Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Kia Rio 2019: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 84 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2019 Kia Rio were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Brake pads (front).

Summary

The 2019 Kia Rio follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 4,705 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
84 in every 100
Did not pass first time
16 in every 100761 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
6 yearsabout 36,065 miles
First tests counted
4,705

What failed most often

  1. Brake pads (front)13 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (front)12 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Windscreen wipers (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 2019 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.

Suspension

One fault: suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front), 14 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 761 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 ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 64 first tests14 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

Whether a suspension arm ball joint dust cover still keeps dirt out decides its grade. Severely deteriorated is Minor, while missing, or no longer preventing the ingress of dirt, is Major.

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

Brakes

One wear pattern: brake pads (front), 2.0 times as often as on similar cars.

Brake pads (front)

Failed on 102 first tests2.0 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.

MOT pass rates

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

Passed first time
84in 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
12in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 83.8% of 4,705 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 87.8%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 12 not fixed make the 16 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

4060801002005201020152019Older carsNewer cars
40608010020102019Older cars

Newer cars are younger, so look for a jump rather than the climb.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200548 in every 100347
200651 in every 100697
200754 in every 100889
200851 in every 1001,598
200954 in every 1004,030
201055 in every 1005,250
201154 in every 1006,114
201259 in every 1008,171
201361 in every 1009,193
201466 in every 10010,368
201574 in every 10010,904
201676 in every 1008,528
201781 in every 1007,787
201885 in every 1005,571
2019 This car84 in every 1004,705
202085 in every 1003,285
202187 in every 1003,559
202291 in every 1004,410

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2019 Kia Rio.

Of 2019 Kia Rio vehicles with under 23,000 miles, 89 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 52,000 miles or more, 78 in every 100 did.

Under 23,000936 tests
89
23,000–32,000952 tests
86
32,000–41,000 Typical car960 tests
83
41,000–52,000901 tests
83
52,000 and over956 tests
78

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 23,00032,000–41,00052,000 and over
Brake pads (front)0.53.41.9
Tyre condition (front)1.52.03.2
Windscreen wipers (front)3.11.61.2
Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)0.21.22.6
Tyre tread depth (front)0.21.02.5

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

When a car fails

62in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

13in every 100

of failed cars had three or more items to fix.

5in 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 2019 Kia Rio follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Brake pads (front), about 13 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 83.8% of 4,705 first MOTs on the 2019 Kia Rio passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 87.8%. Among 761 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) appears more often than on similar cars (8.4% of those tests; 64 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 2019 Kia Rio at the first attempt were Brake pads (front) (13.4%), Tyre condition (front) (12.1%) and Windscreen wipers (front) (11.3%), 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: Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) (8.4% of those tests; 64 observed failures; about 14× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front) shows up more often than on similar cars (8.4% of those tests; 64 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 2019 Kia Rio include Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (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.
This page highlights MOT failure patterns for the 2019 Kia Rio (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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