MOT Risk Index.co.uk

Seat Leon — MOT statistics 2024

The Seat Leon failed 23.33% of 188,729 first MOT attempts in 2024 ("first-time", excluding retests). Adjusted for the age of the fleet, its initial-failure ratio is 91.9 (100 = expected for its age profile). This car fails its MOT about 8% less often than expected for its age.

MOT risk index 91.9, 95% CI 91.1–92.7 (100 = national average) 100 91.9 0 200
Index
91.9
100 = age-normal
Raw fail rate
23.33%
n = 188,729
Dangerous /100
11
national ≈11
Diesel − petrol
+8.0 pp
fail-rate gap
Rank
367 of 761
lower index = better

Age-adjusted peer: Volkswagen Passat (index 92.4) — the two published results are 0.5 index points apart.

Seat Leon common problems: what actually fails the MOT

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are well below the reference at 10.1 per 100 tests, against 13.4 per 100 tests across UK vehicles of the same ages.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

Seat Leon common problems: what actually fails the MOT — 2024 UK MOT data

family vs national — matched to UK vehicles of the same ages — top component groups, per 100 tests. Legend: This family · National avg. Combined labels: family / national average. A gap here reflects how these vehicles are driven, used and maintained as well as how they were built — an MOT defect is a test outcome, not a breakdown.

Component-group comparison table

Each ratio carries a 95% interval. With 6 groups compared here, roughly one apparent difference in twenty is chance alone.

GroupThis familyCases behind itUK, same agesFamily / national
Suspension12.5127,45211.61.08×1.07–1.08
Lamps & electrical10.1103,45813.40.76×0.75–0.76
Tyres9.294,2688.41.09×1.09–1.10
Brakes8.788,8539.20.94×0.94–0.95
Visibility6.465,4477.10.91×0.90–0.91
Body & structure5.354,5513.91.37×1.36–1.39
Named defects — items per 100 initial tests, this family vs UK national average; this model measured on 1,021,630 tests, 2019-2024, national column 2024
What failedper 100 tests (this family)per 100 tests (UK average)ratio family / UKWhat to check
Shock absorber leaking or failedA shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage2.450.982.50×Look behind the wheels for oily, wet shock absorbers, and push down hard on each corner: it should rise once and settle.
Driveshaft boot perished (minor)A transmission shaft constant velocity joint boot severely deteriorated2.091.481.41×Look behind the front wheels for cracked rubber boots; once a boot splits, the joint wears out quickly.
Tyre tread below the legal limitTyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements4.023.591.12×Check the tread across every tyre with a gauge; wear on one edge points to a tracking fault.
Suspension joint cover split or missingA suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc2.211.781.24×Ask whether the ball joint was replaced along with its cover: a joint that ran unprotected wears quickly and knocks over bumps.
Brake pads or shoes dangerously thina brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm2.402.151.12×Look through the wheels at the pads and discs, listen for grinding, and ask when they were last replaced.
Broken or weakened suspension springA spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened3.062.861.07×Look behind each wheel at the coil springs for a snapped end, and check the car sits level from side to side.
Tyre badly cut or damagedA tyre seriously damaged2.492.540.98×Check both sidewalls of every tyre, including the inner side, for cuts, bulges and tears.
Windscreen or window damaged (minor)Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view1.982.360.84×Look for chips and cracks across the windscreen: chips spread, and larger damage in front of the driver fails.
Headlight aimed wronglyThe aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements2.142.570.83×Shine the dipped beams at a wall after dark: both should sit at the same height.
Worn suspension bush or jointA suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn1.914.870.39×Listen for knocks over speed bumps, feel for the car wandering under braking, and ask which part was replaced.

Named defects ranked by how much more often they appear than the national average — not by raw rate.

Seat Leon MOT advisories: what gets flagged

Tyres are highest at 43.2 per 100 tests; Emissions & leaks are lowest at 3.2 per 100 tests — the gap is 40.0 per 100 tests.

higher bar = flagged more oftenadvisory items per 100 initial tests

Seat Leon MOT advisories: what gets flagged — 2024 UK MOT data
Advisory rates table
GroupAdvisories per 100
Tyres43.2
Suspension32.4
Brakes30.3
Non-component advisories7.7
Body & structure3.3
Emissions & leaks3.2

Advisories are wear the tester noted but didn't fail — what will need money soon.

Tyres, brakes and suspension: Seat Leon against cars of the same age

AgePartSeat LeonSame age, petrol and dieselDifference
3 yearsTyres5.134.170.96
3 yearsBrakes0.951.77-0.82
3 yearsSuspension1.520.630.89
4 yearsTyres5.384.540.84
4 yearsBrakes1.612.43-0.82
4 yearsSuspension2.451.211.24
5 yearsTyres5.915.060.85
5 yearsBrakes2.53.09-0.59
5 yearsSuspension3.212.191.02
6 yearsTyres6.255.540.71
6 yearsBrakes3.173.81-0.64
6 yearsSuspension3.373.72-0.35
7 yearsTyres6.485.950.53
7 yearsBrakes44.55-0.55
7 yearsSuspension4.185.68-1.50
8 yearsTyres6.676.310.36
8 yearsBrakes4.735.38-0.65
8 yearsSuspension5.497.78-2.29

Failing items per 100 initial tests, 2019-2024. The comparison group is every petrol or diesel car tested at the same age, so weight and drivetrain show up rather than fleet age.

If a car like this fails, does it fail again?

A failure rate does not say whether a failure is a one-off or the start of something. This follows the same vehicles into their next ordinary MOT a year later — retests after a repair are excluded, because they follow a failure by definition. 2019-2024.

After this year's testFails next yearVehicles followed
It failed31.5%47,874
It passed20.7%578,386

A failed test raises next year's chance of failing again by 10.8 percentage points. The failure most likely to come back is body, chassis, structure — 36.6% of those vehicles fail again next year. Some of this is the vehicle and some is the owner: a car that was let go once tends to be let go again. One caveat: a car that fails may be sold or scrapped rather than tested again, so these figures describe the vehicles that came back.

Adjusted for how much these are actually driven

The headline index adjusts for the fleet's age. Wear, though, follows mileage: a three-year-old taxi and a three-year-old garage queen sit in the same age band. These two rows compare every car with vehicles of the same age, and then with vehicles of the same age and the same annual mileage, 2019-2024, on 1,015,845 tests. Both stand on the six-year corpus so they are measured on identical data — compare them with each other, not with the headline index above, which is measured on 2024 alone.

