Pass rate, every year
2,601 tests across 3 model years, 2020–2022.
+11.3 pts vs the national average
Pass rate, every year
2,601 tests across 3 model years, 2020–2022.
+11.3 pts vs the national average
Best year to buy
2020 93.3%
The strongest of the 3 years on record. See the 2020 page →
Worst year to buy
2022 90.5%
2.8 points below the 2020 peak. See the 2022 page →
The SEAT Leon Fr Etsi MOT pass rate is 92.3%, +11.3 percentage points above the UK average. That is 2,601 DVSA MOT tests recorded between 2020 and 2022. This page lists the most common SEAT Leon Fr Etsi MOT failures by category, names the best and worst model years, and finishes with a pre-MOT checklist you can run at home.
MOT pass rates are national — type your postcode to see how SEAT Leon Fr Etsi MOT pass rates does in your corner of the country.
The SEAT Leon Fr Etsi passed on its first attempt in 91.7%, and its overall record sits +11.3 percentage points above the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the SEAT Leon Fr Etsi in the 2023–2025 data: 2,601 tests across 3 model years (2020–2022). A test still carries exactly one pass or fail verdict.
| Measure | This model |
|---|---|
| Tests analysed | 2,601 |
| Overall pass rate | 92.3% |
| Passed on first attempt | 91.7% |
| Average mileage at test | 34,149 mi |
| Model years covered | 2020–2022 (3 years) |
| Versus UK national average | +11.3 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 Leon Fr Etsi, 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 | 44% |
| Visibility | 34% |
| Suspension | 13% |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 5% |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 2% |
| Brakes | 1% |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 1% |
Shares are over the SEAT Leon Fr Etsi's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.
Around 44% of the recorded SEAT Leon Fr Etsi failures fall in the Tyres section of the MOT inspection manual. Testers recorded "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords" (1.7%), "Has ply or cords exposed" (1.4%), "Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm" (0.9%) among the SEAT Leon Fr Etsi's tyres faults.
Around 34% of the recorded SEAT Leon Fr Etsi failures fall in the Visibility section of the MOT inspection manual. Testers recorded "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (1.9%), "Wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively" (0.8%), "Wipers blade defective" (0.4%) among the SEAT Leon Fr Etsi's visibility faults.
Around 13% of the recorded SEAT Leon Fr Etsi failures fall in the Suspension section of the MOT inspection manual. Testers recorded "Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak" (0.8%), "Coil spring fractured or broken" (0.3%), "Pins and bushes pin or bush excessively worn" (0.1%) among the SEAT Leon Fr Etsi's suspension faults.
The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the SEAT Leon Fr Etsi, each with how many of the model's 2,601 tests it was noted on.
The strongest SEAT Leon Fr Etsi model year on record is 2020 (93.3% across 1,002 tests), and the weakest is 2022 (90.5%). The gap between them is 2.8 points. Years with fewer than 50 recorded tests are excluded, so these are the years with enough MOT history to mean something.
SEAT Leon Fr Etsi reliability is declining in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 1.4 points a year across the most recent model years shown above.
| Year | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Leon Fr Etsi | 190 | 90.5% |
| 2021 Leon Fr Etsi | 1,409 | 91.9% |
| 2020 Leon Fr Etsi | 1,002 | 93.3% |
Newest model year first. Only years with at least 50 recorded tests are listed.
These checks follow this SEAT Leon Fr Etsi's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a SEAT Leon Fr Etsi.
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 wipers and washers — “wipers does not clear the windscreen effectively”
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.
Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the SEAT Leon Fr Etsi. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.
92.3% of the 2,601 recorded SEAT Leon Fr Etsi MOT tests ended in a pass, +11.3 percentage points above the national average. 91.7% of those passed on the first attempt.
2020 is the strongest SEAT Leon Fr Etsi year on record at 93.3%, while 2022 is the weakest at 90.5%. The year-by-year table below lists every model year with at least 50 recorded tests.
The most recorded SEAT Leon Fr Etsi failures are "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" and "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords" — together around 4% of tests, mostly in the Visibility section.