2nd best-selling new car in the UK May 2026 - registration data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.
Ranked #2 car in the UK · SUV · 47,774 units sold last year
Family SUV that's leapt up the sales charts on the back of a striking 2022 redesign and seven-year warranty. Hybrid and PHEV variants are the resale champs.
WLTP
The short version
Forecourt score
Value 43 · Reliability 71 · Insurance 71
The Kia Sportage holds its value about averagely and is cheaper to run than most. Its MOT-based reliability is excellent, 80 out of 100, ahead of 71% of the cars we track. On three-year value retention it ranks better than 43% of models. The main things to check on a used one are the theta ii engine (pre-2020).
The Forecourt score blends how this car ranks against the catalogue on value retention, reliability and insurance cost (weighted 40/40/20). Higher is better; running cost is not yet folded in.
Estimates are tuned to the version you choose.
Fuel
Hybrid · 1598cc
Power
235 ps
Drivetrain
FWD
Cam drive
Chain
Quoted MPG
49 mpg
The volume seller and the one to have. Full hybrid, 235 PS, 6-speed auto, ~49 mpg real-world. Smooth, quiet and cheap to run.
Tidy and well looked-after for its age — the typical car.
Remembered as you browse other cars.
Optional — fills in the exact year and ULEZ status for your specific car. The registration isn’t stored.
Estimated market value
How we got this number — click for the breakdown, or to challenge it.£20,850
Range £17,300 – £24,700
medium confidence
How a 2023-registration Kia Sportage loses value over time.
Based on the 2023 car with 27,000 miles you entered above — worth about £20,850 today — here is the cost of owning it for the next 5 years, at roughly 9,000 miles a year.
5-year total
£18,069
Per year
£3,614
All-in per mile
£0.40
Fuel per mile
15.8p
If a company carAround £345/mo Benefit-in-Kind tax at the 40% rate (£173/mo at 20%) — 33% band
If you're a company-car driver
At 33% BIK, a 40% taxpayer would pay about £345/month in company-car tax (£173/month at 20%) — on top of the running costs above. Full BIK table below for context.
Uses current UK pump and home-charging prices (DESNZ weekly), typical-driver insurance and manufacturer service intervals. "Fuel per mile" is just the energy input — so an EV at ~9p and a diesel at ~22p make running-cost comparison direct. A guide; your own costs will vary.
Where this car ranks against the 340 vehicles in our index — higher is better.
Percentile rank across our full index. A measure is shown only where the data spreads meaningfully across the index.
How the available versions compare on price, running cost, and the headaches each tends to develop.
Kia's volume mid-SUV. Sister to Hyundai Tucson — same platform and drivetrains. Cross-shop Tucson (sister), Nissan Qashqai, VW Tiguan, Toyota RAV4. Kia 7-year warranty is the closer over Hyundai's 5-year.
Watch for
Fuel/energy costs based on this week’s UK averages (w/c 22/06/2026) · Petrol 153.3p/L, Diesel 172.5p/L, Electricity 27.0p/kWh · DESNZ
Group 17 of 50 (mid — around the UK average) · Comprehensive · 3 years NCB
Indicative annual comprehensive premiums for this car, by driver age band and risk profile. Pick the combination closest to your circumstances.
Estimated annual premium · typical, age 33-39
£892/ year
Roughly £74 per month
Typical
Average UK driver — 3 years NCB, average postcode, no recent claims.| Age band | Lower risk | Typical | Higher risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age 17-25 | £2,034 | £2,542 | £3,305 |
| Age 26-32 | £1,061 | £1,249 | £1,524 |
| Age 33-39Selected | £785 | £892 | £1,053 |
| Age 40-49 | £666 | £740 | £859 |
| Age 50+ | £594 | £660 | £779 |
How we estimate this
Indicative annual comprehensive premium estimates. The 'Typical' figure represents an average UK driver in each age band; Lower and Higher risk show the realistic spread driven by factors UK insurers legitimately price on (postcode, occupation, claims history, NCB, voluntary excess, modifications). Based on 10,000 miles/yr, £250 voluntary excess, and the no-claims bonus selected above. Always get individual quotes before buying.
Adjust the annual mileage to match how you'll actually use the car. Insurance is what you selected above (age 33-39, typical risk, 3 yrs NCB).
Routine service
£230
Annual main-dealer service
Major service
£205
Every 2 years, annualised
Road tax
£195
Standard rate, post year-one
Electricity
£736
3.3 mi/kWh, 27p blended
Insurance
£892
Age 33-39, group 17
Clean-air zones
✓ ULEZ compliantBased on London ULEZ standards — Birmingham, Bath, Bristol, Sheffield, Glasgow and other UK clean-air zones generally follow the same rules.