Standardised forIndexReading
Age only91.9fails less often than expected
Age and annual mileage86.5fails less often than vehicles driven as much
Share doing under 3,000 miles a year1.8%a normal spread of use

Mileage matters here: matching on how much these are driven moves the figure by 5.4 points — this fleet works harder than the vehicles it is measured against, so the age-only view penalises it — but it does not change which side of normal the car sits on. One limit to keep in mind: mileage is partly a result of how often a car breaks down — one that spends weeks in the workshop covers fewer miles — so the mileage-matched figure can understate a real weakness. Tests with no usable odometer reading are left out of it.

How the Seat Leon compares with cars of its own age and size

Not against the whole fleet — against cars of the same size class tested at the same age, 2019-2024.

AgeSeat LeonSame class, same ageDifferenceTests
3 years12.73%11.27%+1.45 pp108,525
4 years13.82%14.25%-0.43 pp108,025
5 years15.93%17.44%-1.51 pp112,953
6 years17.58%20.8%-3.23 pp105,376
7 years19.61%24.39%-4.78 pp93,900
8 years21.75%28.23%-6.48 pp82,749
9 years24.9%32.11%-7.22 pp73,368
10 years28.9%35.67%-6.77 pp61,566
11 years33.96%38.7%-4.74 pp49,563
12 years37.98%41.28%-3.3 pp45,345
13 years40.69%43.31%-2.63 pp41,245
14 years41.75%45.06%-3.32 pp35,655
15 years42.74%46.34%-3.61 pp29,770
16 years43.77%47.37%-3.61 pp24,295
17 years44.53%47.82%-3.28 pp17,663
18 years43.59%48.03%-4.43 pp11,612
19 years42.05%47.77%-5.73 pp7,211
20 years41.51%47.4%-5.89 pp4,421

Raw first-time failure rates within each age, so fleet age cannot flatter either side. A positive difference means this model fails more often than its own class at that age.

How does the Seat Leon perform as it gets older?

The Leon at age 10 is well below the reference at 22.8%, against 30.1% for all vehicles of the same age.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

How does the Seat Leon perform as it gets older? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · failure-rate scale 0–47%.

Takeaway: a 10-year-old Leon has roughly a 23% chance of failing its MOT.

Data table
AgeSeat LeonAll vehiclesGap
311.9%12.4%-0.5 pp
413.6%13.1%+0.5 pp
517.8%15.1%+2.6 pp
618.6%17.5%+1.1 pp
719.5%20.2%-0.7 pp
818.9%23.3%-4.5 pp
921.1%26.5%-5.5 pp
1022.8%30.1%-7.3 pp
1126.7%33.2%-6.5 pp
1233.0%35.7%-2.7 pp
1336.5%38.2%-1.6 pp
1438.9%40.4%-1.5 pp
1538.8%41.6%-2.8 pp
1641.7%43.1%-1.4 pp
1742.0%43.1%-1.1 pp
1843.9%43.9%+0.1 pp
1940.1%43.5%-3.4 pp
2038.9%41.0%-2.1 pp

Is a Seat Leon ULEZ compliant?

The share of classifiable 2024 Seat Leon MOT tests likely ULEZ compliant by first-registration date is 71.4%.

Based on 188,639 classifiable initial MOT tests. This describes the tested fleet, not a specific car. MOT data do not record Euro class, so likely compliance is inferred from fuel and first-registration date. For the only authoritative answer, check the registration with TfL's official ULEZ checker.

higher = larger share likely compliantinferred from fuel and first-registration date; not a recorded Euro class

Age-band estimate from classifiable initial MOT tests
Vehicle age at testLikely ULEZ-compliant shareTests
Under 3 yearsSuppressed — sample below publication threshold
Check a registration with TfL
n = 231
3–5 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 44,665
6–7 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 39,208
8 years100.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 15,778
9 years68.3%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 17,072
10–14 years33.1%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 50,767
15–17 years39.1%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 13,415
18 years42.7%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 2,668
19 years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 1,610
20+ years0.0%
Check a registration with TfL
n = 3,225

Seat Leon petrol vs diesel: which ages best

Diesel is highest at 28.3%; Hybrid is lowest at 12.9% — the gap is 15.5 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Seat Leon petrol vs diesel: which ages best — 2024 UK MOT data
Fuel split table
FuelTests% failingGap vs best
Petrol108,13220.3%+7.4 pp
Diesel75,55728.3%+15.5 pp
Hybrid5,03312.9%+0.0 pp

Chart sample sizes: n=108k · n=76k · n=5,033.

How dangerous are Seat Leon MOT failures?

Major defects are well below the reference at 36.4 per 100 tests, against 52.8 per 100 tests nationally.

higher bar = fails more oftenrate per 100 tests

How dangerous are Seat Leon MOT failures? — 2024 UK MOT data
Severity table
SeverityThis family /100National /100Family / national
Minor11.5814.220.81×
Major36.4052.750.69×
Dangerous10.8511.150.97×

Chart values: Minor 11.6 · Major 36.4 · Dangerous 10.8.

Per 100 tests on this family. National average: Minor 14.2 · Major 52.8 · Dangerous 11.2 per 100.

Does the month of a Seat Leon MOT matter?

Jan is highest at 25.3%; Jun is lowest at 23.2% — the gap is 2.1 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Does the month of a Seat Leon MOT matter? — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart scale: 22%–33%.

bars: Seat Leon · dashed: all class-4 cars

Month-by-month table
MonthSeat LeonAll vehiclesGap
Jan25.32%31.12%-5.8 pp
Feb24.47%29.99%-5.5 pp
Mar23.46%28.26%-4.8 pp
Apr24.35%29.78%-5.4 pp
May23.82%28.79%-5.0 pp
Jun23.18%28.15%-5.0 pp
Jul23.69%29.33%-5.6 pp
Aug23.81%29.2%-5.4 pp
Sep23.36%28.19%-4.8 pp
Oct24.95%30.34%-5.4 pp
Nov24.82%30.58%-5.8 pp
Dec24.16%29.33%-5.2 pp

Takeaway: the spread between best and worst month is 2.1 percentage points — booking month barely matters for this family. Seasonality partly reflects registration-date clustering, not weather.

Before reading the shape: most of it is not about cars. Britain changes its registration plates twice a year, and 18.9% of these cars were first registered in March with another17.1% in September — 36% in two months against the 17% an even spread would give. An MOT falls due three years after first registration, so the buying calendar becomes the testing calendar. That shapes how many cars are tested each month — not how often they fail: the busiest months here are not the worst ones, so read the failure line on its own and the volume behind it separately.

Seat Leon average mileage by age

At age 8, the middle half of Leons runs from 52,893 miles to 86,539 miles, against 68,139 miles as the median.

further right = more milesmedian is the typical car; band is p25–p75

Bars: Seat Leon · dashed: all class-4 cars — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · odometer scale 0–165k mi.

