Ford
319,255 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where KAs pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.
That's 4.6 points below the UK fleet average across our 1,984 tracked models — buyers should expect more first-time fails than the typical UK car.
Pass
72.9%
Pass-after-fix
4.7%
Fail
21.8%
Avg miles
57,876
Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%
This model's production run straddles the January 2006 Euro 4 cutoff. Individual cars vary — check your registration plate on the government's ULEZ checker. Daily charges if driven in the zone: London £12.50 · Birmingham £8.00 .
Performance by cohort
2 year bands · 319,255 tests
Pass rate climbs 15.6 points across the cohorts — newer KA examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.
Pass
71.7%
Fail
22.8%
PRS
4.8%
Avg mileage at test
60,309 mi
Pass
87.3%
Fail
9.1%
PRS
3.3%
Avg mileage at test
28,560 mi
Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.
Generations on file · 3
Ford KA · UK market
1996–2008
2008–2016
2016–2021
Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.
The picture
The Ford Ka is a small car which was manufactured by Ford Motor Company from 1996 to 2021 over three generations. It entered its second generation in 2008, produced by Fiat in Tychy, Poland.
MOT data from 235,056 tests puts this car on a 73.7% first-time pass rate, below the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 53,509 miles. The most common fail item is the strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mountingis significantly reduced or inadequately repaired, followed by worn suspension pin or bush.
The second stab at the Ford Ka city car misses the sharp looks of the original, but this Fiat 500-based model drives well and represents good value as a very affordable used buy.
Buyers weighing up a used KA should treat the failure breakdown as a pre-purchase checklist. The pass rate is reasonable, but the gap between first attempt and a clean sheet narrows with age and mileage.
ABI Insurance Group
A low-group car — among the cheapest to insure in the UK. Lower groups cost less to insure; UK fleet average is around Group 22.
Source: ABI Group Rating Panel · administered by Thatcham Research · groups cover standard variants; performance trims may sit higher. Browse all insurance groups →
3–10
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A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
8,817 occurrences · 2.8% of tests
The strength or continuity of the load bearing structure within 30cm of any sub-frame, spring or suspension component mounting (a 'prescribed area') is significantly reduced or inadequately repaired
7,976 occurrences · 2.5% of tests
A shock absorber bush excessively worn
7,068 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources
7,051 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage
6,992 occurrences · 2.2% of tests
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
6,176 occurrences · 1.9% of tests
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
5,578 occurrences · 1.7% of tests
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
4,758 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
4,471 occurrences · 1.4% of tests
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement
4,391 occurrences · 1.4% of tests
Counts cover Major and Dangerous defects logged at test. Advisory items excluded so this shows why a car was rejected, not just what the tester flagged in passing.
Worst-case fix budget · top 2 failures
£88–£275
If every one of this KA's most-logged Major fails hit at the same MOT, that's the real-world UK garage range. Reality is usually one or two items, not all of them. Open the estimator →
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Build your own retest budget.
Year-band analysis
First-time MOT pass rate split by registration band. A 15.6-point gap between bands means the year you buy Ford KA has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.
Best band to buy
87.3%
2018–2020 registration
the 2018–2020 band climbs to 87.3% — a 15.6-point improvement. Tests in this band average 28,560 miles — roughly 32K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: ball joint has excessive play, less than 1.5 mm thick — the structural issues that drag down older examples don't appear in the top-10 for this band. The stricter post-2018 MOT test rules meant manufacturers had to tighten up emissions and electrical checks, but this band still shows far fewer major failures on suspension and bodywork than the older fleet.
Band to be cautious about
71.7%
Pre-2018 registration
On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 71.7% pass rate against a fleet average of 87.3% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: pin or bush excessively worn, prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength, and has an excessively worn bush. Average mileage on test for this band is 60,309 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme. Honest John records: "Report of gears of 2010 Ford Ka completely stuck in first. Suggested to check linkage first, then clutch, then box itself. RAC came out and found that due to minus…"
Best band to buy: 2018-2020 (87.3% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (71.7% pass). That's a 15.6-point spread across 294,891 older tests and 24,364 newer ones — year of build makes a material difference on this model.
Picked against this car's top failure patterns. Affiliate links to Amazon UK — we earn a small cut at no cost to you. Disclosed up-front, doesn't shape the data.
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Owner reports · Honest John
Verbatim faults logged by owners on honestjohn.co.uk over recent years. We didn't summarise — these are the words people typed in.
What's good
Easy to drive and economical. Handles better than Fiat 500. More room in rear than the Fiat.
Report of gears of 2010 Ford Ka completely stuck in first. Suggested to check linkage first, then clutch, then box itself. RAC came out and found that due to minus 9 centigrade temperature the gear linkage had frozen. Applied some warm water. Defrested it. Then it worked perfectly.
Complaint of Ford KA bought new in March 2016 being difficult to drive off smoothly from a standstill. Either the car would judder or the engine would race. Once the car was on the move everything was fine. Dealer could find no problem with it, but later admitted that the garage was waiting for Ford to come up with a software update. This is very peculiar because FIAT 500 1,242cc EU6 engines with this problem were fixed by summer 2015.
Timing belt failure reported in engine of 11 month old Ford Ka resulting in two bent valves.
August 2014 Ford KA 1.2 cut out and stopped while driving and would not re-start. AA daid electrical fault. KA taken to Ford dealer who spent two days "investigating". Suggested the dealer contact a FIAT dealer and maybe take the KA there to get the EU6 problem software patch.
2015 Ka reported as having the same EU6 fault as FIAT 500s. Difficult to do hill starts, having to rev over 3000 rpm and then slip clutch otherwise car feels as if about to stall. FIAT dealers now have a software fix for this, so if Ford dealers haven't, take it to a FIAT dealer and dump the cost on the supplying dealer. Also be sure to run it on Shell V-Power Nitro Plus petrol to maximise torque at low revs.
2012 Ford KA failed its first MoT due to damaged rear seatbelts, both damaged near to the point where they enter the inertia reels.
2013/63 KA Titanium suffering from oscillating revs for 8 months. Probably a fault with the mass airflow sensor. Ford dealer offered to buy the car back less an allowance for the 8 months use.
See **FIAT 500** Wipers of early production can tangle. TSB modification to solve this.
Source: honestjohn.co.uk · 8 reports indexed
Recall history
The KA has 5 official UK vehicle recalls covering defect details, remedies, and affected build dates.
Use the failure ranking as a pre-test checklist or a haggling lever. Treat the headline pass rate as a fleet-wide trend, not a guarantee on any individual car.
If you own a KA and your last MOT looked nothing like the ranked failures above, that's normal — individual cars vary widely. The ranking shows the patterns testers flag most often across the country.
