Used buying checklist

Hyundai Kona reliability, common problems and used buying checks

A used Hyundai Kona looks better than average for reliability in UK MOT data: 7.1% of 22,055 tests failed, compared with 18.7% across all indexed models. A good example should have a clean MOT history for windscreen, wipers, and mirrors, tyres and wheels, and lights and electrical.

Sources used: DVSA MOT tests (Apr 2026); vehicle recalls (Apr 2026); MOT fault wording (May 2025). MOT data does not capture every reliability issue, especially intermittent engine, gearbox or infotainment faults that do not appear during the test.

• 7.1% MOT failure rate
• Median tested mileage 27,171 miles
• 1,568 failed MOT tests analysed

Most useful finding

Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors is the clearest area to check

Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors is the clearest named problem area in this model's MOT history (5.7 MOT notes per 100 tests). Example MOT phrases from this area include damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view, items removed from drivers view prior to test, and does not clear the windscreen effectively.

Example MOT phrases to search in the car's history:

• damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view
• Items removed from drivers view prior to test
• does not clear the windscreen effectively
• of an obligatory external mirror significantly affected by an obstruction
• Nail in tyre
• Spare tyre defective
• Vehicles internal headlight adjuster altered to recheck lights
• slightly damaged
• lens defective which has no effect on emitted light
• worn down to wear indicator

Before you view one

Focus on windscreen, wipers, and mirrors, tyres and wheels, and lights and electrical

The model's recorded failure rate is 7.1%, -11.6 percentage points compared with the average across all models. Use the seller questions below to check whether repeat MOT notes have actually been repaired.

• MOT tests analysed22,055 tests
• Median tested mileage27,171 miles
• Failed MOT tests1,568

Used buyer verdict

Should you buy a used Hyundai Kona?

92.9% of the MOT tests we analysed for this model passed. The model's recorded failure rate is 7.1%, -11.6 percentage points compared with the average across all models. This is a buying brief for the exact car in front of you: clean repeat history matters more than badge reputation.

Better than average in our MOT data

Green light if The car has a tidy MOT pattern, recent repairs for windscreen, wipers, and mirrors, tyres and wheels, and lights and electrical, matching tyres, and paperwork for service or recall work.

Renegotiate if The latest MOT mentions windscreen, wipers, and mirrors, tyres and wheels, and lights and electrical, consumables are due together, or the seller cannot show what was fixed after advisories.

Walk away if Dangerous defects, corrosion near structural areas, warning lights, or the same component family keep returning without clear repair evidence.

• Repeat unresolved MOT notes for windscreen, wipers, and mirrors, tyres and wheels, and lights and electrical
• windscreen, wipers, and mirrors appearing across more than one MOT
• Any dangerous MOT failure on the exact car, especially if the same area appears again later
• No paperwork showing applicable recall work has been completed
• A seller who cannot explain MOT wording such as "damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view"

What should I check first?

Start with windscreen, wipers, and mirrors, tyres and wheels, lights and electrical, and emissions, engine, and exhaust. The checklist on this page explains why each area is being recommended, what to inspect, and what to ask the seller. Each item shows whether it comes from MOT results, recall notices, or a standard used-car check.

• Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors Seen in MOT results

  Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors is one of the most common MOT problem areas for this model (5.7 MOT notes per 100 tests).

  What to check: Check windscreen damage, wiper operation, washers, mirrors, and demisting.

  • Ask the seller: Have windscreen, wiper, washer, mirror, or demisting faults appeared in recent MOT history?
  • Example MOT wording: damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view; Items removed from drivers view prior to test; does not clear the windscreen effectively
  • Where it shows up: most visible around 0-50k, 50-100k, and 100-150k miles
• Tyres and wheels Seen in MOT results

  Tyres and wheels is one of the most common MOT problem areas for this model (2.5 MOT notes per 100 tests).

  What to check: Check tyre age, tread depth, sidewall damage, wheel condition, and alignment wear.

  • Ask the seller: Have uneven tyre wear, damaged tyres, wheel damage, or alignment issues been corrected?
  • Example MOT wording: Nail in tyre; Spare tyre defective
  • Where it shows up: most visible around 0-50k, 50-100k, and 100-150k miles
• Lights and electrical Seen in MOT results

  Lights and electrical is one of the most common MOT problem areas for this model (1.1 MOT notes per 100 tests).

