Pass rate, every year
33,848 tests across 4 model years, 2019–2022.
+9.2 pts vs the national average
Pass rate, every year
33,848 tests across 4 model years, 2019–2022.
+9.2 pts vs the national average
Best year to buy
2022 91.7%
The strongest of the 4 years on record. See the 2022 page →
Worst year to buy
2019 86.3%
5.4 points below the 2022 peak. See the 2019 page →
The SEAT Leon Fr MOT pass rate is 90.2%, +9.2 percentage points above the UK average. That is 33,848 DVSA MOT tests recorded between 2019 and 2022. This page lists the most common SEAT Leon 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 Leon Fr passed on its first attempt in 89.3%, and its overall record sits +9.2 percentage points above the national average for all cars. These figures come from every recorded DVSA MOT test for the SEAT Leon Fr in the 2023–2025 data: 33,848 tests across 4 model years (2019–2022). A test still carries exactly one pass or fail verdict.
| Measure | This model |
|---|---|
| Tests analysed | 33,848 |
| Overall pass rate | 90.2% |
| Passed on first attempt | 89.3% |
| Average mileage at test | 35,980 mi |
| Model years covered | 2019–2022 (4 years) |
| Versus UK national average | +9.2 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, 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 | 42% |
| Visibility | 22% |
| Suspension | 22% |
| Brakes | 6% |
| Lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment | 4% |
| Noise, emissions and leaks | 3% |
| Seat belts and supplementary restraint systems | 0% |
Shares are over the SEAT Leon Fr's recorded defect strings, merged across its year pages.
Around 42% of the recorded SEAT Leon Fr 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%), "Tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm" (1.2%), "Has ply or cords exposed" (1.1%) among the SEAT Leon Fr's tyres faults.
Around 22% of the recorded SEAT Leon Fr failures fall in the Visibility section of the MOT inspection manual. Testers recorded "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" (1.3%), "Wipers blade defective" (0.6%), "Washers provides insufficient washer liquid" (0.2%) among the SEAT Leon Fr's visibility faults.
Around 22% of the recorded SEAT Leon Fr failures fall in the Suspension section of the MOT inspection manual. Testers recorded "Shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak" (1.1%), "Coil spring fractured or broken" (1.1%) among the SEAT Leon Fr's suspension faults.
The descriptions below are the exact DVSA failure strings testers recorded most often for the SEAT Leon Fr, each with how many of the model's 33,848 tests it was noted on.
1 failure item is recorded at least 1.5 times the UK rate on this model. One has a part guide — what to buy, which brands, and what the tester looks at next time.
| Failure item | This model | UK | × UK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shock absorber leaking | 13.8% | 3.9% | 3.5× | £30–£75 part £40–£65 |
Rates are a share of this model's own tests (33,848 for the top row), so a big seller cannot outrank a rare one. The UK figure is the same item's share of every test in our data. Items Leon Fr records at or below the UK rate are not listed — this is where it is unusual, not a full inventory. All failure items · parts and costs
The strongest SEAT Leon Fr model year on record is 2022 (91.7% across 2,160 tests), and the weakest is 2019 (86.3%). The gap between them is 5.4 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 reliability is improving in the DVSA data — the pass rate moves about 1.7 points a year across the most recent model years shown above.
| Year | Tests | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 Leon Fr | 2,160 | 91.7% |
| 2021 Leon Fr | 13,311 | 90.9% |
| 2020 Leon Fr | 14,290 | 90.5% |
| 2019 Leon Fr | 4,087 | 86.3% |
Newest model year first. Only years with at least 50 recorded tests are listed.
These checks follow this SEAT Leon Fr's own most-recorded failure strings, starting with what a tester is most likely to flag on a SEAT Leon 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 shock absorbers — “shock absorbers has a serious fluid leak”
Press down hard on each corner of the car and let go. It should settle in one bounce; if it keeps rocking, or you can see oil weeping down a shock absorber, that is the fault a tester will find.
Derived from the DVSA failure strings testers recorded for the SEAT Leon Fr. A check that finds nothing means the item is likely fine, not that the test is guaranteed.
Across every Leon Fr model year on record (2019–2022): 21,608 SEAT Leon Fr cars tested in a recordable postcode area, across 33,848 tests. Leicester (LE) has the most, with 708 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 | Leicester (LE) | 708 | 84.8% |
| 2 | Birmingham (B) | 687 | 90.4% |
| 3 | Sheffield (S) | 632 | 89.7% |
| 4 | Glasgow (G) | 563 | 86.6% |
| 5 | Derby (DE) | 501 | 89.7% |
| 6 | Leeds (LS) | 492 | 92.1% |
| 7 | Doncaster (DN) | 475 | 92.6% |
| 8 | Northampton (NN) | 464 | 85.7% |
| 9 | Peterborough (PE) | 427 | 91.4% |
| 10 | Stockport (SK) | 398 | 93.2% |
| 11 | Coventry (CV) | 397 | 89.8% |
| 12 | Bristol (BS) | 392 | 87.6% |
| 13 | Nottingham (NG) | 353 | 91.8% |
| 14 | Newcastle upon Tyne (NE) | 339 | 90.2% |
| 15 | Milton Keynes (MK) | 314 | 90.4% |
| 16 | Wakefield (WF) | 312 | 92.1% |
| 17 | Stoke On Trent (ST) | 297 | 90.3% |
| 18 | Manchester (M) | 296 | 90.0% |
| 19 | Oxford (OX) | 282 | 90.7% |
| 20 | Bradford (BD) | 280 | 89.6% |
The twenty areas with the most SEAT Leon 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 →
90.2% of the 33,848 recorded SEAT Leon Fr MOT tests ended in a pass, +9.2 percentage points above the national average. 89.3% of those passed on the first attempt.
2022 is the strongest SEAT Leon Fr year on record at 91.7%, while 2019 is the weakest at 86.3%. The year-by-year table below lists every model year with at least 50 recorded tests.
The most recorded SEAT Leon Fr failures are "Has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords" and "Windscreen damaged but not adversely affecting driver's view" — together around 3% of tests, mostly in the Tyres section.