Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Kia Carens 2013: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 60 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2013 Kia Carens were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Brake light (rear).

Summary

The 2013 Kia Carens follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 1,257 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
60 in every 100
Did not pass first time
40 in every 100507 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
12 yearsabout 97,314 miles
First tests counted
1,257

What failed most often

  1. Brake light (rear)10 in every 100 failed tests

How we count this. Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Only Class 4 cars on their first MOT of the year are counted. A car that fails and is fixed at the test station still counts as a fail in the first-attempt rate. These are raw results, not adjusted for age, mileage, or peer mix. The MOT does not test engine or gearbox internals.

Note:

These are patterns across 2013 Kia Carens vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. A wear pattern follows age and use more than the way the car was built. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Brakes

Two wear patterns. The strongest is the brake discs (rear): 4.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 507 failed first attempts in 2025 that had a mileage recorded, which allows a like-for-like comparison.

We only list faults with at least 20 failures and a rate of about 2.0 times that of similar cars, which keeps one-off results out of the list.

Brake discs (rear)

Failed on 34 first tests4.8 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A brake disc or drum must be significantly worn before it is rejected, and being worn below the manufacturer's recommended limits is not a reason in itself. Significantly and obviously worn is Major, as is contamination with oil or grease. A disc or drum that is fractured, insecure, seriously weakened or missing is graded Dangerous.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 91 first tests, 2.4 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake pads (rear)

Failed on 49 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsWear pattern

What it means

A pad worn down to its wear indicator, or contaminated with oil or grease, is Major. A pad worn below the set thickness limit, missing or incorrectly mounted is Dangerous. The manual treats an illuminated brake wear indicator as no reason for failure, although DVSA also lists an illuminated indicator as a Major row.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.

Suspension

One fault: shock absorbers (rear), 3.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Shock absorbers (rear)

Failed on 44 first tests3.8 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Slight seepage that leaves a film of fluid on a shock absorber does not fail it. Severe leakage, or damage so that it does not function, is Major. A shock absorber missing or likely to become detached is graded Dangerous, though a missing one is only rejected if shock absorbers were fitted as standard.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Lamps and electrical

One fault: brake light (rear), 2.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake light (rear)

Failed on 50 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

All stop lamps missing or not working is graded Dangerous, and so is a stop lamp that stays on when the brakes are released. A stop lamp that is missing or not working is Major. On some vehicles with LED rear lamps, part of the stop lamp can go out when the rear fog lamp is lit, which is not regarded as a defect.

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

Advisories

Other things testers noted as worn or close to failing, more often than on similar cars.

An advisory is a note from the tester about something that has not failed yet. It is an early warning, not a fail. Advisories for the faults above are shown with those faults.

Non-component advisories (front)

Noted on 52 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Number plates (rear)

Noted on 22 first tests2.1 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Counts cover advisories recorded on failed first tests only, compared with cars of the same age and mileage.

MOT pass rates

How first tests ended, and how the pass rates are counted.

Passed first time
60in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
9in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
31in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 59.7% of 1,257 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 68.7%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 9 fixed and the 31 not fixed make the 40 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

Passed first time in every 100, all tested in 2025.

406080100201320142015201620172018Newer cars
406080100201320142015201620172018Newer cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 63 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
2013 This car60 in every 1001,257
201464 in every 1001,999
201565 in every 1001,980
201666 in every 1001,676
201771 in every 1001,734
201872 in every 1001,536

FAQs

Short answers about how to read this model-year guide.

The 2013 Kia Carens follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Brake light (rear), about 10 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 59.7% of 1,257 first MOTs on the 2013 Kia Carens passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 68.7%. Among 507 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Shock absorbers (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (8.7% of those tests; 44 observed failures; about 3.8× more often than similar cars). There is no single reliability score here; this is a pre-purchase checklist built from DVSA open data, not a guarantee for any individual car.
Ranked by how often they were actually recorded, the items that most often failed a 2013 Kia Carens at the first attempt were Brake light (rear) (9.9%), each as a share of the year's failed first attempts. That is what goes wrong most often on the car. The common faults table shows a different measure: faults that are unusual compared with similar cars.
Among failed first-attempt tests we highlight patterns that appear more often than on similar cars. Top example: Shock absorbers (rear) (8.7% of those tests; 44 observed failures; about 3.8× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Shock absorbers (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (8.7% of those tests; 44 observed failures; about 3.8× more often than similar cars). That does not prove a design fault. Age, mileage, and how the car was used still matter. Treat it as a pre-purchase checkpoint, not a manufacturer service bulletin.
Common MOT problem areas for the 2013 Kia Carens include Shock absorbers (rear), Brake light (rear). These are the faults that stand out compared with similar cars, not a complete list of what can go wrong on any individual car.
Advisories flag issues noted at the test and are not a fail rate. We show advisory patterns that appear more often than on similar cars among failed first-attempt tests, separate from common failure rows. Use them as early-warning checks, not as a pass/fail score.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2013 Kia Carens (registration year) using UK DVSA open data for the selected test year. Patterns are compared with cars of a similar age and mileage. It is a buyer checklist from MOT defect statistics, not a full service history or manufacturer service-bulletin list.
No. MOT tests do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronic modules. Patterns here come from MOT defect statistics only and should not be read as engine or gearbox reliability scores.

About this data

How this page is built and what it can (and can't) say.

These figures come from UK MOT open data for this model year. We surface common failure patterns against similar cars, not a full reliability score, and not a pass/fail verdict on any individual vehicle.

2024 2025

What we include

UK Class 4 cars only. Normal MOT tests (not retests); first test per vehicle per calendar year; results pass, PRS, or fail.

Same-day repairs

PRS means the car failed items that were fixed at the test station and then passed the same day. We count PRS as a first-attempt fail in headline rates so same-day repairs do not hide problems.

How we compare

We compare this model year with other Class 4 cars of similar age and mileage in the same test year. This model family is left out of the peer group so the car is not measured against itself.

What this does not cover

  • MOTs do not cover engine internals, gearboxes, or many electronics; this is not a full reliability score.
  • Common faults come from MOT defect stats, not manufacturer TSBs or recalls.
  • Age and mileage matching reduces, but does not remove, differences in how cars were used and maintained.
  • If the data for a car is too thin to say anything useful, we say so rather than guess.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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