  What to check: Check every lamp, warning light, horn, battery condition, and dashboard messages.

  • Ask the seller: Have any lighting, warning-light, horn, battery, or electrical MOT notes come back more than once?
  • Example MOT wording: Vehicles internal headlight adjuster altered to recheck lights; slightly damaged; lens defective which has no effect on emitted light
  • Where it shows up: most visible around 0-50k, 50-100k, 100-150k, and 150-200k miles
• Emissions, engine, and exhaust Seen in MOT results

  Emissions, engine, and exhaust is one of the most common MOT problem areas for this model (0.4 MOT notes per 100 tests).

  What to check: Check warning lights, smoke, exhaust leaks, recent emissions failures, and service history.

  • Ask the seller: Has the car had repeat emissions, smoke, exhaust, lambda, or engine-warning MOT failures?
  • Example MOT wording: Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits; has a major leak of exhaust gases; leaking excessively from engine
  • Where it shows up: most visible around 0-50k miles
• Suspension and steering Seen in MOT results

  Suspension and steering is one of the most common MOT problem areas for this model (0.3 MOT notes per 100 tests).

  What to check: Listen for knocks, check uneven tyre wear, and inspect steering play.

  • Ask the seller: Has any suspension, steering, ball-joint, spring, or wheel-bearing advisory been repaired?
  • Example MOT wording: across an axle; ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt; ball joint has excessive play
  • Where it shows up: most visible around 50-100k miles
• Corrosion and structure Seen in MOT results

  Corrosion and structure is one of the most common MOT problem areas for this model (0.1 MOT notes per 100 tests).

  What to check: Inspect sills, subframes, mounting points, arches, and underside corrosion advisories.

  • Ask the seller: Has any sill, subframe, mounting-point, chassis, or structural corrosion advisory been repaired properly?
  • Example MOT wording: ferrule excessively corroded; prescribed area excessively damaged significantly reducing structural strength; excessively corroded

What changes with mileage?

Past 100k miles on the Hyundai Kona, MOT records most often point to lights and electrical, tyres and wheels, and windscreen, wipers, and mirrors.

Common MOT problem areas

22,055 MOT tests analysed for this model

19,355 Distinct vehicles represented

7.1% Recorded MOT test failure rate — -11.6 percentage points vs all models

Common faults: what usually fails on this model?

Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors is the clearest named problem area in the MOT history (5.7 MOT notes per 100 tests). These counts are issue notes, not failure rates, because a single MOT can list several faults.

Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors

• damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view
• Items removed from drivers view prior to test

5.7 MOT notes per 100 tests

Tyres and wheels

• Nail in tyre
• Spare tyre defective

2.5 MOT notes per 100 tests

Lights and electrical

• Vehicles internal headlight adjuster altered to recheck lights
• slightly damaged

1.1 MOT notes per 100 tests

Emissions, engine, and exhaust

• Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits
• has a major leak of exhaust gases

0.4 MOT notes per 100 tests

Suspension and steering

• across an axle
• ball joint dust cover damaged or deteriorated, but preventing the ingress of dirt

0.3 MOT notes per 100 tests

Corrosion and structure

• ferrule excessively corroded
• prescribed area excessively damaged significantly reducing structural strength

0.1 MOT notes per 100 tests

Brakes

• not releasing correctly and functionality of brakes affected

0.0 MOT notes per 100 tests

Recall-related areas to verify

Official recall areas

Manufacturer recall notices for the Hyundai Kona mainly involve 3 areas: brakes, mixed recall notices, and seatbelts and safety systems. Treat each as something to verify on the specific car you are viewing; the recall table below shows the official notice text.

Brakes

• Brake fluid line and a/c tube pipes could become damaged and leak

1 recall · 1,522 vehicles

Mixed recall notices

• In the event of ecall trigger the vin number information may not be sent

1 recall · 1,879 vehicles

Seatbelts and safety systems

• The airbag control unit may detect a crash signal and command deployment or non deployment of the airbag

1 recall · 416 vehicles

Mileage and age checks

Mileage changes: what starts showing up after high mileage?

