Kia Sportage 2003: MOT failure rate for its age

45.0% of 436 MOT tests of the Kia Sportage 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 86.5 (95% CI 74.4–98.6; 100 = normal for this model at that age): the 2003 Kia Sportage fails less often than other build years of the same model at the same age. This is a rough estimate from a smaller sample.

Kia Sportage built in 2003 at a glance
Measure	Value	Unit	Compared with	Years	Tests
Failed first time	45.0	%	all ages tested	2019–2024	436
Index against this model at the same age (95% CI 74.4–98.6)	86.5	index	100 = normal for this model at that age	2019–2024	436
Rank among this model's 17 build years	1	of 17	1 = fails least for its age	2019–2024	436
Tested in 2024	30	tests	median 72,629 miles	2024	30

Built 2003 against Kia Sportage normal for the age: first-time MOT failure share at each age, age 16: 46% vs 54.4%; age 17: 48.7% vs 50.8%; age 18: 41.2% vs 50.1%; age 19: 37.7% vs 47.8%; age 20: 31.7% vs n/a%; age 21: 56.7% vs n/a%. Axis from 0% to 60%. DVSA MOT bulk data, 2019–2024.

Check a 2003 Kia Sportage by registration · All Kia Sportage 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 Sportage 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 Sportage 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	200 (rough estimate)	46	39.2–52.9	54.4	84.6
17	115 (rough estimate)	48.7	39.8–57.7	50.8	95.9
18	68 (rough estimate)	41.2	30.3–53	50.1	82.3
19	53 (rough estimate)	37.7	25.9–51.2	47.8	78.9
20	41 (rough estimate)	31.7	19.6–47	not available	not available
21	30 (rough estimate)	56.7	39.2–72.6	not available	not available

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 507 (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 Sportage?

The most common failure group on cars built in 2003 is lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment: 45.4 items per 100 first tests, against 6.8 across all build years of the Kia Sportage. These counts are not age-adjusted: cars built in 2003 were tested at ages 16 to 21.

Failure items per 100 first tests, Kia Sportage built 2003 against the Kia Sportage 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	45.4	6.8	230
Suspension	36.1	7.7	183
Brakes	31	11.8	157
Body, chassis, structure	24.5	1.5	124
Visibility	11.6	7.1	59

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 507 (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 17 published build years of the Kia Sportage, 2003 ranks 1 (1 = fails least for its age). 2005: index 102.1.

Kia Sportage build years: index against the model at the same age (2019–2024)
Build year	Index (100 = normal)	95% interval	Verdict	Tests
2003	86.5	74.4–98.6	better (rough estimate)	436
2005	102.1	99.6–104.6	no different	13,044
2006	104.3	101.7–106.8	worse	12,532
2007	105.6	103.0–108.2	worse	13,003
2008	97.4	94.8–99.9	better	12,753
2009	103.5	101.1–105.8	worse	17,914
2010	99.8	97.9–101.7	no different	28,265
2011	98.8	97.3–100.3	no different	47,775
2012	109.0	107.6–110.3	worse	78,302
2013	109.6	108.4–110.8	worse	110,040
2014	95.5	94.3–96.6	better	115,983
2015	105.0	103.7–106.2	worse	126,320
2016	98.5	97.5–99.4	better	223,798
2017	92.9	91.8–93.9	better	193,085
2018	94.9	93.6–96.2	better	136,051
2019	102.8	101.1–104.4	worse	96,645
2020	111.6	108.1–115.2	worse	24,184

Source: DVSA MOT bulk data · Window: 2019–2024 · n = 1,250,130 (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 Sportage 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-sportage/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.

Other pages for this model