Kia
39,770 MOT tests analysed. lands in the middle of the pack — here's where Souls pass, fail, and end up on the retest sheet.
That's 1.7 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
75.8%
Pass-after-fix
3.8%
Fail
19.8%
Avg miles
72,026
Pass + Pass-after-fix + Fail = 100%
Trim variants
Performance by cohort
2 year bands · 39,732 tests
Pass rate climbs 13.2 points across the cohorts — newer Soul examples clear the test more reliably than the early cars.
Pass
74.9%
Fail
20.6%
PRS
3.8%
Avg mileage at test
74,764 mi
Pass
88.2%
Fail
8.2%
PRS
3.4%
Avg mileage at test
35,256 mi
Cohort = vehicle's first-registration year band. Same model, different generations of build.
Generations on file · 2
Kia Soul · UK market
2008–2025
–now
Photos: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA / CC BY / public domain.
The picture
The Kia Soul is a compact five-door, five-passenger hatchback manufactured and marketed by Kia from 2008 to 2025, over three generations. Marketed as a crossover since its introduction, the Soul was a five-door, five-passenger hatchback with a boxy proportion and tall roof, maximizing interior space.
MOT data from 28,529 tests puts this car on a 75.6% first-time pass rate, roughly in line with the UK fleet average. Average mileage at test is 68,107 miles. The most common fail item is steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play, followed by cracked or discoloured windscreen.
Kia confirmed Soul would retain the name and spirit of the concept from which it evolved. Body colours: White, Bright Silver, Titanium Silver, Blue Stone, Vanilla Shake, Green Tea Latte, Cocktail Orange, Tomato Red, Java Brown, Moonlight Blue, Black Soul. 15" steel wheels with 19.
Buyers weighing up a used Soul 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
Below the fleet average — generally reasonable to insure. 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 →
14–22
out of 50
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A steering ball joint with excessive wear or free play
1,910 occurrences · 4.8% of tests
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view
1,088 occurrences · 2.7% of tests
A rear registration plate lamp or light source missing or inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources
1,067 occurrences · 2.7% of tests
Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements
819 occurrences · 2.1% of tests
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm
781 occurrences · 2.0% of tests
A lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning
714 occurrences · 1.8% of tests
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement
649 occurrences · 1.6% of tests
Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded
588 occurrences · 1.5% of tests
A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn
519 occurrences · 1.3% of tests
Wiper blade missing or obviously not clearing the windscreen
461 occurrences · 1.2% 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 4 failures
£228–£530
If every one of this Soul'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 13.2-point gap between bands means the year you buy Kia Soul has a real effect on what turns up at the garage.
Best band to buy
88.2%
2018–2020 registration
the 2018–2020 band climbs to 88.2% — a 13.2-point improvement. Tests in this band average 35,256 miles — roughly 40K miles fewer on the clock than the older band. Failures here are mostly wear items: blade defective, damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view — 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
74.9%
Pre-2018 registration
On the older band (pre-2018), the data shows a 74.9% pass rate against a fleet average of 88.2% on the newer band. The main culprits logged at test: ball joint has excessive play, inoperative in the case of multiple lamps…, and damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view. Average mileage on test for this band is 74,764 miles — high-mileage wear items are a recurring theme.
Best band to buy: 2018-2020 (88.2% first-time pass). Worst band to avoid: pre-2018 (74.9% pass). That's a 13.2-point spread across 37,036 older tests and 2,696 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.
Item 01 · Amazon UK
H7 / W21W bulb pack
A spare-bulb kit lives in the boot. Test morning is not the time to find your stop-lamp's gone.
Search Amazon UK
Item 02 · Amazon UK
Digital tyre-tread depth gauge
Five quid for a gauge beats £150 for a retest. UK MOT minimum is 1.6mm — most testers fail anything below 2mm to be safe.
Search Amazon UK
Item 03 · Amazon UK
Brake pad measurement gauge
Testers fail pads under 1.5mm. A wear gauge tells you if you've got two months left or two weeks.
Search Amazon UK
My Motor World · affiliate
Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.
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Click Mechanic · affiliate
Affiliate links — small commission, no extra cost to you.
Mobile mechanic · UK-wide
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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
Production of Soul will began in Korea in September 2008 with UK cars appearing in early 2009\. Kia believes Soul will provide a creative platform for buyers to individualise and match their car to their own personality. High tech standard audio with Aux and iPod sockets and Bluetooth. Optional reversing camera screen is in rear view mirror.
Where it falls short
Kia confirmed Soul would retain the name and spirit of the concept from which it evolved. Body colours: White, Bright Silver, Titanium Silver, Blue Stone, Vanilla Shake, Green Tea Latte, Cocktail Orange, Tomato Red, Java Brown, Moonlight Blue, Black Soul. 15" steel wheels with 195/65 R15 tyres, 16" alloys with 205/55 R16 tyres or 18" alloys with 225/45 R18 tyres.
Recall history
The Soul has 6 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 Soul 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.
