Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Kia Ceed 2018: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 80 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2018 Kia Ceed were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Tyre tread depth (front).

Summary

The 2018 Kia Ceed follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 8,811 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
80 in every 100
Did not pass first time
20 in every 1001,747 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
7 yearsabout 55,777 miles
First tests counted
8,811

What failed most often

  1. Tyre tread depth (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (front)11 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)11 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 2018 Kia Ceed vehicles in 2025, not a prediction that any one car will have them. Faults are grouped by part of the car. They come from MOT defect codes, not manufacturer bulletins, recalls or a diagnosis of any one car.

Suspension

One fault: suspension arm pins and bushes (front), 4.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,747 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.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)

Failed on 184 first tests4.2 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Pins and bushes on suspension arms fail as Major when they are excessively worn. They are graded Dangerous when likely to become detached. DVSA uses the same wording for a suspension joint.

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

Brakes

One fault: brake performance (roller test, front), 3.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake performance (roller test, front)

Failed on 50 first tests3.5 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A wheel with no recorded braking effort on the roller test is graded Dangerous. Inadequate effort, a brake grabbing severely, abnormal lag and excessive fluctuation in effort are each Major. So is significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied, which indicates a binding brake.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 55 first tests, 4.0 times as often as on similar cars.

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

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.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)

Noted on 52 first tests7.2 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

Number plates (front)

Noted on 45 first tests3.0 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Brake performance (roller test, rear)

Noted on 46 first tests2.3 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
80in every 100
Passed on the first test.
Fixed at the station
4in every 100
Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
Failed
16in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 80.2% of 8,811 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 83.9%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 16 not fixed make the 20 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Petrol and diesel

First testsTypical mileagePassed first time, as testedPassed first time, same mileage
Diesel5,29862,673 miles7980
Petrol3,51347,525 miles8280

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Cars with more miles usually fail more often, so the same-mileage figure gives every fuel the mileage mix of all the cars in this year.

Same model, other years

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

406080100201020152018Older carsNewer cars
40608010020102018Older 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, 82 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200750 in every 1001,903
200848 in every 1003,559
200951 in every 1005,789
201050 in every 1006,630
201150 in every 1006,260
201255 in every 10010,601
201361 in every 10010,238
201463 in every 10010,448
201571 in every 10010,689
201674 in every 1009,185
201777 in every 1008,177
2018 This car80 in every 1008,811
201983 in every 1009,533
202083 in every 1004,078
202184 in every 1004,937
202287 in every 1006,207

If you are buying one

What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.

Mileage matters most on a 2018 Ceed.

Of 2018 Ceed vehicles with under 38,000 miles, 86 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 78,000 miles or more, 72 in every 100 did.

Under 38,0001,735 tests
86
38,000–50,0001,760 tests
83
50,000–62,000 Typical car1,761 tests
83
62,000–78,0001,817 tests
77
78,000 and over1,737 tests
72

Petrol or diesel?

Typical mileagePassed first time,
as tested		Passed first time,
same mileage
Diesel62,673 miles7980
Petrol47,525 miles8280

Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 62,673 against 47,525). At the same mileage there is no clear difference between the two.

What to check at your mileage

How often each fault turned up on a failed first test, by the car's mileage. Read it as: what is likely to need looking at on a car like the one in front of you.

Under 38,00050,000–62,00078,000 and over
Tyre tread depth (front)0.61.93.7
Tyre condition (front)2.11.82.9
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front)1.41.62.9
Brake pads (front)0.71.32.6
Windscreen wipers (front)1.41.00.9

Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.

When a car fails

51in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

19in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

8in every 100

of all first tests had a defect the tester marked dangerous (unsafe to drive away).

Every figure here is a first-attempt MOT rate from DVSA open data for this model line, for cars of this model year tested in 2025. Each mileage band holds a fifth of the tests. MOTs do not test engine or gearbox internals, so this is a pre-purchase checklist, not a full reliability score.

FAQs

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

The 2018 Kia Ceed follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Tyre tread depth (front), about 12 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 80.2% of 8,811 first MOTs on the 2018 Kia Ceed passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 83.9%. Among 1,747 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) appears more often than on similar cars (10.5% of those tests; 184 observed failures; about 4.2× 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 2018 Kia Ceed at the first attempt were Tyre tread depth (front) (11.5%), Tyre condition (front) (11.4%) and Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) (10.5%), 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: Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) (10.5% of those tests; 184 observed failures; about 4.2× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm pins and bushes (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (10.5% of those tests; 184 observed failures; about 4.2× 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 2018 Kia Ceed include Suspension arm pins and bushes (front), Brake performance (roller test, front). 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 2018 Kia Ceed (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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