Does high mileage mean more Seat Leon MOT failures at the same age?

Within the same age group, split by odometer (2024 MOTs), so this separates wear from age: at ages 6–9, 13.1% of those with under 40,000 miles failed first time versus 25.7% of those with over 140,000 miles.Inside this age group, higher mileage goes with more failures.

Does high mileage mean more Seat Leon MOT failures at the same age? — 2024 UK MOT data
Seat Leon: first-time failure by mileage within each age group (2024)
AgeOdometer% failing95% intervalTests
3–5<40k miles12.2%11.8–12.5%28,089
3–540-70k miles18.9%18.2–19.6%13,481
3–570-100k miles23.7%22–25.5%2,191
3–5100-140k miles23.5%20.2–27.1%584
3–5140k+ miles25.7%21.2–30.9%311 (rough estimate)
6–9<40k miles13.1%12.5–13.8%11,285
6–940-70k miles18.7%18.3–19.2%33,203
6–970-100k miles22%21.4–22.6%19,233
6–9100-140k miles24.9%23.9–25.9%6,849
6–9140k+ miles25.7%23.5–28%1,478
10–14<40k miles12%10.3–13.9%1,211
10–1440-70k miles20.2%19.4–21.2%7,640
10–1470-100k miles27.2%26.6–27.9%17,305
10–14100-140k miles32.9%32.2–33.6%17,879
10–14140k+ miles36%34.9–37.2%6,720
15+<40k miles19.6%14.8–25.5%209 (rough estimate)
15+40-70k miles35.9%33.2–38.6%1,213
15+70-100k miles39.4%37.9–41%3,953
15+100-140k miles41.3%40.2–42.3%8,582
15+140k+ miles42.5%41.3–43.6%6,944

line: median · band: middle half of the fleet (p25–p75)

Mileage by age (p25 / median / p75)
Agep25Medianp75Tests
319,08126,54536,86011,432
424,19732,51743,39513,802
530,65040,40053,18619,431
638,27949,44962,97121,059
746,24159,53875,47218,149
852,89368,13986,53915,778
961,31579,10399,14617,072
1069,73589,023111,05818,414
1176,09196,128117,69811,492
1284,184104,518127,4548,775
1388,497109,893133,5576,448
1494,936117,025141,7645,638
1593,290116,768141,1004,764
1698,161121,503144,7964,537
17103,722126,350151,9174,114
18102,649127,207153,2692,668
19102,940128,770154,1491,610
20+100,818128,873157,0993,230

A typical 8-year-old Leon has ~68,139 miles on the clock. Much more — ask why; much less — check for gaps in the MOT history.

Where in Britain the Seat Leon fails its MOT most

Taunton area is highest at 34.4%; St Albans area is lowest at 17.5% — the gap is 17.0 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Where in Britain the Seat Leon fails its MOT most — 2024 UK MOT data
Toughest areas% failingvs model overall
Taunton (TA)34.44%+10.3 pp
Plymouth (PL)34.01%+9.9 pp
Llandrindod Wells (LD)32.48%+8.3 pp
Exeter (EX)32.28%+8.2 pp
Kirkcaldy (KY)30.12%+6.0 pp
Easiest areas% failingvs model overall
St Albans (AL)17.49%-6.6 pp
Chelmsford (CM)17.57%-6.6 pp
Bromley (BR)17.82%-6.3 pp
Southend-on-Sea (SS)18.7%-5.4 pp
Enfield (EN)19.5%-4.6 pp

Why do areas differ?

For each external factor we correlate the area fail rate with the factor across postcode areas that have ≥800 tests of this family, then compare the bottom vs top fifth (quintile) of the factor. Correlation, not causation — factors travel together (the north is colder and often poorer; urban areas are denser and less salted). Road surface condition is joined now, for the 91 English areas the DfT publishes, and it explains nothing: the correlation with suspension failures is −0.01 and with body and structure failures 0.07. Potholes wreck wheels and tyres between tests, but by the time a car reaches the bay the road it drives on leaves no measurable trace.

In areas with the highest mot centre density this model fails 4.7 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.49, n=115 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest urban share this model fails 4.2 pp less often than in the lowest fifth (r=-0.44, n=115 areas with ≥800 tests).

In areas with the highest terrain gradient this model fails 3.1 pp more often than in the lowest fifth (r=0.40, n=68 areas with ≥800 tests).

Seat Leon Why do areas differ? — 2024 UK MOT data
Values shown in the quintile chart
FactorLow QHigh QGapCorrelation
MOT centre density21.4%26.1%+4.7 ppr=0.49
Urban share26.0%21.8%-4.2 ppr=-0.44
Terrain gradient22.8%25.9%+3.1 ppr=0.40

Factors that only mean something combined

Some conditions are useless on their own and informative multiplied together. Frost days alone say little — Britain barely freezes. Salt tonnage alone says little — it tracks frost. Distance to the sea alone says little. Multiply the first two and divide by the third and you get an index of how hard an area attacks a car's underside, and it lines up with the corrosion defects we actually record. We built five such combinations and tested each against our own data. Three survived; two did not, and the failures are listed here on purpose — a proxy that was never checked is decoration. One survivor only survived on the second attempt: built from a crude stand-in for street parking it failed outright, and rebuilt from the census — terraced streets carrying more cars than they have driveways — it works, and carries information the salt index does not.

Composite area indicators, each tested against a defect rate we measure
CompositeBuilt fromTested againstrVerdict
Underbody corrosionfrost days × salt load ÷ (distance to coast + 1)share of tests with a corrosion defect+0.42holds (116 areas)
Tyre wearrain days × annual miles ÷ age at first tyre advisoryshare of tests failing on tyres+0.45holds (116 areas)
Overnight corrosionterraced housing × cars per household × frost daysshare with a corrosion defect+0.41holds (102 areas) — and adds signal beyond the first index
Deferred maintenancedeprivation × advisory-to-failure conversion ÷ labour ratecars repeating the same advisory−0.26fails (118 areas)
Powertrain stressengine capacity ÷ kerb weightsuspension, brake and emissions failures−0.16fails (22 models)

The deprivation result is the one worth dwelling on. The intuition that poorer areas defer repairs is strong enough that most people treat it as established. We tested it twice — once on raw failure rates (r = 0.04) and again, more fairly, on whether an advisory turns into a failure — and it did not hold any of the three times we tried it — on raw failure rates, on advisory-to-failure conversion, and again with deprivation measured properly inside each nation rather than England alone. We are closing it. What does predict local failure rates is the density of test centres, which is a statement about testing, not about cars.

