Ford Ka MOT pass rates & common failures

How many Ford Ka cars are still on the road?

At the end of 2025, DVLA's register held 186,456 Ford Ka cars that were taxed or on SORN: 158,073 taxed and 28,383 on SORN (Statutory Off Road Notification — kept, but declared off the road by the keeper). The MOT figures above count tests; these count cars, across the whole United Kingdom, cars only. Ford Ka vans, where they exist, are counted by DVLA as goods vehicles and are not in these figures. DVLA records the Ka+ (2016-2020) under a name of its own; the MOT grouping counts it as a Ka, so both names are counted here.

How the numbers are moving

The number of taxed Ka cars peaked at 379,149 at the end of 2014 and has since fallen by 221,076 (58.3%) to 158,073 at the end of 2025. Cars on SORN went from 17,592 at the end of 2014 to 28,383 at the end of 2025, up 61.3%. A car leaves the taxed count when it is scrapped, exported or declared off the road; the year-end counts do not say which.

Taxed Ka cars, year by year

Cars of this model taxed and on the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025.

Ka cars on SORN, year by year

Cars of this model declared off the road at the end of each year, 2014–2025. Its own scale — SORN counts are a fraction of the taxed count.

Which model years survive

Taxed Ka cars at the end of 2025 by year of manufacture, and each year's share of the 158,073 taxed in all. Every build year holding at least 1% has its own row; the rest share one. 1 taxed Ka car has no recorded year of manufacture and is not in the table, so the rows add up to 158,072. A build year's count depends on how many were sold that year as well as how many have lasted.

How the Ka ages

First-time pass rate by vehicle age, Ka vs all cars, 2025.

Better or worse than the average car?

The Ka's pass rate minus the all-cars pass rate at each age, in percentage points. Bars above zero: the Ka beats the average car of that age. Below zero: it trails.

The Ka fleet on the road, by age

How many took a first MOT in 2025 at each age — the shape of the Ka fleet still in use.

What a Ka fails on

Where the failure items land when a Ka fails or needs a fix at test, 2025. Use it as a pre-purchase checklist: these are the areas to look at first.

Share of all failure items, 2025 — the 8 biggest categories shown (97.8% of the items); smaller categories are not listed.

The advisories to watch

Where testers most often write "keep an eye on this" for a Ka, 2025 — the faults in the post.

Petrol, diesel or hybrid Ka?

First-time pass rate for the two most-tested Ka fuel types, 2025, against the all-cars average. Fleet ages differ by fuel — newer fleets help the electrified bars.

What mileage is normal for a Ka?

Mileage recorded at test by vehicle age, 2025. The line is the typical (median) Ka; the shaded band holds the middle half. A car far outside the band, in either direction, is worth questions the recorded history can answer.

What fails at each age

The Ka's failure mix by age band, 2025 — each band's top categories at their true share of that band's failure items; the pale remainder is everything else. How the mix shifts with age is the point of the chart.