All generations and engines together · 28,062 MOT tests in the 2025 data · typical mileage at age 7: 53k
Computed from DVSA MOT results, all of Great Britain, 2025. Nothing here is opinion.
Share of tests where each item was recorded. The dark tick is the class average across all tracked models; bars are scaled within each group.
The rows that judge the model rather than its keeper. 10,526 tests in this band.
Tyres, pads and stone chips say more about how the car was driven and maintained than about how it was built.
Owner folklore from forums and the motoring press. Most of it never shows up in an MOT, which is why this section exists at all.
On cars built between June 2019 and April 2020, the mesh filter inside the tandem vacuum pump can block, starving the brake servo of vacuum assistance and lengthening stopping distance. Kia issued an official recall for this in September 2023, so any car in that build window should show the work done in the service history. If you're buying one from that window and it hasn't been done, get it sorted before you drive it hard.
Owners of the 1.0-litre turbo petrol report a flat spot or whistle under acceleration from around 60,000 miles, usually on cars used mostly for short urban runs. The likely cause is carbon build-up on the turbo and inlet side from repeated cold starts and stop-start driving rather than a design fault, and it tends to show up gradually rather than as a sudden failure. No manufacturer statement or recall covers it, and a full turbo replacement can run to several hundred pounds if it's left too long.
Some pre-2020 1.0 T-GDi Stonics develop a rattle from the timing chain area on cold start-up that clears once oil pressure builds. Hyundai-Kia revised the tensioner, guides and recommended oil spec for this engine family around 2020, which owners take as a tacit admission of the problem, but there's no Stonic-specific recall and dealers vary in how they diagnose it. Left unaddressed for a long time it can mean a costly chain and tensioner replacement rather than an adjustment.
Owners report the EPS warning light coming on with the steering suddenly going heavy, sometimes with no fault code stored, traced in individual cases to a faulty sensor, a bad steering motor, or a failed rubber coupler on the column. This lines up with the measured MOT data for this segment, where steering is the standout fault category for small SUVs generally; the Stonic doesn't stand out as worse than the class, but where it does fail, EPS-related faults are the sort of thing owners describe. Repairs range from a simple sensor or coupler swap up to a full rack, so cost varies a lot.
On the 1.4 and 1.6 CRDi diesel versions (early generation only), owners describe the DPF warning light coming on, black smoke under acceleration and reduced power, usually on cars doing a lot of short, low-speed trips that never get the filter hot enough to regenerate. A forced regeneration or filter clean can sort it early on, but a fully blocked filter usually means replacement, which is an expensive job on a small car like this. Doesn't apply to the far more common 1.0 T-GDi petrol.
Cars fitted with the 7-speed dual-clutch automatic can develop a shudder or hesitation pulling away from a stop or in slow traffic, a known trait of this dry-clutch DCT design shared across the Hyundai-Kia range rather than a Stonic-specific fault. It's more of a driving-experience niggle than a guaranteed failure, but persistent judder can point to clutch pack wear, which is a costly transmission job out of warranty. Doesn't apply to manual cars.
Built from the two sections above.
Same segment (Small SUVs), best MOT record first. Compare before you shortlist.