All external-factor correlations (machine-readable)
Factorrn areasLow-Q fail %High-Q fail %Gap ppLow-Q factorHigh-Q factor
MOT centre density (per 10k vehicles)0.48811521.426.1+4.758.8
Urban share (0–1)-0.43911526.021.8-4.20.41
Terrain gradient (% grade)0.4006822.825.9+3.10.53.7
Distance to coast (km)-0.20411525.423.9-1.5678.7
Frost days (days/year)0.16211524.325.0+0.711.837.7
Road-salt proxy (g/m²-yr)0.15011523.624.9+1.2223667.4
Income deprivation (score)-0.0409722.823.3+0.50.10.2

Deprivation uses England IMD 2019 income score only (Scotland SIMD is a different scale). Salt proxy is a simplified NWSRG-style dry-salt sum from air Tmin; coastalness is distance from the area centroid to the nearest coastline.

Every dot is a postcode area — size = how many were tested there, colour = share failing. These figures are not age-adjusted: coastal and rural areas often run older fleets and salted roads, so higher raw fail rates do not automatically mean a worse local stock of this model.

Map labels: Scotland · N. England · Wales · London · S. West. Colour scale: 20%–30% failing.

Seat Leon survival: which cars are still on the road

By age 19 is well below the reference at 6.6%, against 100.0% at the ages 4–6 reference level.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Seat Leon survival: which cars are still on the road — 2024 UK MOT data

Chart axes: car age, years · survival vs ages 4–6 · scale 0–105%.

Survival vs fail rate by age
AgeTestsSurvival vs ages 4–6Fail %
3108,52599.8%12.73%
4108,02599.3%13.82%
5112,953100%15.93%
6105,37696.9%17.58%
793,90086.3%19.61%
882,74976.1%21.75%
973,36867.4%24.9%
1061,56656.6%28.9%
1149,56345.6%33.96%
1245,34541.7%37.98%
1341,24537.9%40.69%
1435,65532.8%41.75%
1529,77027.4%42.74%
1624,29522.3%43.77%
1717,66316.2%44.53%
1811,61210.7%43.59%
197,2116.6%42.05%

By age 19, only about 7% as many cars of this family present for MOT as at ages 4–6 (reference n≈108,784); survivors still fail at 42.0% vs 13.8% at age 4. Older cars that still appear are a selected subset — weaker ones have already left.

How many miles does a Seat Leon last?

100,000+ miles is highest at 24.9%; 200,000+ miles is lowest at 0.6% — the gap is 24.3 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

OdometerTests ≥ thresholdShare of sample
100,000+ miles252,58524.86%
150,000+ miles53,2245.24%
200,000+ miles6,1220.6%

Of 1,016,000 tests of this family with a usable odometer in 2024, 24.9% had reached 100k miles, 5.2% had reached 150k miles, 0.6% had reached 200k miles. This is a cross-section of cars still presenting for MOT, not a full birth cohort.

How many years is a Seat Leon likely to last?

Bought at age 5 is highest at 6.7 years; Bought at age 15 is lowest at 2.5 years — the gap is 4.2 years.

bigger number = longer remaining lifeyears on the observed survival curve

Age nowTypical mileage (p50)Expected years left
5—6.7
8—5.3
10—4.8
12—4.2
15—at least 2.5

estimateEstimate only — not a warranty: a typical 10-year-old example of this family has about 4.8 expected years of further MOT-present life on the 2024 survival curve. Derived from how many cars of each age still appear for test, not from a longitudinal panel.

Seat Leon faults that come together

Road Wheels + Seatbelts & SRS stand out at 9.03×, against 1.00× if the faults were independent.

above 1.0× = more than expectedbelow 1.0× = less

Group AGroup BTogetherLift
Road WheelsSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems2389.03× (rough estimate)
Identification of the vehicleSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems2268.44× (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems1,8378.18×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSteering7037.75×
Identification of the vehicleRoad Wheels737.25× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems3,8846.93×
Body, chassis, structureNoise, emissions and leaks8,2096.88×
Identification of the vehicleNoise, emissions and leaks5876.85×
Noise, emissions and leaksSteering1,8636.41×
Body, chassis, structureSteering3,0896.4×
Body, chassis, structureSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems2,3096.19×
Identification of the vehicleLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment1,2295.74×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentNoise, emissions and leaks10,0185.58×
Identification of the vehicleSteering1935.57× (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSteering3,9935.5×
BrakesSeat belts and supplementary restraint systems2,5235.5×
Noise, emissions and leaksRoad Wheels4615.46× (rough estimate)
BrakesNoise, emissions and leaks7,7335.27×
Body, chassis, structureIdentification of the vehicle7305.13×
BrakesIdentification of the vehicle8805.03×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentRoad Wheels1,0484.97×
BrakesSteering2,9384.95×
BrakesRoad Wheels8334.83×
Body, chassis, structureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment13,8344.64×
BrakesLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment15,8684.33×
Identification of the vehicleVisibility7524.31×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsSuspension2,9674.15×
SteeringSuspension3,8204.13×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsVisibility1,8754.11×
Body, chassis, structureBrakes9,9184.07×
Body, chassis, structureSuspension15,3674.04×
Noise, emissions and leaksSuspension9,1994.02×
Road WheelsSteering1374.02× (rough estimate)
Road WheelsTyres8294×
Identification of the vehicleSuspension1,0803.96×
Body, chassis, structureRoad Wheels5503.92×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSuspension22,0813.86×
Road WheelsVisibility6573.83×
Identification of the vehicleTyres7983.79×
BrakesSuspension17,5363.75×
Road WheelsSuspension9683.6×
Noise, emissions and leaksVisibility5,2003.56×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentVisibility12,7423.49×
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systemsTyres1,9263.49×
SteeringVisibility1,9853.36×
BrakesTyres11,6853.24×
Noise, emissions and leaksTyres5,4103.06×
BrakesVisibility9,0463.03×
Body, chassis, structureVisibility7,0762.91×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentTyres12,7612.89×
TyresVisibility9,4372.63×
SuspensionVisibility12,0832.59×
SuspensionTyres14,0652.5×
Body, chassis, structureTyres6,8622.34×
SteeringTyres1,6212.27×
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSeat belt installation check14too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkSuspension11too few (rough estimate)
Body, chassis, structureSeat belt installation check8too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSeat belt installation check8too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkTyres7too few (rough estimate)
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipmentSpeedometer and speed limiter6too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSeat belt installation check6too few (rough estimate)
Seat belt installation checkVisibility6too few (rough estimate)
Noise, emissions and leaksSpeedometer and speed limiter5too few (rough estimate)
BrakesSpeedometer and speed limiter5too few (rough estimate)

Defects in «Noise, emissions and leaks» and «Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems» appear together 8.18× more often than chance (1,837 co-occurrences in the same test; lift≥1.3, n≥500).

