Carens
Kia · on record 2000 to 2025
The Kia Carens was a compact family MPV offered across several generations with 5 or 7 seat layouts and a strong emphasis on space, equipment and value. It competed with traditional people carriers rather than SUVs, using petrol and diesel engines depending on age. As buyers moved toward crossovers, the Carens body style became less common, leaving surviving examples as practical family vehicles from the peak MPV era.
DECLINING
Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.
12,813
licensed vehicles
2025 census
2025 census
53.9% of the peak fleet remains licensed
1,859
declared SORN
total surviving
peak 23,762 in 2015 · −1,219 vehicles a year, five year trend
Population history
Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. The filters below apply to the family population, MOT and registration figures. They do not alter the generation history above.
Licensed
SORN
Latest census observation
At the average decline recorded over the latest five years, the licensed fleet would reach zero around 2035.
Illustrative projection only; vehicle populations rarely decline linearly. Late fleets typically flatten as surviving examples enter preservation.
Inside the surviving fleet
AutoCensus parses every DVLA variant description, so the fleet can be read by fuel and specification rather than as one number.
First registrations by year
When surviving examples first joined the British fleet.
New registrations
Vehicles first registered each year. A fleet still being sold shows here; a finished one shows only imports.
MOT reliability
DVSA test results for this family, 2005 to 2025.
Pass rate by year
| Failure reason | Failures | Share of all tests |
|---|---|---|
| The calculated parking brake efficiency is too low | 25,171 | 5.8% |
| The grooves of the tread pattern are not at least 1.6mm throughout a continuous band comprising the central three-quarters of the breadth of tread, and round the entire outer circumference of the tyre | 16,449 | 3.8% |
| A low braking effort is recorded from the parking brake on any wheel, indicating clearly that the brake is not functioning correctly | 11,577 | 2.7% |
| An obligatory lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating | 10,197 | 2.4% |
| A wiper blade insecure, missing or in such a condition that it does not clear the windscreen effectively to give the driver an adequate view of the road (through the windscreen) to the left and right sides of the vehicle, as well as to the front | 10,150 | 2.4% |
| A brake lining or pad insecure or less than 1.5mm thick at any point | 8,752 | 2.0% |
| A rigid brake pipe excessively chafed, corroded or damaged | 8,473 | 2.0% |
| A rear registration plate lamp with any lamp not working | 8,470 | 2.0% |
Counted across every recorded test, 2005 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.
Where the Carens remains
Based on MOT test locations, 2025. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.
| Postcode area | Vehicles tested | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| B | 537 | 79% |
| S | 424 | 80% |
| NG | 402 | 74% |
| PE | 368 | 75% |
| M | 334 | 78% |
| PO | 331 | 76% |
| LE | 298 | 82% |
| CF | 260 | 74% |
| GU | 254 | 76% |
| MK | 251 | 80% |
| DN | 246 | 74% |
| SO | 241 | 71% |
| G | 238 | 76% |
| CV | 237 | 76% |
| BS | 220 | 73% |
| DE | 220 | 81% |
| SA | 217 | 75% |
| NR | 205 | 77% |
| ME | 204 | 75% |
| BN | 201 | 71% |
| EH | 197 | 74% |
| RG | 197 | 77% |
| RH | 193 | 77% |
| L | 190 | 77% |
| NE | 189 | 74% |
| ST | 188 | 77% |
| TN | 184 | 74% |
| OX | 182 | 79% |
| LS | 182 | 74% |
| CB | 179 | 74% |
| CM | 173 | 79% |
| PL | 171 | 72% |
| SK | 168 | 74% |
| NN | 165 | 71% |
| BH | 164 | 70% |
| IP | 157 | 78% |
| WF | 156 | 78% |
| CT | 155 | 82% |
| BL | 154 | 75% |
| YO | 152 | 76% |
| SN | 147 | 73% |
| SG | 147 | 82% |
| BD | 146 | 73% |
| EX | 142 | 69% |
| LU | 142 | 78% |
| HP | 140 | 76% |
| KY | 134 | 69% |
| CH | 134 | 71% |
| BB | 132 | 77% |
| PR | 132 | 73% |
| BA | 130 | 72% |
| GL | 129 | 78% |
| OL | 129 | 82% |
| DY | 128 | 77% |
| WA | 127 | 73% |
| WS | 123 | 76% |
| CO | 123 | 76% |
| LA | 118 | 77% |
| CR | 115 | 81% |
| KT | 114 | 80% |
| WV | 113 | 77% |
| RM | 111 | 88% |
| TS | 108 | 78% |
| CW | 103 | 70% |
| LL | 102 | 74% |
| HU | 102 | 71% |
| TR | 95 | 72% |
| KA | 95 | 72% |
| LN | 94 | 67% |
| AL | 94 | 73% |
| DA | 93 | 83% |
| SP | 93 | 71% |
| NP | 93 | 73% |
| ML | 93 | 62% |
| UB | 90 | 87% |
| SS | 86 | 84% |
| WR | 86 | 69% |
| TW | 84 | 75% |
| TQ | 84 | 64% |
| AB | 84 | 68% |
| FK | 83 | 65% |
| SE | 83 | 80% |
| DD | 81 | 65% |
| N | 81 | 85% |
| TA | 80 | 72% |
| E | 79 | 86% |
| PA | 77 | 69% |
| SL | 76 | 86% |
| CA | 76 | 71% |
| HA | 72 | 81% |
| IV | 67 | 72% |
| WN | 65 | 77% |
| NW | 65 | 82% |
| SY | 64 | 77% |
| EN | 64 | 73% |
| TF | 63 | 70% |
| HD | 62 | 76% |
| FY | 62 | 76% |
| WD | 60 | 72% |
| BR | 57 | 79% |
| DL | 55 | 73% |
| PH | 51 | 71% |
| DH | 48 | 79% |
| DT | 45 | 69% |
| HX | 42 | 79% |
| HG | 39 | 74% |
| HR | 36 | 78% |
| DG | 35 | 80% |
| SW | 34 | 71% |
| SR | 33 | 73% |
| TD | 28 | 68% |
| SM | 27 | 93% |
| IG | 26 | 81% |
| W | 21 | 86% |
| ZE | 16 | 75% |
| KW | 10 | 70% |
| LD | 9 | 89% |
| HS | 3 | 100% |
How this record was calculated
LATEST CENSUS2025
POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 annual
HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013
MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2025
FAMILY DEFINITIONKIA CARENS
PROCESSED20 Sep 2026
Full methodology
Population history combines DVLA VEH0120 Q4 census observations through 2013 with the annual VEH0220 census from 2014 onward. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Historical VEH0120 is used only when its overlapping UK observations reconcile to the current canonical family definition. Vehicles are grouped into this family using the DVLA GenModel together with durable routing rules for known inconsistencies.
Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Configuration is only assigned where the model description explicitly identifies it; a blank configuration is not treated as a two door Wrangler. Blank transmission fields are shown as manual because DVLA records the field for automatic vehicles.
MOT figures count tests, not vehicles, and geographic figures count each vehicle at its most recent test location. The decline projection is a straight line fitted to the latest five years and is illustrative only.