Does the Kia Optima fail the MOT on noise, emissions and leaks more than it should?

The Kia Optima records 0.76 noise, emissions and leaks failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 1.21 expected for a car of the same age mix: about as expected for its class and age (the difference is within its interval or under 0.5 items per 100 tests) (−0.45, 95% interval −0.54 to −0.36). It ranks 361 of 678 models on noise, emissions and leaks (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on noise, emissions and leaks · check a Kia Optima by registration

What exactly fails on noise, emissions and leaks?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Kia Optima is “Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction”, recorded 287 times in 2019–2024.

Kia Optima: most frequent noise, emissions and leaks defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wording	Items	Per 100 tests
Engine MIL illuminated indicating a malfunction	287	0.50
Emissions test unable to be completed	32	0.06
Smoke opacity levels exceed the manufacturer's specified limit	32	0.06

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 57,208 (initial tests) · Method: failure items (major and minor) grouped by DVSA's defect tree; wordings with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

Does the Kia Optima fail the MOT on noise, emissions and leaks more than it should?

What exactly fails on noise, emissions and leaks?

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