Common problems

Kia Carens common problems

What MOT testers find on the Kia Carens: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 59,911 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 8 years, the most tested age

Brakes fails per 100 MOTs (n=8,120)10.5

All cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457)4.8

Brakes advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=8,120)29.6

All cars, same age (n=10,440,457)19.1

What stands out

Brakes fails show up on 10.5 of every 100 MOTs of a Kia Carens at 8 years old (n=8,120), against 4.8 for all cars of that age (n=10,440,457).
The fail item testers record most often at 8 years: brake pads under 1.5 mm, on 5.1 per 100 MOTs (all cars 2.0).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 17.9 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 8 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

Kia Carens at 8 years (n=8,120) against all cars at 8 years (n=10,440,457). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Brakes	10.5	4.8	29.6	19.1
Lights and electrics	9.6	7.3	3.1	3.4
Tyres	7.9	6.3	26.8	25.2
Suspension	5.9	6.1	9.2	11.8
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	4.5	3.7	3.2	3.4
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.3
Body and structure	1.1	1.8	1.2	2.2
Seat belts and airbags	0.9	0.5	0.3	0.3
Steering	0.5	1.2	0.7	1.5
Road wheels	0.3	0.3	0.5	0.7
Number plates and VIN	0.2	0.3	2.4	1.4

What testers fail most on the Carens at 8 years

Fail items on the Kia Carens at 8 years (n=8,120), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,440,457).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	5.1	2.0	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Brake light not working	Lights and electrics	3.7	1.3	£10 to £47 per lamp
Shock absorber leaking	Suspension	3.0	0.6	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	2.8	1.2	£18 to £86 per lamp
Handbrake too weak	Brakes	2.3	0.5
Tyre with cords exposed	Tyres	2.0	1.2	£88 to £145 per tyre
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	1.9	2.3	£88 to £145 per tyre
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	1.9	1.7	£15 to £30 per blade
Tyre condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords	Tyres	1.8	1.3	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: significantly and obviously worn	Brakes	1.6	0.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 8 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the Kia Carens at 8 years (n=8,120), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,440,457).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	17.9	15.7	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	14.1	8.6	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	13.9	8.6	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	7.4	8.6	£88 to £145 per tyre
Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt	Other	5.3	2.3
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively	Brakes	3.9	2.7	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	2.9	2.8	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	2.6	2.1	£88 to £145 per tyre
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	2.4	4.0	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Service brake performance: binding but not excessively	Brakes	2.3	0.8	£55 to £267 per wheel (rough guide)

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 8 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Brakes	Lights and electrics	Tyres
4 years	1,781	5.7	4.0	6.5
5 years	3,597	6.1	5.2	7.8
6 years	5,387	8.8	6.6	8.8
7 years	7,537	8.4	7.8	8.5
8 years	8,120	10.5	9.6	7.9
9 years	7,635	11.1	11.8	8.8
10 years	5,830	12.5	13.9	8.4
11 years	4,053	13.2	15.8	8.2
12 years	2,229	14.9	20.1	8.8
13 years	2,309	19.9	23.2	10.0
14 years	3,395	20.7	24.1	10.2
15 years	3,393	22.1	24.8	10.6
16 years	2,864	24.2	25.0	9.4
17 years	1,781	26.2	24.3	10.4

Mileage

At 8 years, Kia Carens cars showing 30,000 to 60,000 miles failed 24.7% of MOTs (n=2,706); the band that failed most, 90,000 to 120,000 miles, failed 38.7% (n=1,161). For pass and fail rates by age, see Kia Carens MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the Kia Carens, testers most often record brake pads under 1.5 mm; brake light not working; shock absorber leaking. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Tyres

Check the tread across the full width of all four tyres, and the spare if there is one.
Look for cuts, bulges and cracking in the sidewalls.
Wear on one edge only can point to worn suspension or the tracking being out.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the Kia Carens?

At 8 years, the age with the most MOT tests (8,120), the fail items testers record most often on the Kia Carens are brake pads under 1.5 mm (5.1 per 100 MOTs), brake light not working (3.7 per 100 MOTs), shock absorber leaking (3.0 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (17.9) and brake pads: wearing thin (14.1).

Which parts of the Kia Carens fail more often than on other cars?

At 8 years: brakes (10.5 per 100 MOTs against 4.8 for all cars); lights and electrics (9.6 per 100 MOTs against 7.3 for all cars); tyres (7.9 per 100 MOTs against 6.3 for all cars). Compared with 10,440,457 MOTs of all cars the same age.

Kia Carens problems by area

Other Kia models

All Kia models · Common problems by make

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a Kia Carens?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources