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2023 Kia Sportage?
95.0% of the 753 2023 Kia Sportage tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 94.8% for cars first used in 2023. First-attempt pass rate: 94.8%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2023 Kia Sportage?
The three most recorded items are has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (1.59%), headlamp aim too high (1.33%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.20%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2023 Kia Sportage MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 96.4% of the time, falling to 85.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2023 Kia Sportage in this dataset had covered 26,945 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2023 Kia Sportage?
Hybrid: 94.9% pass rate across 527 tests. Petrol: 95.1% pass rate across 226 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2023 Kia Sportage MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 95.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 93.9%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.