Pass rate
90.5%
Above average — 0.7 pts behind the 91.2% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 8,004 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £37–£88
2021 SEAT Ateca MOT pass rate
- 2021
- typical 28,984 mi
Most common fault
Tyres
32.5% of faults · 19.8% nationally
mostly tread below the limit, cuts and sidewall bulges.
Part only £55–£85 for Tread depth below 1.6 mm. What fitting it takes →
1.6 pts down across model years — 5.9% in 2016, 4.3% in 2022.
Which year to buy
- Best 2022 92.3% pass
- Avoid 2016 90.0% pass
Across the 8 years on record, a spread of 2.3 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 89.6%
- Typical mileage
- 29k mi
The 2021 SEAT Ateca MOT pass rate is 90.5% of its MOT tests — about what its age and mileage predict. Tyres is the biggest single reason it fails, at 32.5% of what testers record.
Check your postcode
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how SEAT Ateca does in your corner of the country.
Expert verdict
Tyres: 1.6× the national share
Tyres make up 32.5% of everything recorded on the 2021 SEAT Ateca, against 19.8% nationally — 12.7 points above. Check all four tyres yourself, including the inner shoulders, and look at the date stamp — a tyre can pass on tread and still be six years old.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 14% 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 Ateca? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2021 SEAT Ateca compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 91.2%, so this figure is 0.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 89.6%. The median 2021 SEAT Ateca in this dataset had covered 28,984 mi.
The most common fuel recorded here is Petrol — 91% of tests, with a 90.6% pass rate. Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 90.8% of the time, April–September 90.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm", noted on 2.31% of tests.
- 8,004 recorded tests behind this page.
- 90.5% overall pass rate, 89.6% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the SEAT Ateca, the average is 91.0% — best year 2022 (92.3%), worst 2016 (90.0%).
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
- 8,004
- Typical mileage (median)
- 28,984 mi
- Make and model
- SEAT Ateca
- Updated
- 2026-11-05
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Tyres
Usually a DIY or independent-garage job.
Does mileage affect the Ateca MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 73% so small gaps stay visible.
Fuel type and reliability
Pass rate by fuel type. Petrol is the most common here (91% of tests).
Regional pass rates for the Ateca
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 1,255 | 89.8% |
| Scotland | 1,158 | 89.4% |
| North West | 1,018 | 91.6% |
| Yorkshire | 859 | 91.9% |
| East Midlands | 776 | 87.4% |
| West Midlands | 689 | 91.9% |
| East of England | 689 | 91.6% |
| South West | 636 | 89.3% |
| North East | 399 | 91.5% |
| Wales | 390 | 93.3% |
| London | 135 | 91.1% |
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 2021 Ateca
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 2021 Ateca
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 tyre tread 2.3% of tests
“tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm”
Check all four tyres cold, including the inner shoulder where wear hides — 1.6mm across the central three-quarters is the legal limit, and most testers fail at 1.6mm without argument.
-
Check the windscreen 1.5% of tests
“windscreen damaged”
Check the driver’s side of the screen within the swept area for chips and cracks; anything larger than 10mm in the driver’s central view is a fail. Most chips can be resin-repaired for far less than a new screen.
-
Check the lights 1.4% of tests
“headlamp aim too high”
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.
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 2021 Ateca through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £37–£88 — and 14% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £37–£88
- Cheapest common item: wipers blade defective
- £8–£22
- Dearest common item: windscreen damaged
- £80–£200
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 60%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 14%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 8,004 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 Ateca, side by side
8 model years on record, from 2016 to 2023. Across them the pass rate runs from 90.0% to 92.3% — a spread of 2.3 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2016 90.0% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2017 90.2% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2018 90.3% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2019 91.9% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2020 92.1% windscreen damaged but not…
- 2021 90.5%tread depth below requirements of…
- 2022 92.3% tread depth below requirements of…
- 2023 91.8% tread depth below requirements of…
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 2021 SEAT Ateca 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 2021 cars with a similar record
- Vauxhall Corsa Griffin 90.5%
- Mitsubishi L200 90.5%
- Kia Picanto GT-Line 90.5%
- Kia Sportage 90.4%
- Vauxhall Mokka 90.6%
- BMW 218I 90.6%
Closest pass rates among 2021 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 2021 SEAT Ateca 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 6,439 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 2,104 | 32.50% | 19.76% | +12.74 |
| Brakes | 1,436 | 22.20% | 20.89% | +1.31 |
| Suspension | 1,072 | 16.60% | 20.98% | −4.38 |
| Non-component advisories | 721 | 11.10% | 4.18% | +6.92 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 384 | 5.90% | 12.21% | −6.31 |
| Visibility | 375 | 5.80% | 4.97% | +0.83 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 205 | 3.20% | 1.76% | +1.44 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 76 | 1.20% | 0.82% | +0.38 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 38 | 0.60% | 5.52% | −4.92 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 28 | 0.40% | 5.57% | −5.17 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Major | 2.3% | £45–95 |
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 1.5% | £80–200 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Rectified | 1.4% | £30–80 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Major | 1.3% | £18–45 |
| Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords Tyres | Major | 1.1% | £45–95 |
| Headlamp aim too high Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 1.0% | £30–80 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 0.99% | £8–22 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Major | 0.74% | £30–75 |
| Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Major | 0.61% | £30–80 |
| Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively Visibility | Major | 0.57% | £8–22 |
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 | 13.3% | £45–95 |
| Brake pads less than 1.5 mm thick Brakes | Advisory | 11.4% | £18–45 |
| Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak Suspension | Advisory | 10.5% | £30–75 |
| Non-component advisories Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt Non-component advisories | Advisory | 5.3% | £20–80 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 4.9% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Nail in tyre Non-component advisories | Advisory | 3.0% | £45–95 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-30k | 4,224 | 93.0% | 20,811 mi |
| 30-60k | 3,440 | 88.2% | 40,204 mi |
| 60-90k | 304 | 82.9% | 69,607 mi |
| 90-120k | 33 | 81.8% | 102,346 mi |
| 120k+ | 3 | 100.0% | 131,501 mi |
Source: 8,004 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.
2021 Ateca MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2021 SEAT Ateca?
90.5% of the 8,004 2021 SEAT Ateca tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 91.2% for cars first used in 2021. First-attempt pass rate: 89.6%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2021 SEAT Ateca?
The three most recorded items are tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (2.31%), windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (1.46%), headlamp aim too high (1.39%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2021 SEAT Ateca MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 93.0% of the time, falling to 100.0% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2021 SEAT Ateca in this dataset had covered 28,984 mi.
Which fuel type is most reliable for a 2021 SEAT Ateca?
Petrol: 90.6% pass rate across 7,289 tests. Diesel: 89.4% pass rate across 715 tests. Shares are of the tests on this vehicle that recorded each fuel type.
Does the season affect the 2021 SEAT Ateca MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 90.8% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 90.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.