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SEAT Leon MOT pass rate and common problems

The SEAT Leon passed 75.8% of its initial MOT tests in 2025, 3.5 percentage points above the 72.3% UK average. The item testers recorded most often was coil spring fractured or broken.

Checking a specific car? Its own results, advisories and recorded mileages are in a free MOT history check.

How the Leon compares

Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded. A car that failed and was repaired at the test station counts as a fail.

75.8%

SEAT Leon

74%

SEAT average

72.3%

UK average, all cars

The Leon runs 1.8 points ahead of the SEAT average. It is 5th of the 11 SEAT models in the data. The average Leon arrived at its test 9.4 years old with 80,780 miles recorded.

A pass rate records whether cars met the roadworthiness standard on test day. It is not a reliability score, and part of any gap reflects how old the tested cars were.

Leon MOT pass rate by age

The same 2025 tests split by the car's age at test.

SEAT Leon cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 83.3% of MOT tests. For cars aged 11 years and over that fell to 65.8%, a drop of 17.5 percentage points.

Age at testTestsPass ratevs UK average
3 to 5 years 37,714 83.3% 11 pts above
6 to 10 years 88,681 78.4% 6.1 pts above
11 years and over 54,540 65.8% 6.5 pts below

That is a steep decline with age, so the headline rate flatters older examples. The UK average of 72.3% covers cars of every age, so compare like with like.

Where Leon failures cluster

Every failure item recorded on SEAT Leon cars in 2025, grouped into the DVSA's test areas.

  • Suspension25.2%
  • Tyres17.7%
  • Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment17.4%
  • Brakes15.6%
  • Visibility8.6%
  • Noise, emissions and leaks6.3%

Suspension and tyres together account for 42.9% of recorded failure items. These are recorded failures across the model, not faults every car has.

The 10 most common Leon MOT failures

Specific items recorded on SEAT Leon cars that failed their 2025 MOT, as a share of all recorded failure items.

  1. 1Coil spring fractured or brokenSuspension 9.3%
  2. 2Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mmTyres 6.7%
  3. 3Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leakSuspension 6.1%
  4. 4Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thickBrakes 5%
  5. 5Condition has ply or cords exposedTyres 3.5%
  6. 6Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectivelyVisibility 3.4%
  7. 7Condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cordsTyres 3.1%
  8. 8Headlamp aim too lowLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3%
  9. 9Washers provides insufficient washer liquidVisibility 3%
  10. 10Malfunction indicator lamp inoperative or indicates a malfunctionNoise, emissions and leaks 2.8%

Together these 10 items make up 45.9% of everything testers recorded against failed SEAT Leon cars. The rest is spread across many smaller items, and one failed test often records several at once.

What to look at on a Leon

The recorded failures above, grouped by area, biggest first.

1

Suspension

Recorded most often: coil spring fractured or broken and shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak. 15.4% of failure items.

2

Tyres

Recorded most often: tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm, condition has ply or cords exposed and condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords. 13.3% of failure items.

3

Visibility

Recorded most often: wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively and washers provides insufficient washer liquid. 6.4% of failure items.

4

Brakes

Recorded most often: brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick. 5% of failure items.

The car's own MOT history matters more than any model average. A free MOT history check shows whether a specific Leon has failed on these items before, or had them noted as advisories. Buying one? See the used SEAT Leon buying guide.

Already found one?

Check its finance, write-off, theft, mileage and keeper history with a £15 vehicle history report.

SEAT Leon MOT FAQs

What is the SEAT Leon MOT pass rate?

75.8% of SEAT Leon cars passed their initial MOT first time in 2025, from 183,714 tests. That is 3.5 percentage points above the 72.3% average for all cars, and ranks 257th of 575 models.

What does a SEAT Leon most commonly fail its MOT on?

The item testers recorded most often on SEAT Leon cars failing their 2025 MOT was coil spring fractured or broken, on 9.3% of failure items. Next were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (6.7%) and shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak (6.1%).

Which area causes the most SEAT Leon MOT failures?

Across every recorded failure item, the largest area was suspension at 25.2%, followed by tyres at 17.7%.

Do older SEAT Leon cars fail their MOT more often?

SEAT Leon cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 83.3% of MOT tests in 2025, against 65.8% for cars aged 11 years and over.

Does this mean every SEAT Leon has these problems?

No. These are the items testers recorded across every SEAT Leon that failed in 2025. They show where the model most often needs attention, not the condition of any individual car.

How do I see a specific SEAT Leon's MOT history?

Enter its registration on the free Carpeep MOT history check to see that car's own test results, failures, advisories and recorded mileages.

MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025: class 4 initial tests, retests excluded, with failure items from failed tests (advisories and minor defects excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.