Does the Kia Soul fail the MOT on vehicle identification more than it should?
The Kia Soul records 0.19 vehicle identification failure items per 100 initial MOT tests (2019–2024), against 0.34 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) (−0.15, 95% interval −0.18 to −0.12). It ranks 526 of 636 models on vehicle identification (1 = most failures above expected).
Data release dvsa-2024-v2 (24 Sep 2026) · page updated 30 Sep 2026 · all models on vehicle identification · check a Kia Soul by registration
What exactly fails on vehicle identification?
The most frequent DVSA defect wording in this group on the Kia Soul is “Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements”, recorded 127 times in 2019–2024.
| DVSA defect wording | Items | Per 100 tests |
|---|---|---|
| Number plate does not conform to the specified requirements | 127 | 0.09 |
| Number plate inscription missing or illegible | 80 | 0.06 |
| Number plate missing or so insecure that it is likely to fall off | 39 | 0.03 |
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 137,660 (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 Soul gets a vehicle identification advisory, how often does it fail next time?
2.5% of Kia Soul MOTs with a vehicle identification advisory were followed by a fail in the same group at the next MOT, typically 12 months and 4,642 miles later (1,247 advisories followed).
Source: DVSA MOT bulk data (OGL v3.0) · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,247 (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 Soul 2009 · Kia Soul 2010 · Kia Soul 2011 · Kia Soul 2012 · Kia Soul 2013 · Kia Soul 2014 · Kia Soul 2015 · Kia Soul 2016 · Kia Soul 2017 · Kia Soul 2018 · Kia Soul 2019 · Kia Soul 2020 · Kia Soul in Norway · Kia Soul in Finland · Kia Soul in the Netherlands · Kia Soul by postcode area · Kia Soul body, chassis and structure failures · Kia Soul brakes failures · Kia Soul lamps, reflectors and electrics failures · Kia Soul noise, emissions and leaks failures · Kia Soul road wheels failures · Kia Soul seat belts and airbags failures · Kia Soul steering failures · Kia Soul suspension failures · Kia Soul tyres failures · Kia Soul visibility failures