Excludes depreciation and unscheduled repairs (see next section).
What out-of-warranty repairs typically run, by mileage band. Your selected mileage is highlighted.
0-30k miles
£50
per year · low risk
30-60k miles
£180
per year · low risk
60-100k miles
£400
per year · low risk
100k+ miles
£700
per year · medium risk
215/65 R17 · 235/55 R18 · 235/50 R19
What a full set of four will cost you (including fit and balance), and which brand each tier of buyer should pick. A typical set lasts about 26,000 miles.
Budget
£360
set of 4, fitted · £75 per tyre
Mid-range
£500
set of 4, fitted · £110 per tyre
Premium
£700
set of 4, fitted · £160 per tyre
Hankook Ventus Prime 4
Korean OE choice. Strong wet grip, long life.
Continental AllSeasonContact 2
Best mileage of the all-season class. Good fit for Sportage's weight.
Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2
Excellent rolling resistance — useful on hybrid variants.
Drawn from owner reports and warranty data. Filtered for relevance to 27,000 miles.
Watch now
Failure typically happens around your current mileage.
Upcoming
A known weak point — but you haven't reached its usual mileage yet.
Already due
Past its usual failure mileage. Either already fixed, or about to.
Bearing wear in 2.0/2.4 GDI petrols. Most subject to recall — confirm completion.
Judder in stop-start. Fluid change at 40k helps.
Urban use only — motorway-driven cars rarely affected.
AGM type — costs more than a basic lead-acid.
DIY-friendly swap.
"Parts low/medium/high" indicates how easy the replacement part is to source — discontinued or specialist parts mean longer workshop time and bigger bills.
Euro NCAP's independent crash-test rating for the Kia Sportage, from its 2022 assessment.
The Kia Sportage shares a common platform with the Hyundai Tucson, tested last year.
Independent crash-test data from Euro NCAP. Star ratings reflect the test protocol of the year shown — newer protocols are stricter, so a 5-star from 2024 represents a higher bar than a 5-star from 2014.
How this model fares at its MOT as it ages — from 2,995,494 real DVSA test records.
MOT pass rate by age
A 3-year-old Sportage passes its MOT 86.8% of the time; by 25 years that has slipped to 60%. The y-axis is zoomed to this model’s range so the trend is readable.
Longevity
From 675 vehicles registered in 1995.
Survival by registration year
Each point is one registration cohort. Older cars on the left, newer on the right. A flatter line means the model holds up over time; a steep drop means cohorts disappear from UK roads faster.
What’s on the road
The fuel-type split of every Sportage currently MOT’d in the UK. From 497,915 vehicles.
Common MOT failures by mileage
The defect categories this Sportage fails on most often, and how the failure rate climbs as the miles add up — from the same DVSA test records.
| Category | 0-30k | 30-60k | 60-100k | 100k+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 2% | 5% | 8% | 10% |
| Suspension | 1% | 2% | 7% | 13% |
| Tyres & wheels | 3% | 4% | 6% | 7% |
| Driver's view | 2% | 2% | 3% | 3% |
| Lighting & signalling | — | 1% | 3% | 5% |
| Emissions | — | — | 2% | 3% |
Share of MOT tests in each mileage band with at least one defect in that category. The peak band for each is highlighted.
Typical mileage by age
The average odometer reading for a Sportage at MOT, by age — measured from the same DVSA records, not assumed. A useful yardstick for whether a given car has done more or fewer miles than its age suggests.
Mean recorded mileage at MOT by vehicle age, from DVSA test records (ages with at least 10 tests shown).
Excellent
MOT outlook · age 5 years
43th percentile — Below catalogue average
Based on 346,074 MOT tests · ranked against 248 catalogue models with comparable data
Where this car sits in the catalogue
Pass-rate distribution across 248 catalogue models
Safety recalls
Manufacturers occasionally issue safety recalls to fix a fault free of charge. You can check whether the Kia Sportage, or your exact vehicle, has any outstanding recalls on the official DVSA service.
Check on GOV.UKOpens the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency recall checker. Choose the make, model and year of manufacture — no registration needed.
A general indicator from UK 2025 theft data and this car’s characteristics — not a prediction for any one vehicle.
Whole-car theft
Higher
Desirable SUVs like this are relay-theft targets — keyless entry can be exploited from the driveway in under a minute.