Lift = how many times more often both groups appear on the same test than if independent. A pair is listed from 5 tests with both faults; the lift is shown from 20, and called above chance only when its 95% interval excludes 1 (see rough estimates).

Is low mileage better for a Seat Leon?

Cars driven under 5,000 miles a year is well below the reference at 14.4%, against 25.3% for cars driven 8,000–12,000 miles a year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

BandFail %Tests
<5k miles/year14.35%55,947
8–12k miles/year25.27%300,411
Gap (low − normal)-10.92 pp—
By fuel and age

Diesel

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
58.831,72117.0615,842-8.23 pp
610.881,65418.2819,474-7.39 pp
711.751,70221.2122,234-9.46 pp
812.091,64624.1422,647-12.05 pp
913.511,61427.3822,508-13.87 pp
1018.631,51430.9820,669-12.36 pp
1120.471,27536.217,855-15.73 pp
1223.911,16739.616,992-15.69 pp
1326.8195141.7715,201-14.96 pp
1431.2183342.8212,762-11.61 pp

Petrol

AgeLow-use fail %nNormal fail %nGap pp
59.0310,00817.2725,531-8.24 pp
610.987,80418.6621,997-7.68 pp
7115,89019.9216,419-8.91 pp
811.044,67422.3412,778-11.3 pp
912.573,55625.7610,118-13.19 pp
1015.762,69130.17,574-14.35 pp
1121.541,94537.615,871-16.07 pp
1224.661,67942.095,022-17.44 pp
1328.431,776454,789-16.56 pp
1433.131,84744.824,112-11.69 pp

At matched ages 5–14, cars averaging under 5k miles/year fail at 14.3% vs 25.3% for 8–12k miles/year — 10.9 pp lower (n_low=55,947, n_normal=300,411). In this family low annual use is associated with fewer MOT fails, not more — the ‘garage queen’ penalty is not visible in overall fail rates. Diesel alone: 16.2% low-use vs 28.0% normal (-11.8 pp).

Which Seat Leon engine is best?

diesel 1.5–1.8 is highest at 111.3; petrol 1.8–2.0 is lowest at 84.4 — the gap is 26.9 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Engine bands against this model's own failure rate at the same ages
FuelCapacityvs own age normRaw fail %Tests
petrol1.8–2.0 litre84.420.11%71,095
petrol1.2–1.5 litre93.517%236,113
petrol1.0–1.2 litre94.519.54%115,781
diesel1.2–1.5 litre96.823.94%330 (rough estimate)
petrol1.5–1.8 litre100.636.16%80,031
diesel1.8–2.0 litre101.429.51%289,890
petrolunder 1.0 litre105.914.92%13,991
diesel1.5–1.8 litre111.324.99%207,813

Splitting this model by fuel alone hides the thing that actually differs. Within the same badge, the diesel 1.5–1.8 runs at 111.3 against this model's own age norm while the petrol 1.8–2.0 runs at 84.4 — a spread of 26.9 points between two cars that share a name.

Read this one with more care than the rest of the page. Age is held constant, but who buys which engine is not: the largest capacity in a range is often a performance or executive variant that is garaged, cherished and lightly driven, while the smallest is frequently a fleet or entry car worked hard from new. The gap below is real in the test records; how much of it is the engine and how much is the owner, this data cannot separate. Bands under 100 tests are not shown; bands under 5,000 tests are rough estimates.

Best year for a Seat Leon, and the years to avoid

Build year 2019 is highest at 114.7; Build year 2014 is lowest at 91.2 — the gap is 23.5 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected

Seat Leon build year vs the same model at the same age · 100 = as expected — 2024 UK MOT data
Seat Leon by build year, tests 2019–2024. Below 100 is better than the model's own age norm.
Every build year with its confidence interval
Build yearvs own age norm95% CIRaw fail %TestsVerdict
2020102.799.4–106.113.21%27,624no different
2019114.7112.3–11715.7%59,282worse
2018103101.3–104.815.05%85,811worse
201794.492.9–9614.58%97,255better
201697.796.2–99.216.35%97,267better
201592.290.9–93.617.29%105,329better
201491.290–92.419.34%115,712better
201396.695.1–9823.27%72,945better
2012105.4103.8–10728.81%58,021worse
2011106.1104.4–107.832.59%44,258worse
2010108.5106.8–110.336.93%40,356worse
2009106.3104.5–10839.4%36,174worse
2008101.6100–103.240.35%37,877no different
200799.397.8–100.841.35%40,443no different
2006105.6103.8–107.445.34%30,008worse
2005103100.8–105.344.82%17,970worse
200498.195.7–100.542.96%15,199no different
2003101.498.7–104.144.36%12,368no different
2002101.698–105.244.24%7,003no different
2001106.2100.9–111.645.65%3,341worse
2000111.6100.5–122.747.07%820worse

The best build year here is 2014 and the weakest is 2019. Comparing build years sounds simple and is not: within a single year of testing, a car's build year and its age are the same number, so a naive comparison of years is a comparison of ages wearing a disguise. Each year below is measured against the same model at the same age in other cohorts, across six years of testing — 13 of 21 years come out distinguishable from their own model's age norm.

Two limits worth knowing before you act on this. Age, test year and build year are locked together by arithmetic, so the test-year effect is taken from the observed national failure level of each year rather than estimated — it is an adjustment, not a solution.

Seat Leon MOT repair costs

The MOT-failure repair budget per test runs from £57.97 to £110.14, against £54.85 for the test itself.

bigger number = costs morepounds per test, MOT-failing faults only

MOT repairs, budget
£58–110
per test, repairs only
The test itself
£54.85
statutory cap, unchanged since 2010
How the figure is built: chance of failing × typical price of that repair
ComponentFails per 100 testsTypical repairIts priceContribution
Suspension12.5 (nat. 15.36)Suspension coil spring (single corner)£180£22.50
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment10.1 (nat. 18.09)Battery replacement (standard 12V lead-acid)£140£14.14
Brakes8.7 (nat. 11.25)Front brake pads (parts + labour, typical hatchback)£150£13.05
Tyres9.2 (nat. 8.7)Tyre (single mid-range 16" fitted)£90£8.28

Multiply how often each component fails on this model by what that repair usually costs, and you get the amount an owner should expect to budget per test for MOT-failing faults only — roughly £58 to £110, on top of the test fee itself. It is a budgeting figure, not a quote: the spread between a set of pads and a set of discs is most of the range.