Past 100k miles on the Hyundai Kona, MOT records most often point to lights and electrical, tyres and wheels, and windscreen, wipers, and mirrors. On lower-mileage cars, the most common named areas are windscreen, wipers, and mirrors, tyres and wheels, and lights and electrical.

Mileage range	Tests	Vehicles	Failure rate (vs all models)	Median mileage
0-50k	19,865	17,771	6.9%-4.0 percentage points vs all models	25,600 miles
50-100k	2,031	1,629	10.0%-10.7 percentage points vs all models	58,846 miles
100-150k	82	56	4.9%-21.3 percentage points vs all models	110,381 miles
150-200k	5	4	0.0%-27.3 percentage points vs all models	171,874 miles
200k+	1	1	0.0%-26.6 percentage points vs all models	410,712 miles

Problem areas by mileage

Past 100k miles on the Hyundai Kona, MOT records most often point to lights and electrical, tyres and wheels, and windscreen, wipers, and mirrors.

Mileage range	Car areas most often recorded	Specific MOT defect examples
0-50k	Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors (5.7 MOT notes per 100 tests) Tyres and wheels (2.5 MOT notes per 100 tests) Lights and electrical (0.9 MOT notes per 100 tests)	No exact MOT wording is available for this mileage range.
50-100k	Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors (5.8 MOT notes per 100 tests) Lights and electrical (2.5 MOT notes per 100 tests) Tyres and wheels (2.4 MOT notes per 100 tests)	No exact MOT wording is available for this mileage range.
100-150k	Lights and electrical (3.7 MOT notes per 100 tests) Tyres and wheels (2.4 MOT notes per 100 tests) Windscreen, wipers, and mirrors (2.4 MOT notes per 100 tests)	No exact MOT wording is available for this mileage range.
150-200k	Lights and electrical (20.0 MOT notes per 100 tests)	No exact MOT wording is available for this mileage range.

Fair comparisons: is this problem normal for its age?

The MOT failure rate rises from 5.9% at 0-3 years to 8.9% at 6-10 years. Compare the car with the nearest age range before treating a fault as normal wear or a warning sign. The average MOT failure rate across all models in the same dataset is 18.7%. The highest failure rate by age is 8.9% for 6-10 years cars, based on 45 tests.

Age range	Tests	Vehicles	Failure rate (vs all models)	Median age
0-3 years 2023–2026 reg.	5,543	4,896	5.9%-2.5 percentage points vs all models	3.0 years
3-6 years 2020–2023 reg.	16,467	14,722	7.5%-3.1 percentage points vs all models	4.4 years
6-10 years 2016–2020 reg.	45	41	8.9%-7.7 percentage points vs all models	6.1 years

Recall records and data freshness

Recall context: are there safety notices to know about?

3 relevant recall notices appear for this model. Treat them as safety checks to verify for the exact car, not as normal MOT wear.

2021-02-22	IN THE EVENT OF eCALL TRIGGER THE VIN NUMBER INFORMATION MAY NOT BE SENT The vehicle VIN information may not be registered correctly within the eCall unit. Register the VIN information within the vehicle by resetting the E-call unit and updating.
2019-05-01	BRAKE FLUID LINE AND A/C TUBE PIPES COULD BECOME DAMAGED AND LEAK A right-front brake fluid line and a/c tube may become damaged and leak. The brake pipe and AC pipe will be inspected for damage. If the pipes are damaged they will be replaced.
2019-01-30	THE AIRBAG CONTROL UNIT MAY DETECT A CRASH SIGNAL AND COMMAND DEPLOYMENT OR NON DEPLOYMENT OF THE AIRBAG The airbag may not deploy properly during a crash due to a programming issue Upgrade the software in the Airbag Control Unit.

Related searches

Common ways people look up the Hyundai Kona. Each link runs the search and lands on the relevant section of this report.

• Hyundai Kona common problems
• Hyundai Kona reliability
• Hyundai Kona after 100k miles
• Hyundai Kona after 200k miles
• Hyundai Kona high mileage common problems
• Hyundai Kona age related problems
• Hyundai Kona MOT failures
• Hyundai Kona recalls

Related reliability guides

Sources used: DVSA MOT tests (Apr 2026); vehicle recalls (Apr 2026); MOT fault wording (May 2025). These are patterns from many MOT tests and recall notices. They help you decide what to inspect and what to ask; they do not certify the condition of one specific car.