Model Reports 5 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Kia Picanto 2016: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 75 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2016 Kia Picanto were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test).

Summary

A 2016 Kia Picanto passed first time about 2 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2015 and 2017 model years.

At a glance

How 12,159 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
75 in every 100
Did not pass first time
25 in every 1003,078 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
9 yearsabout 41,646 miles
First tests counted
12,159

What failed most often

  1. Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)18 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Suspension arm ball joint (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Tyre condition (front)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 2016 Kia Picanto 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

Four faults and one wear pattern. The strongest is the handbrake performance (roller test, rear): 14 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 3,077 of 3,078 failed first attempts that recorded an odometer reading in 2025. Mileage is needed to compare like with like.

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.

Handbrake performance (roller test, rear)

Failed on 185 first tests14 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

A parking brake that is inoperative on one side is Major. When tested on the road, the failure is the vehicle deviating excessively from a straight line. Vehicles whose parking brake was already tested as the secondary brake are not tested again for this.

Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)

Failed on 540 first tests8.1 times as often as similar carsStrong evidence

What it means

A parking brake with efficiency below the minimum requirement is Major, and graded Dangerous where efficiency is less than half of the required value. On a roller brake tester, the requirement counts as met if more than half of the wheels of a brake system lock. The check applies only to vehicles whose parking brake was not already tested as the secondary brake.

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Failed on 93 first tests6.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Chafing, corrosion or damage to a rigid brake pipe justifies rejection once its wall thickness is reduced by a set amount, although DVSA accepts this is not easy to determine. If a tester is not sure, the benefit of the doubt applies. A leaking pipe or connection is graded Dangerous on a hydraulic system and Major on an air system.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 225 first tests, 5.5 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake discs (rear)

Failed on 88 first tests2.2 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.

Brake performance (roller test, rear)

Failed on 114 first tests2.2 times as often as similar carsPossible 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 148 first tests, 3.3 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.

Suspension

One fault: suspension arm ball joint (front), 3.1 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm ball joint (front)

Failed on 365 first tests3.1 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A suspension arm ball joint is failed under the general suspension pin, bush or joint wording. Excessively worn is Major, and likely to become detached is graded Dangerous.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 123 first tests, 3.7 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.

Flexible brake hoses (front)

Noted on 33 first tests4.4 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Brake performance (plate test, rear)

Noted on 32 first tests3.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Seat belt condition (front)

Noted on 34 first tests3.4 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
75in 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
21in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 74.7% of 12,159 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 78.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 21 not fixed make the 25 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

4060801002005201020162020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020162020Older carsNewer 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, 76 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200449 in every 1001,285
200548 in every 1002,649
200647 in every 1002,930
200750 in every 1002,119
200852 in every 1002,695
200954 in every 10011,352
201055 in every 10011,799
201157 in every 1009,733
201259 in every 10012,293
201364 in every 10012,004
201469 in every 10013,850
201574 in every 10013,160
2016 This car75 in every 10012,159
201780 in every 10012,878
201883 in every 10015,887
201984 in every 10017,030
202086 in every 1008,674
202186 in every 10010,577
202288 in every 1009,845

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2016 Picanto.

Of 2016 Picanto vehicles with under 25,000 miles, 85 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 62,000 miles or more, 64 in every 100 did.

Under 25,0002,458 tests
85
25,000–36,0002,414 tests
77
36,000–47,000 Typical car2,366 tests
74
47,000–62,0002,521 tests
73
62,000 and over2,399 tests
64

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 25,00036,000–47,00062,000 and over
Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)1.84.47.3
Suspension arm ball joint (front)0.43.05.7
Tyre condition (front)1.73.03.4
Coil spring (front)1.82.62.6
Windscreen washers1.11.62.7

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

When a car fails

47in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

24in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

7in 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.

A 2016 Kia Picanto passed first time about 2 in every 100 less often than the average of the 2015 and 2017 model years. In 2025, 74.7% of 12,159 first MOTs on the 2016 Kia Picanto passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 78.8%. Among 3,078 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Handbrake performance (roller test, rear) appears more often than on similar cars (6.0% of those tests; 185 observed failures; about 14× 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 2016 Kia Picanto at the first attempt were Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test) (17.5%), Suspension arm ball joint (front) (11.9%) and Tyre condition (front) (10.3%), 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: Handbrake performance (roller test, rear) (6.0% of those tests; 185 observed failures; about 14× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Handbrake performance (roller test, rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (6.0% of those tests; 185 observed failures; about 14× 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 2016 Kia Picanto include Handbrake performance (roller test, rear), Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test), Rigid brake pipes (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 2016 Kia Picanto (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.

Check any vehicle’s MOT history

Full MOT history, mileage records, and reliability insights for any UK vehicle.

Run a free check