Pass rate
68.6%
Below average — 4.7 pts behind the 73.3% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 105 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £78–£212
2001 SEAT Inca MOT pass rate
- 2001
- typical 108,185 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
22.6% of faults · 20.9% nationally
mostly worn pads and discs, corroded pipes and a handbrake that will not hold.
Which year to buy
- Best 2002 69.1% pass
- Avoid 2001 68.6% pass · this year
Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 0.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 59.3%
- Typical mileage
- 108k mi
The 2001 SEAT Inca MOT pass rate is 68.6% of its MOT tests — 4.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 22.6% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 3.0× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 16.9% of everything recorded on the 2001 SEAT Inca, against 5.6% nationally — 11.3 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 22.6%, but at 20.9% nationally that one is ordinary. Look underneath for corrosion near the jacking points and suspension mounts; surface rust is normal, flaking metal is not.
- Falls short of its own age and mileage. Like-for-like, cars this age and mileage expect about 73.3%; this one manages 68.6% — 4.7 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 19% 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 Inca? Get an email when these numbers change .
How does the 2001 SEAT Inca compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 73.3%, so this figure is 4.7 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 59.3%. The median 2001 SEAT Inca in this dataset had covered 108,185 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 64.2% of the time, April–September 76.3%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 11.43% of tests.
- 105 recorded tests behind this page.
- 68.6% overall pass rate, 59.3% on a first attempt.
- Across every year of the SEAT Inca, the average is 68.9% — best year 2002 (69.1%), worst 2001 (68.6%).
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
- 105
- Typical mileage (median)
- 108,185 mi
- Make and model
- SEAT Inca
- Updated
- 2026-11-07
Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data (2023–2025), OGL v3.0.
Top part to budget for
Windscreen
Typically a garage job — get quotes before committing.
Does mileage affect the Inca MOT pass rate?
Pass rate by odometer reading. Bar lengths start at 57% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Inca
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| South East | 37 | 64.9% |
| East of England | 21 | 61.9% |
| South West | 18 | 72.2% |
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 2001 Inca
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 2001 Inca
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 windscreen 11.4% 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 corrosion 7.6% of tests
“component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength”
Look under the sills, around the jacking points and where the suspension mounts meet the body. Flaking, holed or crumbly metal fails; a brown stain on sound metal does not.
-
Check the wipers and washers 6.7% of tests
“wipers blade defective”
Run the wipers with the screen wet: they should clear it in one sweep without smearing or juddering. Top the washer bottle up and check both jets hit the screen.
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 2001 Inca through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £78–£212 — and 19% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £78–£212
- Cheapest common item: registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the…
- £5–£20
- Dearest common item: component mounting prescribed areas…
- £180–£450
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 40%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 19%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 105 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 Inca, side by side
3 model years on record, from 2001 to 2003. Across them the pass rate runs from 68.6% to 69.1% — a spread of 0.5 points. The bar under each year is the item that failed it most often.
- 2001 68.6%windscreen damaged but not…
- 2002 69.1% joints constant velocity boot…
- 2003 68.7% 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 2001 SEAT Inca 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 2001 cars with a similar record
- MINI Mini 68.2%
- Ford Fiesta 69.0%
- Vauxhall Corsa 69.1%
- Citroen Xsara 68.1%
- Volkswagen Beetle 67.8%
- Honda Accord 69.5%
Closest pass rates among 2001 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 2001 SEAT Inca 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 351 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brakes | 80 | 22.60% | 20.89% | +1.71 |
| Suspension | 60 | 16.90% | 20.98% | −4.08 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 60 | 16.90% | 5.57% | +11.33 |
| Tyres | 51 | 14.40% | 19.76% | −5.36 |
| Visibility | 33 | 9.30% | 4.97% | +4.33 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 32 | 9.00% | 12.21% | −3.21 |
| Steering | 12 | 3.40% | 2.57% | +0.83 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 12 | 3.40% | 1.76% | +1.64 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 6 | 1.70% | 5.52% | −3.82 |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 5 | 1.40% | 0.82% | +0.58 |
The exact failure items, in the tester's words
| Recorded item | Severity | Tests | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view Visibility | Minor | 11.4% | £80–200 |
| Joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Body, chassis, structure | Major | 9.5% | £80–250 |
| Component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 7.6% | £180–450 |
| Wipers blade defective Visibility | Minor | 6.7% | £8–22 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 5.7% | £80–250 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.7% | £5–20 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Major | 4.8% | £40–150 |
| Rbt (sp) efficiency below requirements Brakes | Major | 4.8% | £45–110 |
| Sub-frame mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength Suspension | Major | 4.8% | £180–450 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 3.8% | £60–140 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rigid brake pipes excessively corroded Brakes | Advisory | 37.1% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 27.6% | £45–95 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 14.3% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 11.4% | £45–95 |
| Chassis condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 10.5% | £180–450 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Advisory | 9.5% | £45–120 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 6 | 83.3% | 47,744 mi |
| 60-90k | 12 | 75.0% | 83,682 mi |
| 90-120k | 43 | 67.4% | 103,720 mi |
| 120k+ | 44 | 65.9% | 140,246 mi |
Source: 105 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.
2001 Inca MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2001 SEAT Inca?
68.6% of the 105 2001 SEAT Inca tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 73.3% for cars first used in 2001. First-attempt pass rate: 59.3%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2001 SEAT Inca?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (11.43%), joints constant velocity boot split or insecure, no longer prevents the ingress of dirt (9.52%), component mounting prescribed areas prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength (7.62%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2001 SEAT Inca MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 65.9% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2001 SEAT Inca in this dataset had covered 108,185 mi.
Does the season affect the 2001 SEAT Inca MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 64.2% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 76.3%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.