Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Kia Sorento 2013: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 63 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2013 Kia Sorento were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Track rod end (front).

Summary

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

At a glance

How 1,952 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
63 in every 100
Did not pass first time
37 in every 100725 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
12 yearsabout 101,343 miles
First tests counted
1,952

What failed most often

  1. Track rod end (front)21 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Suspension arm ball joint (front)8 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front)7 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 Sorento 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.

Body and structure

One fault: other passenger door condition (rear), 24 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 722 of 725 failed first attempts (99.6%) 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.

Other passenger door condition (rear)

Failed on 31 first tests24 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A lack of door handles is not a defect where it comes from the original design or a specialist modification, provided the door latches securely closed and opens using a control such as a button or a fob. Hinges, catches and pillars are rejected for deterioration only if the doors stop working as intended. A hinged door likely to open inadvertently or not remain closed is graded Dangerous.

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

Brakes

One fault: handbrake efficiency below minimum (decelerometer test), 22 times as often as on similar cars.

Handbrake efficiency below minimum (decelerometer test)

Failed on 20 first tests22 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A parking brake with efficiency below the minimum requirement is graded Major, and efficiency less than half of the required value is graded Dangerous. This check applies only to vehicles whose parking brake has not already been tested as the secondary brake.

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

Suspension

Three faults. The strongest is the anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (rear): 11 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (rear)

Failed on 29 first tests11 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Excessive wear on an anti-roll bar linkage ball joint is Major. A joint 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 26 first tests, 8.8 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 39 first tests3.2 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.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front)

Failed on 52 first tests2.8 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

Excessive wear on an anti-roll bar linkage ball joint is Major. A joint 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 24 first tests, 2.1 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.

Steering

One fault: track rod end (front), 3.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Track rod end (front)

Failed on 152 first tests3.7 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play is Major, and one worn to the extent there is a serious risk of detachment is graded Dangerous. A dust cover that is damaged but still keeps dirt out is Minor, and one missing or no longer keeping dirt out is Major. Testers must tell wear from a joint's built-in clearance or spring loading.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 31 first tests, 2.6 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.

Seat belts and restraints

One fault: airbag warning light, 2.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Airbag warning light

Failed on 31 first tests2.7 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

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.

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.

Steering rack play

Noted on 42 first tests24 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Non-component advisories

Noted on 68 first tests2.3 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Noted on 55 first tests2.2 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
63in 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
33in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 62.9% of 1,952 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 66.6%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 33 not fixed make the 37 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

4060801002005201020132020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020132020Older 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, 62 in every 100 passed first time.

YearPassed first timeFirst tests
200452 in every 100316
200552 in every 100605
200652 in every 1001,137
200751 in every 100822
200852 in every 100646
200954 in every 100998
201058 in every 1001,556
201156 in every 1001,391
201256 in every 1001,674
2013 This car63 in every 1001,952
201467 in every 1002,700
201572 in every 1003,761
201674 in every 1002,982
201779 in every 1002,965
201882 in every 1002,598
201982 in every 1002,623
202083 in every 1001,116
202185 in every 1002,161
202287 in every 1001,966

FAQs

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

The 2013 Kia Sorento follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Track rod end (front), about 21 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 62.9% of 1,952 first MOTs on the 2013 Kia Sorento passed first time (PRS: items fixed at the station the same day, counted as a fail). The official-style rate including PRS is 66.6%. Among 725 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Other passenger door condition (rear) appears more often than on similar cars (4.3% of those tests; 31 observed failures; about 24× 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 Sorento at the first attempt were Track rod end (front) (21.1%), Suspension arm ball joint (front) (8.3%) and Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (front) (7.2%), 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: Other passenger door condition (rear) (4.3% of those tests; 31 observed failures; about 24× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Other passenger door condition (rear) shows up more often than on similar cars (4.3% of those tests; 31 observed failures; about 24× 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 Sorento include Other passenger door condition (rear), Handbrake efficiency below minimum (decelerometer test), Anti-roll bar linkage ball joints (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 Sorento (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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