Prices are modal quotes from a hand-kept catalogue of published UK garage guides — we do not scrape the booking sites, their terms forbid it, so this list is short and updated by hand with a source and date against each line. Each line prices one typical repair in that group, not a full remedy, and only groups our catalogue actually covers are counted. The contrast worth noticing is the second card: the legal maximum for the test has been £54.85 since 2010, while the repairs it uncovers have followed inflation the whole time.

For scale from a different direction: Warrantywise, which sees used-car warranty claims rather than test failures, puts the average claim at £2,052 across the ten highest-claim models it ranks and £539 for Honda, the lowest-claim make in its index (Warrantywise index 2026, 1.6 million claims, cars aged 3–15). Those sit an order of magnitude above the figures in this table, and the gap is the point: a warranty claim is a gearbox or an engine, which almost never fails an MOT, while the faults that do fail one are corrosion, lamps and tyres, which no warranty pays for. The two numbers answer different questions and neither replaces the other.

Seat Leon running costs for a fleet

Vehicles failing at age 10 stand out at 23.0%, against 18.0% at age 5, tested in the same year.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fails per 100 at age 5
18
vehicles needing work
At age 10
23
other cars of this model tested at age 10 in 2024
Repairs per 100
£5,797
plus £5,485 in test fees
Off the road
1d
median; 47.73% cleared same day
Failure rate and typical odometer by age
AgeFailsMedian odometerTestsGap vs age 5
311.95%26,54511,432-5.8 pp
413.64%32,51713,802-4.1 pp
517.76%40,40019,431+0.0 pp
618.58%49,44921,059+0.8 pp
719.51%59,53818,149+1.8 pp
818.87%68,13915,778+1.1 pp
921.06%79,10317,072+3.3 pp
1022.77%89,02318,414+5.0 pp
1126.68%96,12811,492+8.9 pp
1232.97%104,5188,775+15.2 pp
1336.54%109,8936,448+18.8 pp
1438.91%117,0255,638+21.1 pp
1538.77%116,7684,764+21.0 pp
1641.7%121,5034,537+23.9 pp
1742%126,3504,114+24.2 pp
1843.93%127,2072,668+26.2 pp
1940.12%128,7701,610+22.4 pp

The number a fleet manager needs is not the failure rate, it is the year the car starts costing more. Between cars aged 11 and cars aged 12, both tested in 2024, the failure rate of this model is 6.29 percentage points higher — the steepest one-year step in this cross-section of different cars, and a natural planning point for replacement.

Repair spend uses the same modal prices as the section above, so it inherits the same limits: one typical repair per component group, not a full remedy. Downtime is the gap between the failed test and the passed re-test, which is the window a vehicle is legally off the road.

Seat Leon rust problems: where they corrode

Age-standardised corrosion susceptibility is well below the reference at 0.93×, against 1.00× for the national age-standardised rate.

above 1.0× = rusts more than averagebelow 1.0× = rusts less

How it rusts
0.93×
0.71% of tests record a corrosion defect vs 0.77% typical — age-standardised
Salt Belt exposure
71st
percentile among the models published here, from its tests across 115 postcode areas

This Seat Leon fails on corrosion at about the average rate once age is held constant, and its owners live in areas that are saltier than most for the models we publish.

Corrosion is the one failure mode that is as much about geography as about the car. We keep the two apart on purpose: a model can look rusty simply because it is popular in Scotland, and a model can look clean simply because it is bought in Surrey. Blending them into a single score would hide which of the two is doing the work.

Exposure is this model's tests weighted by an area corrosion index built from frost days, salt load and distance to the coast — the composite validated at r = 0.42 against corrosion defects we actually record. It is published as a rank, not a raw score, because every mainstream model skews towards low-corrosion areas for the simple reason that most of Britain's cars are in the south. Susceptibility is standardised to the national age profile, so an old fleet does not get labelled a rusty model.

Does a Seat Leon advisory become a failure?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment are highest at 22.5%; Identification of the vehicle is lowest at 3.4% — the gap is 19.1 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now

Seat Leon chance the same component fails at the next MOT, given an advisory now — 2024 UK MOT data
Seat Leon, advisory → failure conversion by component group, chained tests 2019–2024. Chart labels and rates: Lamps & electrical 22.5% · Body & chassis 17.9% · Steering 14.9% · Suspension 14.1% · Brakes 10.9% · Tyres 8.9% · Noise, emissions, leaks 8.2% · Visibility 7.9%.
Advisory today → failure at the next test, with how long you have
ComponentFails next timeTypical lead timeMiles of warningAdvisories tracked
Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment22.4%12 months6,1644,957
Body, chassis, structure17.9%12.1 months5,91021,136
Steering14.9%12.1 months5,6522,651
Suspension14.1%12 months7,210146,076
Brakes10.9%12.1 months6,763141,936
Tyres8.9%12 months7,434198,770
Noise, emissions and leaks8.2%12.1 months5,89520,839
Visibility7.9%12 months7,948812
Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems3.9%12.1 months6,3773,438
Identification of the vehicle3.4%12 months6,96815,432

This is the question an advisory note actually raises, and it needs six years of test history to answer. We followed the same vehicles from one MOT to the next across 2019–2024 and measured how often a component that was merely advised came back as a genuine failure at the next test.

Read it as a budgeting horizon, not a prophecy: the most likely component above turns into a failure for about 22 in 100 cars, and the median gap is 12 months and roughly 6,164 miles. The rest were repaired, sold, scrapped, or simply held. Rows with fewer than 500 tracked advisories are not shown.

What will fail next on a Seat Leon?

Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment after a failure at age 20+ are highest at 27.0%; Suspension after a passed at age <3 is lowest at 1.8% — the gap is 25.2 percentage points.

