Kia Niro MOT failure rate and common faults
98,932 Kia Niro cars aged 3 to 20 took their MOT in 2025, and 12.6% failed at the first attempt. An average car of the same age failed 14.1% of the time, which makes the Kia Niro 11% less likely to fail than the typical car on the road. Here is what fails, and which years to look for.
12.6%
failed first time
98,932 MOT tests in 2025
-11%
vs same age average
average car of this age mix: 14.1%
86 of 208
age adjusted rank
among cars; 1 fails least
60.0
dangerous defects per 1,000
same age average: 62.6
What fails on a Kia Niro MOT
Failure items recorded per 1,000 tests, by part of the car, set against an average car with exactly the same spread of ages. A figure well above average is a weak spot worth checking before you buy.
The most common Kia Niro MOT failures
The individual failure items testers recorded most often, per 1,000 tests.
| Failure item | Area | Per 1,000 tests |
|---|---|---|
| Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively | Windscreen, wipers and mirrors | 33.5 |
| Tyres: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords | Tyres | 23.2 |
| Tyres: has ply or cords exposed | Tyres | 22.1 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm | Tyres | 20.8 |
| Headlamp aim: too low | Lights and electrics | 8.5 |
| Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps | Lights and electrics | 5.2 |
| Headlamp aim: too high | Lights and electrics | 4.1 |
| Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid | Windscreen, wipers and mirrors | 4.0 |
| Brake pads: less than 1.5 mm thick | Brakes | 3.3 |
| Tyre pressure monitoring system: malfunctioning or obviously inoperative | Tyres | 3.2 |
Kia Niro MOT failure rate by year
Every car fails more often as it ages, so each registration year is compared with the average for all cars of the same age. Years with fewer than 500 tests are left out.
| First registered | Tests | Failed | Same age average | Average mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 27,041 | 11.3% | 11.4% | 39,400 |
| 2021 | 27,679 | 12.0% | 12.8% | 50,000 |
| 2020 | 20,323 | 13.1% | 14.1% | 52,200 |
| 2019 | 10,633 | 13.7% | 16.5% | 69,200 |
| 2018 | 7,451 | 14.3% | 19.1% | 84,600 |
| 2017 | 4,525 | 16.1% | 21.8% | 74,600 |
| 2016 | 1,279 | 16.0% | 25.1% | 75,900 |
Advisories to look for in a Kia Niro's MOT history
An advisory is a tester's warning that something is wearing but has not failed yet. These are the ones written most often on the Kia Niro, per 1,000 tests. If the car you are looking at has one of these, ask whether it has been fixed since.
- Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge248.1
- Tyres: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing124.5
- Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened66.1
- Tyres: has a cut but not deep enough to reach the ply or cords27.7
- Brake pads: wearing thin13.1
- Suspension arms: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement12.3
Checking a used Kia Niro before you buy
Against cars of the same age, the Kia Niro fails more often than average on tyres and windscreen, wipers and mirrors. Start there.
Tyres
Check the tread across the full width of every tyre, inner edge included. Uneven wear points to worn suspension or out of line steering geometry.
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors
Look for chips or cracks in the driver's line of sight, and test the wipers and washers. Windscreen damage in the swept area is an MOT failure.
Averages only take you so far. The specific car's MOT history shows whether it has already failed on any of these, how often advisories were ignored, and whether the mileage climbs steadily from test to test. Read our guide to reading a car's MOT history before you go to view it.
Fuel mix of the Kia Niro cars tested: Hybrid 62%, Electric 37%. Average age at test 4.6 years, average recorded mileage 53,700.
Kia Niro MOT questions
What is the Kia Niro MOT failure rate?
12.6% of Kia Niro cars failed their first MOT test of 2025, from 98,932 tests on vehicles aged 3 to 20. An average car with the same age mix failed 14.1% of the time, so the Kia Niro was 11% less likely to fail.
What fails most often on a Kia Niro MOT?
Tyres caused the most failure items, at 81 per 1,000 tests. The single most common failure item was "Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively", recorded 33.5 times per 1,000 tests.
Which Kia Niro year has the best MOT record?
Measured against cars of the same age, 2016 registrations did best: 16.0% failed against an average of 25.1% for cars that age. Older cars always fail more often, so compare a year with its age group rather than with newer cars.
Does this tell me whether a particular Kia Niro will pass?
No. These are averages across every Kia Niro tested in 2025. The car in front of you has its own record: its full MOT history shows every pass, failure and advisory it has had, and it is free to view by registration.
Other Kia models
- Kia Sportage23.0% failed
- Kia Picanto28.5% failed
- Kia Ceed31.9% failed
- Kia Rio29.7% failed
- Kia Venga29.0% failed
- Kia Sorento28.5% failed
Ranked close to the Kia Niro
- Mini Clubmanrank 83
- Toyota C-HRrank 84
- Toyota Aygorank 85
- Ford Kugarank 87
How these figures are calculated
Source: DVSA Anonymised MOT tests and results, 2025 release. We count first tests of cars and small vans (class 4) aged 3 to 20, so a car that fails and is retested is counted once. A failure includes faults fixed and passed within the same visit. The same age average weights the national failure rate for each age by how many Kia Niro cars of that age were tested, so a model is never penalised for having an older fleet. Make and model are as recorded at the test; trim levels are combined. Full method and rankings.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.