Model Reports 4 min read Updated 18 Oct 2026

Kia Sorento 2015: reliability & common MOT faults

In 2025, 72 in every 100 first MOTs on a 2015 Kia Sorento were passes. Most common reason for a fail: Track rod end (front).

Summary

The 2015 Kia Sorento follows the pattern of the model years either side.

At a glance

How 3,761 first tests went in 2025.

Passed first time
72 in every 100
Did not pass first time
28 in every 1001,047 failed first-attempt tests
The typical car
10 yearsabout 86,111 miles
First tests counted
3,761

What failed most often

  1. Track rod end (front)9 in every 100 failed tests
  2. Tyre condition (rear)9 in every 100 failed tests
  3. Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)8 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 2015 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.

Lamps and electrical

One fault: headlight cleaning device, 20 times as often as on similar cars.

Figures below are measured across the 1,047 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.

Headlight cleaning device

Failed on 22 first tests20 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

A headlamp cleaning device that is inoperative is graded Minor. Where the headlamps are LED or gas discharge (HID) systems, an inoperative cleaning device is graded Major.

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

Suspension

Three faults. The strongest is the suspension arm pins and bushes (rear): 14 times as often as on similar cars.

Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear)

Failed on 79 first tests14 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.

Also noted as an advisory

Testers also noted it as an advisory, worn but not yet failing, on 83 first tests, 6.2 times as often as on similar cars.

Anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 44 first tests5.2 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A missing anti-roll bar ball joint dust cover is Major, and so is one that no longer prevents the ingress of dirt. A cover that is only severely deteriorated is Minor. DVSA uses one wording for the dust cover on any suspension joint.

Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)

Failed on 83 first tests3.9 times as often as similar carsLikely evidence

What it means

A suspension joint dust cover that is severely deteriorated is Minor. It becomes Major once it is missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt, so what matters is whether it still keeps dirt out. DVSA words this for any suspension joint dust cover, and files it here under anti-roll bars.

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

Brakes

One fault: rigid brake pipes (rear), 2.7 times as often as on similar cars.

Rigid brake pipes (rear)

Failed on 21 first tests2.7 times as often as similar carsPossible 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 50 first tests, 2.3 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.

Noise, emissions and leaks

One fault: diesel engine warning light, 2.6 times as often as on similar cars.

Diesel engine warning light

Failed on 82 first tests2.6 times as often as similar carsPossible evidence

What it means

An engine malfunction indicator lamp that is illuminated to show a malfunction is graded Major on a diesel, but only on the diesels the test covers, which depends on the vehicle type and when it was first used. DVSA lists it under exhaust emissions for compression ignition engines, and the detail line for the row also names an inoperative lamp.

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.

Transmission oil leaks (rear)

Noted on 21 first tests16 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Suspension arm ball joint (front)

Noted on 51 first tests2.5 times as often as similar carsElevated evidence

Rigid brake pipes (front)

Noted on 36 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
72in 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
24in every 100
Did not pass, and were not fixed at the test station.

First-attempt pass 72.2% of 3,761 first tests (2025): only cars that passed first time count. Official-style pass 75.5%: cars fixed at the test station also count as a pass. The 4 fixed and the 24 not fixed make the 28 in every 100 that did not pass first time.

Same model, other years

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

4060801002005201020152020Older carsNewer cars
406080100201020152020Older 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, 74 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
201363 in every 1001,952
201467 in every 1002,700
2015 This car72 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

If you are buying one

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

Mileage matters most on a 2015 Sorento.

Of 2015 Sorento vehicles with under 64,000 miles, 80 in every 100 passed their 2025 MOT first time. With 110,000 miles or more, 64 in every 100 did.

Under 64,000745 tests
80
64,000–79,000736 tests
76
79,000–93,000 Typical car782 tests
72
93,000–110,000737 tests
69
110,000 and over761 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 64,00079,000–93,000110,000 and over
Track rod end (front)1.12.83.2
Tyre condition (rear)2.42.72.2
Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front)0.42.92.0
Diesel engine warning light0.82.43.2
Brake pads (rear)1.72.42.6

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

When a car fails

42in every 100

of failed cars had one item to fix.

30in 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 2015 Kia Sorento follows the pattern of the model years either side. Its main cause of failure was Track rod end (front), about 9 in every 100 failed tests. In 2025, 72.2% of 3,761 first MOTs on the 2015 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 75.5%. Among 1,047 failed first-attempt MOT tests (test year 2025), Headlight cleaning device appears more often than on similar cars (2.1% of those tests; 22 observed failures; about 20× 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 2015 Kia Sorento at the first attempt were Track rod end (front) (9.0%), Tyre condition (rear) (8.6%) and Anti-roll bar linkage ball joint dust cover (front) (7.9%), 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: Headlight cleaning device (2.1% of those tests; 22 observed failures; about 20× more often than similar cars). These are statistical signals, not a diagnosis of any individual car.
Headlight cleaning device shows up more often than on similar cars (2.1% of those tests; 22 observed failures; about 20× 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 2015 Kia Sorento include Headlight cleaning device, Suspension arm pins and bushes (rear), Anti-roll bar 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.
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 2015 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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