SEAT Altea: MOT pass rate and reliability data

The SEAT Altea fails its first MOT more often than the average UK car, by 10.8 percentage points. These figures come from the DVSA's full year of anonymised MOT results, covering 13,289 individual SEAT Altea tests. Nothing here is an estimate or a survey.

The numbers

What this means if you are buying one

A 65.9% first-time pass rate means roughly 34 in every 100 SEAT Alteas presented for MOT fail on the first attempt. That is worse than average, so budget for remedial work and treat a fresh 12-month MOT as a genuine selling point rather than a given. The average SEAT Altea tested had covered 109,194 miles and was built around 2010.

What this means at salvage auction

Pass rate is a proxy for what a car costs to keep on the road. On a SEAT Altea bought as a repairable salvage, assume the mechanical side needs more than the visible accident damage, and pad your repair estimate accordingly.

Before you bid: run the lot through the analyzer, check the car's own record, check the mileage, decode the VIN, and if it carries a marker use the write-off value calculator. Or compare it against another model.

Looking at a specific SEAT Altea rather than the model in general? The free check covers its MOT and mileage history, and the full HPI report confirms the insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and whether it is recorded stolen, from licensed data for 5 credits. Already own one that has been damaged? Work out whether fixing it beats selling it with the repair or scrap calculator, and see what damaged SEAT Alteas actually sold for at UK salvage auction.

Most common MOT failures on a SEAT Altea

1. A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 6.2% of tests (4.61x the national rate for this defect)
2. Significant brake effort recorded with no brake applied indicating a binding brake, 3.2% of tests (4.22x the national rate for this defect)
3. A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc, 4.3% of tests (3.85x the national rate for this defect)
4. A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened, 5.6% of tests (3.41x the national rate for this defect)
5. A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage, 2.3% of tests (3.28x the national rate for this defect)
6. Exhaust system leaking or insecure, 2.2% of tests (2.91x the national rate for this defect)
7. The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements, 4.6% of tests (2.6x the national rate for this defect)
8. Stop lamp missing, inoperative or in the case of a multiple light source more than 1/2 not functioning, 2.5% of tests (2.57x the national rate for this defect)
9. Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement, 2.5% of tests (2.55x the national rate for this defect)
10. A tyre cords visible or damaged, 2.9% of tests (2.38x the national rate for this defect)

From 18,713 DVSA-tracked SEAT Altea tests, 2024. DVSA testers marked 4.51% of these flagged SEAT Altea defects as "dangerous", meaning the tester judged the car unsafe to drive away, against 4.97% nationally.

SEAT Altea pass rate by model year

Pass rates fall steadily as cars age, so the model year matters as much as the model. First-time pass rate for each SEAT Altea year:

• 2004 SEAT Altea - 54.9% first-time pass, 224 tests
• 2005 SEAT Altea - 57.5% first-time pass, 577 tests
• 2006 SEAT Altea - 62.4% first-time pass, 1,144 tests
• 2007 SEAT Altea - 63.9% first-time pass, 1,892 tests
• 2008 SEAT Altea - 61.5% first-time pass, 1,589 tests
• 2009 SEAT Altea - 63.6% first-time pass, 1,441 tests
• 2010 SEAT Altea - 64.2% first-time pass, 1,232 tests
• 2011 SEAT Altea - 68.6% first-time pass, 1,205 tests
• 2012 SEAT Altea - 71.3% first-time pass, 1,499 tests
• 2013 SEAT Altea - 72.8% first-time pass, 1,217 tests
• 2014 SEAT Altea - 75.3% first-time pass, 716 tests
• 2015 SEAT Altea - 79.2% first-time pass, 462 tests

SEAT Altea by fuel type

Diesel and petrol versions of the same car fail on different things, so the fuel type moves the number:

• Diesel SEAT Altea - 67.4% first-time pass, 10,949 tests
• Petrol SEAT Altea - 61.1% first-time pass, 2,250 tests

Other SEAT models

• SEAT Ibiza - 71.3%
• SEAT Leon - 79.5%
• SEAT Arona - 86.6%
• SEAT Ateca - 89.7%
• SEAT Alhambra - 77.7%
• SEAT Mii - 82.1%
• SEAT Tarraco - 86.6%
• SEAT Toledo - 73.9%

Models with a similar pass rate

• Citroen Dispatch - 66.2%
• Smart (Mcc) City Cabriolet - 66.1%
• Citroen C4 - 66%
• Jaguar S-Type - 65.9%
• Renault Megane Scenic - 65.9%
• Hyundai Amica - 65.8%

If this car is a salvage or write-off

• What does Cat N mean? Category N explained
• What does Cat S mean? Category S explained
• Cat S vs Cat N: the real differences

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All 2,005 models ranked by MOT pass rate