Kia Sorento 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

53.8% of 2,839 MOT tests of the Kia Sorento first registered in 2003 failed at the first attempt (2019–2024; retests excluded). Against this model's own normal rate at the same ages the index is 104.1 (95% CI 98.8–109.3; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2003 build year is no different from other years of the same model at the same age. This is a rough estimate from a smaller sample.

Kia Sorento built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	53.8	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	2839
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 98.8–109.3)	104.1	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	2839
Rank among this model's 18 build years	17	of 18	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	2839
Tested in 2024	158	tests	median 117,808 miles	2024	158

Built 2003 against Kia Sorento normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 54.9% vs 55.3%; age 17: 53.2% vs 50.5%; age 18: 55.4% vs 49.7%; age 19: 53.4% vs 47%; age 20: 47.3% vs 50.6%; age 21: 46.2% vs n/a%. Axis from 0% to 60%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Kia Sorento by registration · All Kia Sorento MOT statistics · Download the build-year table (CSV)

Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · full dataset (v5).

How does the 2003 Kia Sorento fail at each age?

Cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21 between 2019 and 2024. Each row compares their first-time failure share with what this model normally shows at that age, after allowing for the overall failure level of each test year.

Kia Sorento built 2003: first-time MOT failure by age, against the model's normal rate at that age (2019–2024)
Age	Tests	Failed, %	95% interval	Normal for this model at that age, %	Index (100 = normal)
16	1,036	54.9	51.9–57.9	55.3	99.4
17	682	53.2	49.5–56.9	50.5	105.5
18	513	55.4	51–59.6	49.7	111.3
19	367 (rough estimate)	53.4	48.3–58.4	47	113.7
20	241 (rough estimate)	47.3	41.1–53.6	50.6	93.4
21	158 (rough estimate)	46.2	38.6–54	not available	not available

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 2,997 (initial tests) · Method: normal rate = this model's first-time failure share at that age across its build years (cells of 400+ tests), adjusted for each test year's overall level; cells of 30+ tests, under 500 marked rough · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

What fails most on the 2003 Kia Sorento?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 57 items per 100 first tests, against 19.7 across all build years of the Kia Sorento. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Kia Sorento built 2003 against the Kia Sorento in all build years (2019–2024, not age-adjusted)
Failure group	Built 2003, per 100	All build years, per 100	Items
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment	57	19.7	1,707
Suspension	51.2	18.8	1,533
Brakes	50.8	21.6	1,521
Body, chassis, structure	33	8.5	990
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems	16.3	3.5	488

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 2,997 (initial tests of this build year) · Method: failure items grouped by DVSA's top-level defect groups, per 100 initial tests; groups with 30+ items · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How does 2003 compare with the years around it?

Among the 18 published build years of the Kia Sorento, 2003 ranks 17 (1 = fails least for its age). 2004: index 103.7.

Kia Sorento build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
2003	104.1	98.8–109.3	no different (rough estimate)	2,839
2004	103.7	100.8–106.7	worse	8,965
2005	99.5	97.1–101.9	no different	12,987
2006	100.3	98.3–102.4	no different	19,521
2007	97.0	94.5–99.6	better	11,951
2008	100.5	97.2–103.7	no different	8,074
2009	98.7	95.7–101.6	no different	9,922
2010	102.6	99.8–105.4	no different	12,432
2011	103.5	100.3–106.7	worse	10,679
2012	109.1	105.9–112.4	worse	12,019
2013	103.3	100.1–106.5	worse	13,126
2014	97.3	94.5–100.2	no different	17,716
2015	93.3	90.7–95.9	better	24,118
2016	101.2	97.9–104.4	no different	18,965
2017	95.3	91.7–98.8	better	16,400
2018	88.5	84.1–92.8	better	11,114
2019	99.5	94.0–105.0	no different	8,407
2020	97.7	87.1–108.3	no different (rough estimate)	2,364

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 221,599 (initial tests) · Method: observed failures against those expected for the same model at the same ages, test-year level adjusted; verdict follows the printed one-decimal bound · Updated: 30 Sep 2026 · Release: dvsa-2024-v2 · CSV

How to cite this page

MOT Risk Index (2026). Kia Sorento 2003 MOT statistics (data release dvsa-2024-v2; full dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22975051), updated 30 September 2026. motriskindex.co.uk/cars/kia-sorento/2003/

How every figure is calculated: methodology. Age, test year and build year are tied together (age = test year − build year), so the test-year level is taken as observed, not estimated.

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