higher = more likelypercentage is the observed transition probability

Probability of each component failing at the next test, by age and last result
AgeLast testMost likely next failuresCars tracked
<3passedTyres 4.6% · Visibility 2.7% · Suspension 1.8%46,054
<3advisoryTyres 5.9% · Visibility 3.5% · Suspension 3.2%19,328
<3failureTyres 5.9% · Visibility 4.1% · Suspension 3.6%8,842
3-5passedTyres 4.8% · Visibility 3.2% · Suspension 2.7%136,604
3-5advisoryTyres 6.8% · Visibility 4.6% · Suspension 4.0%87,864
3-5failureTyres 7.6% · Visibility 5.3% · Suspension 4.6%39,512
6-8passedTyres 5.0% · Suspension 4.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 3.5%88,520
6-8advisoryTyres 7.3% · Suspension 6.9% · Brakes 5.7%74,282
6-8failureSuspension 8.8% · Tyres 8.6% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 7.9%43,377
9-11passedSuspension 13.3% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 8.6% · Brakes 6.0%39,850
9-11advisorySuspension 18.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 11.3% · Brakes 8.6%39,788
9-11failureSuspension 21.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 15.4% · Brakes 11.3%39,168
12-14passedSuspension 17.2% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.5% · Body, chassis, structure 12.2%22,999
12-14advisorySuspension 22.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 16.6% · Body, chassis, structure 16.6%25,983
12-14failureSuspension 24.7% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 20.8% · Body, chassis, structure 18.9%34,220
15-19passedBody, chassis, structure 14.0% · Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 12.8% · Suspension 10.9%11,889
15-19advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 19.3% · Body, chassis, structure 19.0% · Suspension 16.8%15,547
15-19failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 24.8% · Body, chassis, structure 20.9% · Suspension 20.1%20,891
20+passedLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 10.7% · Body, chassis, structure 10.3% · Suspension 6.9%533
20+advisoryLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 18.8% · Body, chassis, structure 16.6% · Suspension 12.3%856
20+failureLamps, reflectors and electrical equipment 27.0% · Body, chassis, structure 21.3% · Brakes 17.0%1,012

The same chains, cut differently: given a car's age and how its last test went, which component most often causes trouble at the following one.

The pattern that repeats across every family: a failure at one test roughly doubles the chance of a failure on the same component at the next one, and an advisory sits about half-way between a clean pass and a failure. Age bands in years; probabilities are per car, not per defect item.

Seat Leon ownership: what six years of MOTs show

The ten-day re-test pass rate is highest at 49.8%; The later re-test pass rate is lowest at 2.5% — the gap is 47.3 percentage points.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Fixed same day
47.73%
of failures re-tested
Fails /10k miles
0.316
miles actually driven
Clean streaks
31.57%
3+ tests, nothing noted
Odometer anomaly
0.688%
reading went backwards

Failing is usually a same-week event, not a disaster. Of 180,391 failures followed through to their re-test, 47.73% were repaired and passed the same day and 49.77% within ten days; the median gap is 1 day. 427,354 defect items were cleared in the process.

Per mile driven, not per year. Dividing failures by the miles that actually went onto the odometers between consecutive tests gives 0.316 failures per 10,000 miles, on a median of 6,822 miles a year across 207,091 chains. This is the number to compare between models — an annual rate quietly rewards cars that barely leave the drive.

Two populations hide inside one model. 31.57% of these cars strung together three or more tests with nothing recorded at all, while 30.5% carried the same advisory three times or more — the same fault, noted, ignored, noted again. When you buy used you are buying one of those two histories, and the MOT record shows which.

Odometer anomalies: 0.688% of 207,184 chains show a reading lower than the previous test, with a median drop of 20,467 miles. We call this an anomaly and not fraud on purpose — instrument swaps, imports, unit mix-ups and keying errors all land in the same bucket. Obvious typos (drops under 100 miles or over 90% of the reading) are already excluded.

Seat Leon safety recalls and how to check yours

DVSA recall campaigns stand out at 25.

bigger number = more recorded casescompare like-for-like scope, not sample size alone

recall campaigns launched per year

Seat Leon recall campaigns launched per year — 2024 UK MOT data
Campaigns launched per year for the Seat Leon. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls. Chart values: 2011: 1 · 2012: 0 · 2013: 0 · 2014: 0 · 2015: 0 · 2016: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2020: 0 · 2021: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2023: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2025: 1.
Most recent safety recall campaigns for the Seat Leon
ReferenceLaunchedVehiclesConcern
R/2025/34823/07/202567Takata front drivers or passenger airbag replacement
R/2024/28516/07/20242Drivers side front airbag
R/2024/16010/04/202418Driver's side front airbag
R/2024/02626/01/20242,499On certain vehicles with electromechanical brake servo and DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) of a
R/2023/29416/10/202343In certain vehicles within a range of specified VINs it has been detected that an engine s
All 25 campaigns
ReferenceLaunchedBuild datesVehiclesConcern
R/2025/34823/07/202518/12/2009 – 14/04/201667Takata front drivers or passenger airbag replacement
R/2024/28516/07/202426/09/2012 – 20/11/20122Drivers side front airbag
R/2024/16010/04/202423/11/2009 – 28/04/201118Driver's side front airbag
R/2024/02626/01/202422/10/2020 – 30/03/20222,499On certain vehicles with electromechanical brake servo and DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) of a
R/2023/29416/10/202327/07/2023 – 07/08/202343In certain vehicles within a range of specified VINs it has been detected that an engine s
R/2023/27311/09/202324/01/2008 – 10/02/20176,433Front driver airbag replacement
R/2022/18528/06/202228/04/2020 – 01/03/202110,145THE WIRING HARNESS OF THE AIRBAG CONTROL UNIT MAY POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN CAUGHT BY THE CLUTCH
R/2022/18528/06/202201/03/2021 – 17/06/202110,145THE WIRING HARNESS OF THE AIRBAG CONTROL UNIT MAY POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN CAUGHT BY THE CLUTCH
R/2022/08807/04/202219/12/2020 – 21/10/20212,347IN SOME VEHICLESTHE FUSE IN THE HIGH-VOLTAGE SYSTEM HAS BEEN PRODUCED IN PART WITH AN INS
R/2022/07623/03/202216/10/2020 – 14/02/20222,309ENGINE DESIGN COVERS COULD DETACH FROM THEIR FIXING
R/2021/40710/11/202130/09/2020 – 08/10/20205IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE REAR KNUCKLE FASTENING SCREW DOES NOT HAVE THE CORRCT TIGHTENING T
R/2021/32431/08/202127/09/2020 – 10/08/2021346THE FRONT SEAT BELTS ARE NOT PROPERLY ANCHORED
R/2019/35614/10/201901/11/2016 – 05/07/201823,732POSSIBLE FAULT IN A TURN SIGNAL
R/2019/26209/08/201923/01/2014 – 30/10/20141,383THE INLET CAMSHAFT ADJUSTER PULLEY IS LIABLE TO BREAK
R/2019/15713/05/201901/12/2017 – 17/12/201750THE DRIVER'S AIR BAG MAY NOT INFLATE FAST ENOUGH IN THE EVENT OF ACTIVATION
R/2018/06007/03/201801/03/2011 – 30/11/20111,943STARTER MOTOR MAY MALFUNCTION AND OVERHEAT
R/2017/21610/07/201701/05/2008 – 31/05/20109,703ABS/ESC SYSTEM MAY FAIL
R/2016/18005/08/201625/11/2015 – 14/04/20161,334MANUAL CHILD LOCK MAY DISENGAGE WITHOUT WARNING
R/2011/16815/12/201101/01/2009 – 31/12/200965FUEL MAY LEAK
R/2009/11130/11/200901/09/2008 – 31/08/200952CLUTCH MAY OPERATE INADVERTENTLY WITH UNEXPECTED LOSS OF DRIVE.
R/2006/03305/04/200601/02/2004 – 30/06/20051,477FLYWHEEL MAY FAIL
R/2004/21218/02/200501/03/2004 – 31/08/20045,492BOLTS OF THE TANDEM FUEL PUMP COVER MAY BREAK
R/2004/20202/02/200526,886TENSION CRACKS MAY OCCUR ON THE VACUUM PIPE TO THE SERVO
R/2002/03223/05/200201/03/2001 – 30/09/20011,412ANTI LOCK BRAKE CONTROL UNIT CONCERN
R/2002/03223/05/20021,412ANTI LOCK BRAKE CONTROL UNIT CONCERN

