Pass rate
68.7%
Below average — 3.9 pts behind the 72.6% that cars this age and mileage manage.
Across 115 recorded tests.
Typical repair bill £57–£149
2003 SEAT Inca MOT pass rate
- 2003
- typical 123,912 mi
Check your postcode
Most common fault
Brakes
19.0% 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
Across the 3 years on record, a spread of 0.5 points. See every year →
- First-attempt pass
- 60.7%
- Typical mileage
- 124k mi
The 2003 SEAT Inca MOT pass rate is 68.7% of its MOT tests — 3.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. Brakes is the biggest single reason it fails, at 19.0% of what testers record.
Expert verdict
Body & chassis: 2.4× the national share
Body & chassis accounts for 13.1% of everything recorded on the 2003 SEAT Inca, against 5.6% nationally — 7.5 points above. Brakes are still the single largest share at 19.0%, 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 72.6%; this one manages 68.7% — 3.9 points below. Age is a fair excuse; this is not age.
- When it fails, it costs. Only 24% 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 2003 SEAT Inca compare?
Cars of this age and mileage average 72.6%, so this figure is 3.9 points behind what its age and mileage predict. On a first attempt, before any retests, the figure drops to 60.7%. The median 2003 SEAT Inca in this dataset had covered 123,912 mi.
Pass rates also shift with the test month: tests recorded October–March passed 65.1% of the time, April–September 73.1%.
The single most recorded failure item is "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view", noted on 17.39% of tests.
- 115 recorded tests behind this page.
- 68.7% overall pass rate, 60.7% 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
- 115
- Typical mileage (median)
- 123,912 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 56% so small gaps stay visible.
Regional pass rates for the Inca
| Region | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 34 | 52.9% |
| Yorkshire | 19 | 84.2% |
| East of England | 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 2003 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 2003 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 17.4% 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 the exhaust and emissions 6.1% of tests
“exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases”
Listen for a blow at idle and have someone rev it gently. Then look at the tailpipe smoke: blue is oil, white when warm is coolant, black is over-fuelling. Any of those and the emissions test is the least of it.
-
Check the steering 6.1% of tests
“steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt”
With the wheels straight, rock the steering wheel gently with the engine off — more than about an inch of free play before the wheels move is worth investigating. Split rack gaiters are cheap to replace and commonly recorded.
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 2003 Inca through its MOT
Across the 10 items that are recorded most often on this model, the average repair comes to £57–£149 — and 24% of those repairs are parts that cost under £30.
- Average repair across the 10 common items
- £57–£149
- Cheapest common item: mirrors slightly damaged
- £3–£15
- Dearest common item: steering rack gaiter missing or no longer…
- £120–£300
- Common items a careful owner can do at home
- 50%
- Repairs that still cost under £30
- 24%
Estimates from typical UK parts prices, weighted by how often each item appears in 115 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 2003 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 2003 cars with a similar record
- Renault Clio 68.7%
- Peugeot 307 68.7%
- Fiat Punto 68.7%
- Nissan X-Trail 68.9%
- Vauxhall Corsa 68.4%
- Citroen Xsara 68.4%
Closest pass rates among 2003 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 2003 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 436 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 | 84 | 19.00% | 20.89% | −1.89 |
| Suspension | 75 | 16.90% | 20.98% | −4.08 |
| Body, chassis, structure | 58 | 13.10% | 5.57% | +7.53 |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 54 | 12.20% | 12.21% | −0.01 |
| Tyres | 47 | 10.60% | 19.76% | −9.16 |
| Visibility | 36 | 8.10% | 4.97% | +3.13 |
| Steering | 30 | 6.80% | 2.57% | +4.23 |
| Non-component advisories | 24 | 5.40% | 4.18% | +1.22 |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 16 | 3.60% | 5.52% | −1.92 |
| Identification of the vehicle | 12 | 2.70% | 1.76% | +0.94 |
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 | 17.4% | £80–200 |
| Exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases Body, chassis, structure | Major | 6.1% | £45–120 |
| Joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated Body, chassis, structure | Minor | 6.1% | £80–250 |
| Steering rack gaiter missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt Steering | Major | 6.1% | £120–300 |
| Headlamp lens slightly defective Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.2% | £5–25 |
| Mirrors slightly damaged Visibility | Minor | 5.2% | £3–15 |
| Registration plate lamp(s) inoperative in the case of multiple lamps or light sources Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 5.2% | £5–20 |
| Service brake performance excessively binding Brakes | Major | 5.2% | £60–150 |
| Battery(ies) insecure but not likely to fall from carrier Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | Minor | 4.3% | £60–140 |
| Service brake imbalance across an axle Brakes | Major | 4.3% | £45–110 |
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 | 24.4% | £80–180 |
| Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm Tyres | Advisory | 19.1% | £45–95 |
| Non-component advisories Play in steering rack inner joint(s) Non-component advisories | Advisory | 17.4% | £120–300 |
| Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn Suspension | Advisory | 13.9% | £40–150 |
| Has a tear, caused by separation or partial failure of its structure Tyres | Advisory | 10.4% | £45–95 |
| Brake discs in such a condition that it is seriously weakened Brakes | Advisory | 9.6% | £45–110 |
Pass rate by mileage
| Mileage | Tests | Pass rate | Median odometer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-60k | 6 | 83.3% | 47,181 mi |
| 60-90k | 14 | 64.3% | 74,210 mi |
| 90-120k | 28 | 71.4% | 105,540 mi |
| 120k+ | 64 | 65.6% | 145,257 mi |
Source: 115 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.
2003 Inca MOT questions
What is the MOT pass rate for a 2003 SEAT Inca?
68.7% of the 115 2003 SEAT Inca tests in this dataset passed, against a national average of 72.6% for cars first used in 2003. First-attempt pass rate: 60.7%.
What are the most common MOT failures on a 2003 SEAT Inca?
The three most recorded items are windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view (17.39%), exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases (6.09%), joints constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (6.09%). Percentages are the share of tests on this vehicle that recorded the item.
Does mileage affect the 2003 SEAT Inca MOT pass rate?
Yes. Cars under 30,000 miles passed 83.3% of the time, falling to 65.6% for those over 120,000 miles. The median 2003 SEAT Inca in this dataset had covered 123,912 mi.
Does the season affect the 2003 SEAT Inca MOT pass rate?
Tests recorded in the winter months (October–March) passed 65.1% of the time; summer months (April–September) passed 73.1%. Brakes, tyres and lights are tested harder in bad weather, but the difference is small on most models.