Is the Kia Venga reliable?

On MOT evidence the Kia Venga is well below average. It passes 64.3% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 82% of the national age and mileage range, which is enough to quote but not to rank. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Kia Venga?

The item recorded most often is "A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play", which appears in 30.5% of failed Kia Venga tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Kia Venga?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 21.2% of all Kia Venga tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Kia Venga usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 58,381 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Does a Kia Venga get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 6 to 8 years old, 86.3% of Kia Venga tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 53.8%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Kia Venga models petrol or diesel?

Of the Kia Venga cars tested, 76% are petrol, 24% are diesel. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

Model reliability file

Kia Venga MOT pass rate & common failures

From 46,382 recorded MOT tests of the Kia Venga, published by DVSA.

Data updated 29 July 2026

Quick answer

The Kia Venga passes 64.3% of MOT tests once results are adjusted for the age and mileage of the cars tested, against a national average of 72.3%. That is well below average. Based on 46,382 tests. Its most commonly recorded failure is steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, which appears in 30.5% of failed tests. Cars of this model average 58,381 miles on the odometer when tested.

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

64.3%national average72.3%unadjusted71.0%range covered82%

The Venga is 8.0 percentage points below the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is well below average. The unadjusted figure is 71.0%; the difference is what the age and mileage of this model’s fleet was hiding.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Kia Venga tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1.A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play30.5%
3,150 occurrencesBall joint worn explained
2.A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning16.9%
1,742 occurrencesLamp not working explained
3.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc11.0%
1,136 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained
4.Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning10.8%
1,114 occurrencesStop lamp not working explained
5.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.5%
1,084 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained
6.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements8.8%
911 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained
7.A tyre cords visible or damaged5.8%
598 occurrencesTyre ply or cord exposed, or the casing separating explained
8.Windscreen washers not working or not providing sufficient fluid to clear the windscreen5.6%
579 occurrencesWiper or washer not working properly explained
9.Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement5.4%
560 occurrencesParking brake efficiency too low explained
10.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn5.3%
548 occurrencesBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Kia Venga tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements21.2%
9,832 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained
2.A tyre seriously damaged19.3%
8,946 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained
3.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured17.1%
7,930 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained
4.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm10.5%
4,851 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained
5.Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded5.9%
2,734 testsBrake pipe corroded explained
6.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened5.4%
2,488 testsRoad spring broken or fractured explained
7.A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play4.7%
2,181 testsBall joint worn explained
8.Brake disc or drum significantly and obviously worn4.7%
2,159 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

How wear changes the picture

Pass rate by vehicle age

6–8 yrs86%

9–11 yrs73%

12–14 yrs59%

15+ yrs54%

Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Venga fleet

Average mileage recorded at test: 58,381
Fuel mix of tested cars: Petrol76.0%
Diesel24.0%

Trim names grouped into this model (4)

Recorded exactly as DVSA holds them. Trim-level names are rolled up so one model is not split across a dozen thin pages.

VENGA 2
VENGA 3
VENGA CRDI
VENGA HATCHBACK

Check a specific Kia Venga

A model average tells you the pattern. Its own MOT record tells you the car.

Compare within the range

Other Kia models

Kia Sportage — 71.7% adjusted
Kia Picanto — 65.5% adjusted
Kia Ceed — 68.9% adjusted
Kia Niro — 85.8% adjusted
Kia Rio — 69.0% adjusted
Kia Sorento — 72.2% adjusted
All Kia models

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

Volkswagen Scirocco — 72.2% adjusted, ranked 147
Citroen Dispatch — 62.0% adjusted, ranked 246
Suzuki Alto — 58.8% adjusted, ranked 258
Smart (mcc) Fortwo — 68.0% adjusted, ranked 196

Common questions

Is the Kia Venga reliable?: On MOT evidence the Kia Venga is well below average. It passes 64.3% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%. That figure covers 82% of the national age and mileage range, which is enough to quote but not to rank. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.
What is the most common MOT failure on a Kia Venga?: The item recorded most often is "A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play", which appears in 30.5% of failed Kia Venga tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.
What do testers most often warn about on a Kia Venga?: The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 21.2% of all Kia Venga tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.
What mileage does a Kia Venga usually have at its MOT?: The average odometer reading recorded at test is 58,381 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.
Does a Kia Venga get harder to pass as it ages?: Yes. At 6 to 8 years old, 86.3% of Kia Venga tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 53.8%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.
Are most Kia Venga models petrol or diesel?: Of the Kia Venga cars tested, 76% are petrol, 24% are diesel. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. The adjusted rate is directly standardised across twenty-five age and mileage bands and reweighted onto the national distribution, so this model is compared against cars that have lived a similar life rather than against a younger or lighter-used fleet.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.