DVSA lists 25 safety recall campaigns for the Seat Leon, covering roughly 109,300 vehicles in total. A recall is the manufacturer fixing a fault for free, so an open recall on your car costs nothing to clear.

Counter-intuitive, and measured on our own data: across the 25 families published here, more recalls go with a lower MOT Risk Index (r = −0.52). Heavily recalled models are not worse cars in the test bay — an active manufacturer removes the fault before it becomes an MOT failure.

Check whether a specific car has an outstanding recall — free, by registration — at DVSA's recall service. Source: DVSA vehicle safety recalls (check-vehicle-recalls.service.gov.uk), OGL.

Seat Leon inspection results in other countries

Netherlands APK is well below the reference at 47.3%, against 50.8% nationally.

higher = larger sharecompare shares in percentage points

Same model, different national inspection regimes
CountryTestThis model failsNational averagePositionSample
United KingdomMOT (class 4)23.33%26.01%-2.7 pp188,729
NetherlandsAPK47.3%50.8%-3.5 pp41,633
FinlandKatsastus24.5%26.3%-1.8 pp4,251

The verdict is consistent across every regime where the difference is clear, which is the strongest form this comparison takes: independent inspectorates, different rulebooks, same direction of travel.

The exact faults Netherlands records — APK defect codes, 2024
CodeFaultRecordedType
210Tyre pressure not at the correct value7,233failure
205Tyre with insufficient tread5,556failure
516Dipped headlight incorrectly aimed3,354failure
AC1Tyre down to 1.6–2.5 mm of tread3,218advisory
RA2Excessive leak of other fluids1,907advisory
203Tyre damaged1,555failure
AC5Mechanical brake parts showing wear1,424advisory
391Wipers leave insufficient visibility1,232failure

Worth dwelling on how mundane the top of that list is: tyre pressure, tread depth, headlight aim. The Dutch APK records 1.112 defects per inspection against a much higher national failure rate than Britain's, and the reason is not that Dutch cars are worse — it is that the two regimes draw the line between "note it" and "fail it" in different places. Codes are the RDW's own; the English wording here is our translation of the Dutch original.

Britain is not the only country that inspects every car every year, and the Seat Leon is on the road in all of them. Each national regime writes its own rules, so the pass rates below are not comparable to each other — what does travel across a border is whether a model sits above or below its own country's average.

Rows with fewer than 500 inspections are not published. Sources: RDW open data — Meldingen Keuringsinstantie + Geconstateerde Gebreken + Gekentekende voertuigen (2024), CC0. Not an RDW endorsement.; Traficom — Periodic inspections of cars by model / by model and fault object 2024, CC BY 4.0. Adapted; licences and full notice.

Seat Leon MOT: quick answers

Seat Leon MOT Risk Index is well below the reference at 91.9, against 100 for a car with the same age profile.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

What is the Seat Leon first-time MOT pass rate?
76.67% of first attempts passed in 2024 (188,729 tests). This is the first-time figure: retests after repair are excluded. Basis: first-time, excluding retests.
Why does this number differ from other sites?
Other sites often report a pass rate that includes retests or counts all attempts. Our 23.33% figure is the first-time initial failure rate, using 188,729 primary tests as the denominator (first-time, excluding retests). The age-adjusted MOT initial-failure ratio 91.9 is shown separately because raw rates compare fleet age as well as cars.

Compare the Seat Leon with other cars

Audi A1 is highest at 93.1; Ford Kuga is lowest at 90.2 — the gap is 2.9 points.

below 100 is betterabove 100 is worse100 = normal for this model at that age

Same brand

All Seat MOT statisticsSeat Ibiza MOT stats

Similar risk

Volkswagen Passat (index 92.4)Audi A1 (index 93.1)Ford Kuga (index 90.2)

Same size class

how Citroen Berlingo compareshow Volkswagen Passat compareshow Kia Picanto compares

By build year

Seat Leon 2000Seat Leon 2001Seat Leon 2002Seat Leon 2003Seat Leon 2004Seat Leon 2005Seat Leon 2006Seat Leon 2007Seat Leon 2008Seat Leon 2009Seat Leon 2010Seat Leon 2011Seat Leon 2012Seat Leon 2013Seat Leon 2014Seat Leon 2015Seat Leon 2016Seat Leon 2017Seat Leon 2018Seat Leon 2019Seat Leon 2020

By area

Seat Leon MOT failure rate by postcode area

By failure group

Seat Leon body, chassis and structure failuresSeat Leon brakes failuresSeat Leon vehicle identification failuresSeat Leon lamps, reflectors and electrics failuresSeat Leon noise, emissions and leaks failuresSeat Leon road wheels failuresSeat Leon seat belts and airbags failuresSeat Leon steering failuresSeat Leon suspension failuresSeat Leon tyres failuresSeat Leon visibility failures

Inspections abroad

Seat Leon in FinlandSeat Leon in the Netherlands


Data details & how to cite

Scope: class-4 vehicles (cars), initial tests only, outcomes pass / fail / fixed-on-the-spot at the station (PRS counts towards the failure rate — the defect was present at arrival). Index = observed initial failures ÷ failures expected for this fleet's exact age profile, ×100; margin of error is a 95% confidence interval. Covers ALL generations together — a 3-year-old and a 15-year-old are very different cars; a generation split is on the roadmap. Dataset release dataset_release_id=dvsa-2024-v2, frozen baseline; headline claim_id=family-stats:seat-leon:dvsa-2024-v2. Full method: methodology.

Cite: MOT Risk Index (2026). Seat Leon MOT statistics 2024 (data release dvsa-2024-v2; downloadable dataset motriskindex-families-2024-v5, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22975051). https://motriskindex.co.uk/cars/seat-leon/ · Published 2026-07-30.