Pass rate
75.5%
Around average — 0.4 pts behind the 75.9% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 4,628 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £33–£87
2011 SEAT Altea MOT pass rate
- 2011
- typical 102,461 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Suspension
28.2% of faults · 21.0% nationally
mostly worn arm bushes, split ball-joint boots and broken coil springs.
Part only £40–£65 for Shock absorber leaking. What fitting it takes →
Which year to buy
- Best 2015 81.9% pass
- Avoid 2005 69.7% pass
Across the 12 years on record, a spread of 12.2 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 68.3%
- Typical mileage
- 102k mi
The 2011 SEAT Altea MOT pass rate is 75.5% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Suspension is the biggest single reason it fails, at 28.2% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Suspension: 1.3× the national share
Suspension accounts for 28.2% of everything recorded on the 2011 SEAT Altea, against 21.0% nationally — 7.2 points above. Ask for the front and rear suspension to be checked on a ramp before you buy — worn bushes and broken springs are cheap to look at and expensive to discover at test time.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 25% of this model’s typical repairs come in under £30 in parts — the failures here tend to be the kind that need a garage rather than a bulb.
Written from this page's own figures: fault shares against the national composition, the like-for-like pass rate, and the priced repair list. How these are worked out
Watching a SEAT Altea? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2011 SEAT Altea compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 75.9%, so this figure is 0.4 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 68.3%. The median 2011 SEAT Altea in this dataset had covered 102,461 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Diesel — 88% of tests, with a 75.5% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 76.5% of the time, April–September 74.4%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources", noted on 4.67% of tests.
- 4,628 recorded tests behind this page.
- 75.5% overall pass rate, 68.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the SEAT Altea, the average is 73.9% — best year 2015 (81.9%), worst 2005 (69.7%).
Figures count every completed test on this vehicle-year in the dataset, including retests. See methodology for the exact definition.
This page's data
- Tests analysed
- 4,628
- Typical mileage (median)
- 102,461 mi
- Make and model
- SEAT Altea
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Number Plate Lamp
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Altea MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 63% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Diesel is the most common here (88% of tests).
Where the SEAT Altea is most common
Across all Altea model years on record (2004–2015): 19,522 SEAT Altea cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 51,016 tests. Birmingham (B) has the most, with 677 cars tested there. Cars are counted by the postcode area of the MOT station, so this is where they were tested, not necessarily where their owners live.
| # | Postcode area | Cars | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham (B) | 677 | 83.3% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 532 | 79.8% |
| 3 | Nottingham (NG) | 439 | 73.7% |
| 4 | Leicester (LE) | 423 | 77.5% |
| 5 | Bristol (BS) | 401 | 69.2% |
| 6 | Peterborough (PE) | 387 | 76.1% |
| 7 | Doncaster (DN) | 373 | 75.5% |
| 8 | Swansea (SA) | 368 | 73.6% |
| 9 | Derby (DE) | 356 | 73.4% |
| 10 | Exeter (EX) | 351 | 67.8% |
| 11 | Manchester (M) | 348 | 77.4% |
| 12 | Coventry (CV) | 343 | 75.1% |
| 13 | Norwich (NR) | 316 | 74.4% |
| 14 | Northampton (NN) | 312 | 75.2% |
| 15 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 302 | 75.2% |
| 16 | Bradford (BD) | 301 | 76.3% |
| 17 | Cardiff (CF) | 293 | 70.1% |
| 18 | Portsmouth (PO) | 290 | 67.7% |
| 19 | Reading (RG) | 279 | 72.8% |
| 20 | Leeds (LS) | 274 | 71.9% |
The twenty areas with the most SEAT Altea cars in the record, sorted by car count — sort the columns for a different question. Cars tested at a station whose postcode area could not be resolved are counted in the model's total but in no area, so the shares add up to slightly under 100% even across every area, and an area's cars are a subset of the model's. Pass rate is blank below 30 tests in an area, where a percentage is noise rather than a finding. How this model's pass rate varies by postcode →
Regional pass rates for the Altea
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 764 | 75.8% |
| South West | 659 | 73.3% |
| Yorkshire | 571 | 75.0% |
| East of England | 505 | 77.8% |
| West Midlands | 481 | 78.0% |
| North West | 466 | 77.0% |
| East Midlands | 404 | 74.8% |
| Wales | 292 | 72.6% |
| Scotland | 237 | 73.0% |
| North East | 198 | 73.2% |
| London | 51 | 86.3% |
Regions come from the postcode area recorded at the test station. Areas on region borders are assigned to the region with the majority of their population.
What fails a 2011 Altea
Everything a tester recorded on this vehicle, grouped into the inspection sections that produced it. The notch on each bar is the national share, so you can see at a glance whether this car is unusual or just ordinary.
A test can record several items, so these percentages do not add up to 100%. The exact strings, with prices, are in the full DVSA record at the bottom of this page.
Before your test
Three checks worth doing on a 2011 Altea
These are not generic tips — they are the faults recorded most often on this exact model, rewritten as things you can check yourself. All three take about ten minutes and cost nothing.
-
Check the lights 4.7% of tests
“registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources”
Switch everything on and walk round the car: both headlamps on dip and main, every indicator, both brake lights, reverse, fog and the two number-plate lamps. A bulb is a few pounds and a five-minute job.
