At a glance
How 8,171 first tests went in 2025.
- Passed first time
- 59 in every 100
- Did not pass first time
- 41 in every 1003,349 failed first-attempt tests
- The typical car
- 13 yearsabout 86,333 miles
- First tests counted
- 8,171
What failed most often
- Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)13 in every 100 failed tests
- Suspension arm ball joint (front)10 in every 100 failed tests
- Airbag warning light9 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.
These are patterns across 2012 Kia Rio 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.
Seat belts and restraints
One fault: airbag warning light, 5.9 times as often as on similar cars.
Figures below are measured across the 3,345 of 3,349 failed first attempts (99.9%) 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.
Airbag warning light
What it means
The airbag warning lamp (SRS MIL in DVSA's wording) is failed only if it indicates a system malfunction, which is Major. A lamp lit to show the passenger airbag is disabled is not to be regarded as a defect. Dashboard messages are not a defect in their own right, though they can help the tester confirm a malfunction.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Suspension
One fault: suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front), 4.4 times as often as on similar cars.
Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Noise, emissions and leaks
One fault: diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/07/2008), 3.5 times as often as on similar cars.
Diesel emissions test (compression-ignition rules for vehicles from 01/07/2008)
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage.
Brakes
Two faults and one wear pattern. The strongest is the brake discs (rear): 3.1 times as often as on similar cars.
Brake discs (rear)
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 490 first tests, 2.1 times as often as on similar cars.
Brake imbalance across an axle (roller test, efficiency check, rear)
What it means
A wheel giving less than a set share of the maximum effort from the other wheel on the same axle is Major. On a steered axle, less than half is graded Dangerous. Testers disregard an imbalance if the lower effort is the result of a locked wheel, or if the higher effort from a wheel is at or below a low set figure.
Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test)
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.
Data: UK MOT open data, 2025. Compared with cars of the same age and mileage. Advisories count notes recorded on failed first tests only.
Lamps and electrical
One fault: side repeater indicators, 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.
Side repeater indicators
What it means
Sequential or dynamic direction indicators are not a reason to fail. Where a side repeater is required, it is allowed to be part of the front direction indicator if it has a marked wraparound lens, or an amber light coming through the front lens when viewed from a set distance to the side of the rear bumper. A lens defect with no effect on the emitted light is Minor, and one that adversely affects the light is Major.
Also noted as an advisory
Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 38 first tests, 8.3 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.
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 sub-frame (front)
Suspension sub-frame mounting area (front)
Structural sub-frame condition (front)
Steering rack play
Suspension arm (front)
Number plates (front)
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
- 59in every 100
- Passed on the first test.
- Fixed at the station
- 7in every 100
- Failed, then fixed at the test station the same day.
- Failed
- 34in every 100
- Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.
First-attempt pass 59.0% of 8,171 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 66.0%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 7 fixed and the 34 not fixed make the 41 in every 100 that did not pass first time.
Petrol and diesel
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.
Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb. A year earlier (2024), when these cars were a year younger, 58 in every 100 passed first time.
| Year | Passed first time | First tests |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 48 in every 100 | 347 |
| 2006 | 51 in every 100 | 697 |
| 2007 | 54 in every 100 | 889 |
| 2008 | 51 in every 100 | 1,598 |
| 2009 | 54 in every 100 | 4,030 |
| 2010 | 55 in every 100 | 5,250 |
| 2011 | 54 in every 100 | 6,114 |
| 2012 This car | 59 in every 100 | 8,171 |
| 2013 | 61 in every 100 | 9,193 |
| 2014 | 66 in every 100 | 10,368 |
| 2015 | 74 in every 100 | 10,904 |
| 2016 | 76 in every 100 | 8,528 |
| 2017 | 81 in every 100 | 7,787 |
| 2018 | 85 in every 100 | 5,571 |
| 2019 | 84 in every 100 | 4,705 |
| 2020 | 85 in every 100 | 3,285 |
| 2021 | 87 in every 100 | 3,559 |
| 2022 | 91 in every 100 | 4,410 |
If you are buying one
What this year's MOT record means for the decision in front of you.
Mileage matters most on a 2012 Kia Rio.
Of 2012 Kia Rio vehicles with under 60,000 miles, 69 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 114,000 miles or more, 53 in every 100 did.
Petrol or diesel?
| Typical mileage | Passed first time, as tested | Passed first time, same mileage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 80,451 miles | 61 | 60 |
| Diesel | 102,563 miles | 55 | 57 |
Figures are in every 100 first tests. Petrol cars look better on the raw figures only because diesel cars have done more miles (typically 102,563 against 80,451). 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 60,000 | 78,000–95,000 | 114,000 and over | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Handbrake efficiency below minimum (roller test) | 3.0 | 5.1 | 7.4 |
| Suspension arm ball joint (front) | 1.0 | 4.5 | 5.6 |
| Airbag warning light | 1.3 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| Individual sidelight or tail light (front) | 1.2 | 3.2 | 4.7 |
| Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) | 4.5 | 2.7 | 2.1 |
Faults per 100 first tests, by the car's mileage at the test.
When a car fails
of failed cars had one item to fix.
of failed cars had three or more items to fix.
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.
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.
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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