Parts theft
Higher
Hybrid versions are a catalytic-converter target — a hybrid cat is rich in precious metals and can be cut out in about a minute.
Worth doing
Whether driving a Kia Sportage into a UK clean-air zone will cost you anything. Rules use the same Euro standard across most zones — petrol from 2006 and diesel from 2015 onwards are exempt; pure electric is always exempt.
| City | Area | Daily charge | Likely outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | All of Greater London (within the M25) | £12.50 | Likely exempt Hybrid petrol engines from 2006 meet Euro 4. |
| Birmingham | Inside the A4540 Middleway | £8.00 | Likely exempt Hybrid petrol engines from 2006 meet Euro 4. |
| Bristol | City centre and part of the Portway | £9.00 | Likely exempt Hybrid petrol engines from 2006 meet Euro 4. |
| Glasgow | City centre | — | Likely exempt Hybrid petrol engines from 2006 meet Euro 4. |
| Edinburgh | City centre | — | Likely exempt Hybrid petrol engines from 2006 meet Euro 4. |
| Aberdeen | City centre | — | Likely exempt Hybrid petrol engines from 2006 meet Euro 4. |
| Dundee | City centre | — | Likely exempt Hybrid petrol engines from 2006 meet Euro 4. |
Model-level guidance only. To check a specific registration, use the official gov.uk clean-air zone checker. Zone charges and boundaries are set by local councils and change over time.
UK charging network
As of 2026-04-01, the UK has 119,080 publicly available EV chargers, up 12.6% on the prior year (13,281 added in 2025). 23% of those are rapid (50 kW+) or ultra-rapid (150 kW+), so the network can support both home and on-route charging.
3-8 kW
50%
Standard
8-50 kW
27%
Standard plus
50-150 kW
12%
Rapid
150 kW+
11%
Ultra-rapid
Source: Department for Transport / Zapmap · Released 2026-05-21 · DfT statistics
What HMRC's Benefit-in-Kind charge looks like if you ran this Kia Sportage as a company car, by tax year and income-tax band. Calculated from a CO₂ of 141 g/km and a WLTP electric range of 40 miles, using £31,400 as the P11D value.
| Tax year | BIK % | Tax @ 20% | Tax @ 40% | Monthly @ 20% | Monthly @ 40% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 33% | £2,072 | £4,145 | £173 | £345 |
| 2026-27 | 34% | £2,135 | £4,270 | £178 | £356 |
| 2027-28 | 35% | £2,198 | £4,396 | £183 | £366 |
| 2028-29 | 35% | £2,198 | £4,396 | £183 | £366 |
| 2029-30 | 35% | £2,198 | £4,396 | £183 | £366 |
P11D value is approximated from the latest new price; the exact figure on your tax code will depend on options fitted. The 4% diesel surcharge applies only to non-RDE2 (pre-2021) diesels — we assume RDE2 compliance for current models. Bands and rates from HMRC's Autumn Budget 2024 confirmation through 2029/30.
How well-supported Kia is across the UK — a practical read on how easy servicing, parts and warranty work will be to find.
Franchised UK dealers
~190
Large network
Mass-market
Network size relative to the UK's largest (Kia is 4.2% of all franchised outlets)
Servicing, parts and warranty work are easy to find UK-wide, and most independent garages know the brand well — which keeps maintenance competitive.
For context, the UK has roughly 4,500 franchised car-dealer outlets in total, plus about 15,500 independent garages.
Approximate figures, curated from public UK industry sources (NFDA, Car Dealer Magazine). Franchised networks shrink year on year — these indicate network size, not an exact count.
Of every Kia Sportage ever registered in the UK, this is what's actively on the road, parked off the road on a SORN, or gone for good.
Total ever registered
428,431
Currently taxed & on road
420,717
98% of all registered
SORN (off road)
7,714
2% of all registered
Scrapped or exported
0
UK fleet trend — 2014 to 2025
+10.7% vs 2024Source: DfT VEH0124 vehicle licensing statistics (year-end 2025) · Updated 1 Jul 2026
Common questions
Same underpinnings
Hyundai-Kia's modern combustion / hybrid platform shared across small-to-mid-size SUVs and hatches. Different badges, often substantially different residuals, but broadly the same mechanicals and repair cost profile.
Hyundai-Kia K-platform (3rd gen) · Hyundai Motor Group
Common questions
Answers are generated from this car's Forecourt data — DVSA MOT records, DfT licensing statistics and our valuation model — and update with the weekly data refresh.