Kia Venga MOT Pass Rate & Official DVSA Failure Statistics

Kia Venga MOT History and Failure Rates vs UK National Average

The Kia Venga passed on its first attempt in 78.6%, and its overall record sits +1.2 percentage points above the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the Kia Venga in the 2023–2025 data: 167,347 tests across 11 model years (2009–2019). 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 Venga MOT Problems by Failure Category

Every MOT failure a tester records belongs to one inspection section of the DVSA manual. For the Kia Venga, 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 Venga's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.

Top Recorded Kia Venga DVSA MOT Test Statistics & Defect Descriptions

The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the Kia Venga, each with how many of the model's 167,347 tests it was noted on.

• "Track rod end ball joint has excessive play" (Major) — noted on about 8,072 Kia Venga tests, 4.8% of the model's MOT record.
• "Position lamp not working" (Major) — noted on about 6,321 Kia Venga tests, 3.8% of the model's MOT record.
• "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources" (Minor) — noted on about 5,401 Kia Venga tests, 3.2% of the model's MOT record.
• "Ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated" (Minor) — noted on about 4,530 Kia Venga tests, 2.7% of the model's MOT record.
• "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (Minor) — noted on about 3,122 Kia Venga tests, 1.9% of the model's MOT record.
• "Stop lamp not working" (Rectified) — noted on about 2,895 Kia Venga tests, 1.7% of the model's MOT record.

Best and Worst Kia Venga Model Years by Pass Rate

The strongest Kia Venga model year on record is 2019 (93.3% across 8,249 tests), and the weakest is 2009 (68.8%). The gap between them is 24.5 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.

Kia Venga reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 2.6 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 Venga Owners

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

• 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 lights — “position lamp not working”

  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.

• 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.

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

Where the Kia Venga is most common

Across every Venga model year on record (2009–2019): 61,165 Kia Venga cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 167,347 tests. Nottingham (NG) has the most, with 1,634 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 Venga 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 Venga MOT & Reliability