Pass rate, every year
8,348 tests across 4 model years, 2020–2023.
+11.7 pts vs the national average
Pass rate, every year
8,348 tests across 4 model years, 2020–2023.
+11.7 pts vs the national average
Best year to buy
2023 98.0%
The strongest of the 4 years on record. See the 2023 page →
Worst year to buy
2020 92.0%
6.0 points below the 2023 peak. See the 2020 page →
The SEAT Ateca Fr MOT pass rate is 92.7%, +11.7 percentage points above the UK average. That is 8,348 DVSA MOT tests recorded between 2020 and 2023. This page lists the most common SEAT Ateca Fr MOT failures by category, names the best and worst model years, and finishes with a pre-MOT checklist you can run at home.
The SEAT Ateca Fr passed on its first attempt in 92.1%, and its overall record sits +11.7 percentage points above the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the SEAT Ateca Fr in the 2023–2025 data: 8,348 tests across 4 model years (2020–2023). A test still carries exactly one pass or fail verdict.
| Measure | This model |
|---|---|
| Tests analysed | 8,348 |
| Overall pass rate | 92.7% |
| Passed on first attempt | 92.1% |
| Average mileage at test | 28,459 mi |
| Model years covered | 2020–2023 (4 years) |
| Versus UK national average | +11.7 pts above |
Figures are computed from every recorded DVSA test for this model in the 2023–2025 data.
Every MOT failure a tester records belongs to one inspection section of the DVSA manual. For the SEAT Ateca Fr, the Tyres section leads the record — the breakdown below shows where the recorded failures cluster, then the exact strings behind the three biggest sections.
| Inspection section | Share of failures |
|---|---|
| Tyres | 32% |
| Visibility | 29% |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 16% |
| Brakes | 13% |
| Suspension | 10% |
Shares are over the SEAT Ateca Fr's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.
Around 32% of the recorded SEAT Ateca Fr failures fall in the Tyres section of the MOT inspection manual. Testers recorded "Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm" (1.4%), "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords" (1.0%), "Has ply or cords exposed" (0.3%) among the SEAT Ateca Fr's tyres faults.
Around 29% of the recorded SEAT Ateca Fr failures fall in the Visibility section of the MOT inspection manual. Testers recorded "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (1.5%), "Wipers blade defective" (0.8%), "Washers provides insufficient washer liquid" (0.2%) among the SEAT Ateca Fr's visibility faults.
Around 16% of the recorded SEAT Ateca Fr failures fall in the Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment section of the MOT inspection manual. Testers recorded "Headlamp aim too high" (1.2%), "Headlamp aim projected beam image is obviously incorrect" (0.1%), "Headlamp aim too low" (0.1%) among the SEAT Ateca Fr's lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment faults.
The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the SEAT Ateca Fr, each with how many of the model's 8,348 tests it was noted on.
The strongest SEAT Ateca Fr model year on record is 2023 (98.0% across 51 tests), and the weakest is 2020 (92.0%). The gap between them is 6.0 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.
SEAT Ateca Fr reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 2.0 points a year across the most recent model years shown above.
| Year | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 Ateca Fr | 51 | 98.0% |
| 2022 Ateca Fr | 1,305 | 94.7% |
| 2021 Ateca Fr | 4,117 | 92.4% |
| 2020 Ateca Fr | 2,875 | 92.0% |
Newest model year first. Only years with at least 50 recorded tests are listed.
These checks follow this SEAT Ateca Fr's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a SEAT Ateca Fr.
the windscreen — “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.
the tyre tread — “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.
the lights — “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.
Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the SEAT Ateca Fr. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.
Across every Ateca Fr model year on record (2020–2023): 5,701 SEAT Ateca Fr cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 8,348 tests. Glasgow (G) has the most, with 177 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 | Glasgow (G) | 177 | 90.6% |
| 2 | Sheffield (S) | 162 | 93.4% |
| 3 | Birmingham (B) | 136 | 96.2% |
| 4 | Leicester (LE) | 124 | 89.1% |
| 5 | Ashford (TN) | 123 | 88.4% |
| 6 | Swansea (SA) | 111 | 93.4% |
| 7 | Doncaster (DN) | 108 | 93.8% |
| 8 | Chelmsford (CM) | 105 | 96.3% |
| 9 | Derby (DE) | 100 | 92.1% |
| 10 | Stockport (SK) | 99 | 97.2% |
| 11 | Bristol (BS) | 96 | 88.2% |
| 12 | Carlisle (CA) | 92 | 90.6% |
| 13 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 90 | 94.0% |
| 14 | Leeds (LS) | 90 | 96.7% |
| 15 | Peterborough (PE) | 89 | 88.3% |
| 16 | Northampton (NN) | 88 | 86.7% |
| 17 | Liverpool (L) | 86 | 91.1% |
| 18 | Coventry (CV) | 86 | 95.0% |
| 19 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 85 | 93.6% |
| 20 | Cardiff (CF) | 82 | 94.3% |
The twenty areas with the most SEAT Ateca Fr 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 →
92.7% of the 8,348 recorded SEAT Ateca Fr MOT tests ended in a pass, +11.7 percentage points above the national average. 92.1% of those passed on the first attempt.
2023 is the strongest SEAT Ateca Fr year on record at 98.0%, while 2020 is the weakest at 92.0%. The year-by-year table below lists every model year with at least 50 recorded tests.
The most recorded SEAT Ateca Fr failures are "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" and "Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm" — together around 3% of tests, mostly in the Visibility section.