84.8%
SEAT Tarraco pass rate
Used SEAT Tarraco buying guide
In 2025, SEAT Tarraco cars passed 84.8% of 10,122 initial MOT tests, 12.5 points above the 72.3% UK average. Here is where it fails and what to check before you buy.
Looking at a specific Tarraco? Check its finance, write-off, stolen, mileage and keeper history. £15, no account needed.
SEAT Tarraco MOT record in brief
Initial MOT tests in 2025, retests excluded.
72.3%
UK average, all cars
+12.5
percentage points above average
Ranked on pass rate the Tarraco sits 121st of 575 models in the data. SEAT as a brand averaged 74%, so this model runs 10.9 points ahead of its own brand. SEAT Tarraco cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 84.9% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 6 to 10 years that fell to 82.1%.
A pass rate is not a reliability score. The full SEAT Tarraco MOT record has the pass rate by age, every common failure and how the Tarraco compares with similar cars.
Tarraco fuel types
Petrol was the most common fuel among SEAT Tarraco cars tested in 2025. Diesel still made up 39.4% of tests.
Where the Tarraco fails its MOT
Where SEAT Tarraco cars that failed their 2025 MOT were marked down, as a share of all recorded failure items.
The specific items testers recorded most often were tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (15.3%), brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick (9.9%) and condition has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords (9.5%). See every common Tarraco MOT failure.
These are DVSA failure records across every SEAT Tarraco that failed, not a claim that every Tarraco has these problems.
What should you check when buying a used Tarraco?
The areas above, most common first, and what an MOT tester looks at in each.
1
Tyres
Check tread depth across the full width of every tyre (the legal minimum is 1.6mm), and look for cuts, bulges and uneven wear. 34.1% of Tarraco failure items.
2
Brakes
Make sure the pedal feels firm, the car stops in a straight line, the handbrake holds on a slope and no brake warning light is showing. 18.4% of Tarraco failure items.
3
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment
Walk round with every light on: headlights, brake lights, indicators, fog lights and the number plate lamp. Check no warning lights stay on after starting. 12.6% of Tarraco failure items.
4
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems
Pull every seat belt out fully and check it latches and retracts, and that the airbag light goes out after starting. 9% of Tarraco failure items.
5
Visibility
Check the windscreen for chips or cracks in the driver's view, and that the wipers and washers clear it properly. 8.7% of Tarraco failure items.
None of this replaces the car's own record. Run a free MOT history check on the registration to see every test, advisory and recorded mileage for that car.
What the MOT record doesn't tell you
Knowing SEAT Tarraco failures cluster around tyres and brakes tells you what to inspect. It tells you nothing about whether the car is safe to buy. An MOT does not show money still owed on the car, a write-off, a theft record or a clocked odometer.
Check the exact Tarraco you are looking at. One £15 report, instant results, backed by a £30,000 data guarantee. More on the SEAT history check.
- Outstanding finance
- Write-off records
- Stolen markers
- Mileage history
- Previous keepers
Other used SEAT models
The most-tested SEAT models in 2025, with how their MOT pass rate compares with the Tarraco.
Used SEAT Tarraco FAQs
Is the SEAT Tarraco reliable?
MOT data does not measure reliability. It records whether a car met the roadworthiness standard on the day of its test. What it does show is an 84.8% first-time pass rate for the SEAT Tarraco across 10,122 tests in 2025, above the 72.3% average for all cars.
Do older SEAT Tarraco cars fail their MOT more often?
SEAT Tarraco cars aged 3 to 5 years passed 84.9% of MOT tests in 2025; for examples aged 6 to 10 years that fell to 82.1%. On an older example, the car's own MOT history tells you more than the model average.
What should I check before buying a used SEAT Tarraco?
On the car itself, start with the areas it most often fails on: tyres, brakes and lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment. Then check the individual car's history: outstanding finance, insurance write-off records, stolen markers, mileage and previous keepers. None of these appear in the MOT record or on the V5C.
How do I check a SEAT Tarraco's history?
Enter the registration of the specific car. A Carpeep car history check reports outstanding finance, write-off category, stolen markers, mileage history, previous keepers, MOT and tax status, import and export markers and scrapped status in one £15 report.
MOT figures are aggregated from the DVSA MOT Anonymised data set for 2025 (class 4 initial tests, retests excluded), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. MOT results describe roadworthiness at test, not mechanical reliability.