Common problems

Kia Picanto electrical and lighting problems

How often MOT testers find lights and electrics faults on the Kia Picanto at each age, against all cars of the same age, and which items come up most. From 730,252 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 6 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=60,091)4.1

All cars at 6 years (n=10,382,720)4.7

Lights and electrics advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=60,091)0.8

All cars, same age (n=10,382,720)1.9

What stands out

At 6 years, 4.1 of every 100 MOTs of the Kia Picanto found a lights and electrics fail (n=60,091), against 4.7 for all cars of that age (n=10,382,720).
It is above the all-car rate at 2 of the 19 ages with at least 1,000 tests.
The gap is widest at 8 years: 4.2 per 100 MOTs against 7.3 for all cars.
The lights and electrics fail item recorded most often at 6 years: daytime running lamps: not working, on 1.7 per 100 MOTs.

Lights and electrics fails by age

Solid line: this model. Dashed line: all cars at the same age.

Kia Picanto: lights and electrics fails and advisories per 100 MOTs, by age, against all cars. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
3 years	48,015	2.3	2.9	0.3	0.7
4 years	53,804	2.8	3.1	0.5	1.0
5 years	56,338	3.4	3.7	0.6	1.3
6 years	60,091	4.1	4.7	0.8	1.9
7 years	56,214	3.9	5.8	1.1	2.5
8 years	54,354	4.2	7.3	1.9	3.4
9 years	54,021	6.4	9.2	3.3	4.5
10 years	54,834	8.6	11.2	5.3	5.9
11 years	51,857	11.9	13.3	7.4	7.5
12 years	50,744	13.5	15.4	8.5	9.3
13 years	50,938	15.0	17.0	8.8	10.8
14 years	40,396	15.9	18.3	9.8	12.2
15 years	32,053	16.4	19.5	10.8	13.7
16 years	23,622	18.4	20.4	12.8	15.3
17 years	15,284	19.4	21.0	16.2	16.9
18 years	13,012	20.8	21.4	19.1	17.8
19 years	8,801	21.1	21.5	20.6	17.9
20 years	4,524	21.5	21.2	22.6	17.4
21 years	1,350	22.7	20.6	25.9	16.7

Lights and electrics fail items at 6 years

Lights and electrics fail items on the Kia Picanto at 6 years (n=60,091), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,382,720).
Item	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Daytime running lamps: not working	1.7	0.1
Headlight aimed too high	0.6	0.6	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Headlamp aim: too low	0.4	0.8	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Brake light not working	0.3	0.7	£10 to £47 per lamp
Side/position light not working	0.2	0.5	£10 to £47 per lamp
Dipped headlight not working	0.2	0.7	£18 to £86 per lamp

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.

What to check on a viewing

On the Kia Picanto, the lights and electrics items testers fail most are daytime running lamps: not working; headlight aimed too high; headlamp aim: too low.

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.

Ask for the car's MOT history: a lights and electrics advisory that repeats from year to year has not been fixed. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the common electrical and lighting problems on the Kia Picanto?

At 6 years (60,091 MOTs), the lights and electrics fail items testers record most often are daytime running lamps: not working (1.7 per 100 MOTs), headlight aimed too high (0.6 per 100 MOTs), headlamp aim: too low (0.4 per 100 MOTs).

Does the Kia Picanto have more electrical and lighting problems than other cars?

At 6 years it has 4.1 lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs against 4.7 for all cars of the same age (about the same). It is above the all-car rate at 2 of the 19 ages with enough tests.

What does a lights and electrics repair cost on the Kia Picanto?

For headlight aimed too high, an independent garage estimate is £16 to £39 per car (rough guide). This is a guide built from the national median garage labour rate and estimated labour hours, not a quote.

Electrical and lighting problems on other Kia models

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 Picanto?

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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