-
Check the coil springs 4.0% of tests
“coil spring fractured or broken”
Look up inside each wheel arch with a torch, all the way round the spring. A snapped spring usually breaks at the very bottom coil, where a quick glance will not reach.
-
Check the suspension joints 3.6% of tests
“linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
With the car parked on level ground, rock the top of each front wheel in and out while someone watches the suspension arm. Clunks, or rubber boots split and greasy, are what testers record here.
Shares are the proportion of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item, so they overlap: one test can record several.
What it costs to get a 2011 Altea through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £33–£87 — and 25% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £33–£87
- Cheapest common item: stop lamp not working
- £3–£12
- Dearest common item: joints constant velocity boot severely…
- £80–£250
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 70%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 25%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 4,628 MOT tests on this vehicle. They exclude diagnostics, retest fees and garage labour where the part is a DIY fit, and they are not figures from the DVSA dataset. Older and higher-mileage examples cost more than the average. How these estimates are built → · All MOT repair costs → · Cheapest cars to put through a test →
Every year of the Altea, side by side
12 model years on record, from 2004 to 2015. Across them the pass rate runs from 69.7% to 81.9% — a spread of 12.2 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2004 70.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2005 69.7% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2006 70.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2007 71.3% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2008 71.4% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2009 72.2% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2010 73.5% ball joint dust cover severely…
- 2011 75.5%registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2012 77.6% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2013 78.5% coil spring fractured or broken
- 2014 80.7% registration plate lamp(s)…
- 2015 81.9% windscreen damaged but not…
Colour is the pass rate on a fixed scale, so a block means the same thing on any model. Each year links to its own page with the full fault breakdown.
Compare the 2011 SEAT Altea with another year
The raw pass rate mostly measures age. The year comparison adds the like-for-like figure, the mileage bands and the repair bill.
Other 2011 cars with a similar record
- Hyundai I20 75.5%
- Ford Ka 75.6%
- Ford S-Max 75.4%
- London Taxis Int TX4 75.4%
- Ford Kuga 75.7%
- Mercedes-Benz Vito 75.7%
Closest pass rates among 2011 cars with at least 2,000 tests, so a small sample cannot flatter itself into the list. See the full rankings: best and worst MOT pass rates.
The full DVSA record for the 2011 SEAT Altea 10 failure items · 6 advisories · 10 inspection categories · mileage brackets · all of it in the page, none of it above the fold
Every inspection category
Shares of the 10,327 individual items recorded on this vehicle, and the same share across all cars nationally. A single test can record several items, so a row is not a percentage of tests.
| Category | Items | This car | Nationally | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 2,940 | 28.20% | 20.98% | +7.22 |
| Brakes | 2,128 | 20.40% | 20.89% | −0.49 |
| Tyres | 1,822 | 17.40% | 19.76% | −2.36 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 1,414 | 13.50% | 12.21% | +1.29 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 662 | 6.30% | 5.57% | +0.73 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 416 | 4.00% | 5.52% | −1.52 |
| Visibility | 358 | 3.40% | 4.97% | −1.57 |
| Non-component advisories | 255 | 2.40% | 4.18% | −1.78 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 190 | 1.80% | 1.76% | +0.04 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 142 | 1.40% | 0.82% | +0.58 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.7% | £5–20 |
| Coil spring fractured or broken Suspension | Major | 4.0% | £25–65 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Suspension | Major | 3.6% | £18–45 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 2.4% | £60–150 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 2.3% | £80–200 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 2.3% | £80–250 |
| Linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover severely deteriorated Suspension | Minor | 2.1% | £18–45 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 2.1% | £45–110 |
| Stop lamp not working Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 2.1% | £3–12 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 1.8% | £30–75 |
Severity is as recorded: Major and Dangerous fail the test outright; Minor and Advisory do not. Costs are estimates from typical UK parts prices — see how they are built.
What testers noted without failing the car
Advisories are the early warnings — the same parts a year or two before they fail. Reading them is how you tell a car that has been maintained from one that has been patched.
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 21.8% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 12.6% | £45–110 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 8.1% | £45–95 |
| Suspension arm corroded and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 7.8% | £35–85 |
| Coil spring corroded so that its cross sectional area is reduced and seriously weakened Suspension | Advisory | 7.8% | £25–65 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 7.7% | £18–45 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 30 | 80.0% | 24,199 mi |
| 30-60k | 324 | 82.4% | 49,204 mi |
| 60-90k | 1,196 | 79.6% | 77,618 mi |
| 90-120k | 1,677 | 74.3% | 104,411 mi |
| 120k+ | 1,399 | 71.7% | 144,295 mi |
Source: 4,628 recorded tests on this vehicle-year. Every row above is recomputed from the same DVSA extract as the rest of the page — see the methodology.
2011 Altea MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2011 SEAT Altea?
75.5% of the 4,628 2011 SEAT Altea tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 75.9% for cars first used in 2011. First-attempt pass rate: 68.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2011 SEAT Altea?
The three most recorded items are registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources (4.67%), coil spring fractured or broken (4.04%), linkage ball joint dust cover ball joint dust cover no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (3.57%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2011 SEAT Altea MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 80.0% of the time, falling to 71.7% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2011 SEAT Altea in this dataset had covered 102,461 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2011 SEAT Altea?
Diesel: 75.5% pass rate across 4,068 tests. Petrol: 75.5% pass rate across 560 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2011 SEAT Altea MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 76.5% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 74.4%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.