MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Does the Kia Picanto fail the MOT on brakes more than it should?

The Kia Picanto records 19.30 brakes failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 10.15 expected for a car of the same age mix: more than expected for its class and age (+9.15, 95% interval +9.07 to +9.24). It ranks 72 of 712 models on brakes (1 = most failures above expected).

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on brakes · check a Kia Picanto by registration

What exactly fails on brakes?

The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Kia Picanto is “Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement”, recorded 36,897 times in 2019–2024.

Kia Picanto: most frequent brakes defect wordings, 2019–2024 (30+ items each)
DVSA defect wordingItemsPer 100 tests
Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement36,8973.73
Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded26,6322.69
Parking brake inoperative on one side23,5762.38
Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake19,7211.99
a brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm14,5011.46

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 990,523 (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

If a Kia Picanto gets a brakes advisory, how often does it fail next time?

20.9% of Kia Picanto MOTs with a brakes advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12 months and 3,943 miles later (149,906 advisories followed).

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 149,906 (advisories followed) · Method: the same vehicles followed to their next ordinary MOT · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

Other pages for this model

Kia Picanto 2004 · Kia Picanto 2005 · Kia Picanto 2006 · Kia Picanto 2007 · Kia Picanto 2008 · Kia Picanto 2009 · Kia Picanto 2010 · Kia Picanto 2011 · Kia Picanto 2012 · Kia Picanto 2013 · Kia Picanto 2014 · Kia Picanto 2015 · Kia Picanto 2016 · Kia Picanto 2017 · Kia Picanto 2018 · Kia Picanto 2019 · Kia Picanto 2020 · Kia Picanto in Norway · Kia Picanto in Finland · Kia Picanto in the Netherlands · Kia Picanto by postcode area · Kia Picanto body, chassis and structure failures · Kia Picanto vehicle identification failures · Kia Picanto lamps, reflectors and electrics failures · Kia Picanto noise, emissions and leaks failures · Kia Picanto road wheels failures · Kia Picanto seat belts and airbags failures · Kia Picanto steering failures · Kia Picanto suspension failures · Kia Picanto tyres failures · Kia Picanto visibility failures