Seat Ibiza MOT pass rate & common failures

At a glance

Pass rate, adjusted for age and mileage

The Ibiza is 5.7 percentage points below the national pass rate once age and mileage are accounted for, which is below average. The unadjusted figure is 66.0%; the difference is what the age and mileage of this model’s fleet was hiding.

DVSA recorded wording

Most common failure items

Share of failed Seat Ibiza tests in which each item was recorded. One failed test often lists several items, so these do not sum to 100%.

1. 1.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn19.0%

   10,169 occurrencesSuspension arm bush worn explained

2. 2.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements15.0%

   8,016 occurrencesTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

3. 3.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened10.8%

   5,763 occurrencesRoad spring broken or fractured explained

4. 4.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage10.2%

   5,440 occurrencesShock absorber defective explained

5. 5.Steering rack gaiter or ball joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc10.0%

   5,340 occurrencesSteering rack gaiter split, damaged or missing explained

6. 6.Parking brake efficiency below minimum requirement7.2%

   3,840 occurrencesParking brake efficiency too low explained

7. 7.A suspension joint dust cover missing or no longer prevents the ingress of dirt etc7.2%

   3,835 occurrencesSuspension joint dust cover missing or split explained

8. 8.The aim of a headlamp is not within limits laid down in the requirements7.1%

   3,794 occurrencesHeadlamp aim incorrect explained

9. 9.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm6.2%

   3,311 occurrencesBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

10. 10.A tyre seriously damaged6.2%

    3,293 occurrencesTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

Warnings without a failure

Most common advisories

Share of all Seat Ibiza tests carrying each advisory. The denominator differs from the failure list above because an advisory can be issued on a car that passed.

1. 1.Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements26.2%

   49,777 testsTyre worn close to the legal limit explained

2. 2.A tyre seriously damaged14.7%

   27,875 testsTyre damaged or deteriorated explained

3. 3.Brake disc or drum excessively weakened, insecure or fractured14.5%

   27,630 testsBrake disc worn, pitted or scored explained

4. 4.A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn12.4%

   23,531 testsSuspension arm bush worn explained

5. 5.A shock absorber damaged to the extent that it does not function or showing signs of severe leakage11.9%

   22,684 testsShock absorber defective explained

6. 6.A brake lining or pad worn below 1.5mm6.8%

   13,014 testsBrake drum or shoe worn or contaminated explained

7. 7.Fluid leaking excessively and likely to harm the environment or to pose a safety risk to other road users5.7%

   10,766 tests

8. 8.A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened5.2%

   9,812 testsRoad spring broken or fractured explained

How wear changes the picture

Pass rate by vehicle age

Bands holding too few tests to be meaningful are omitted rather than shown as a rate.

What gets tested

The Ibiza fleet

Average mileage recorded at test

72,210

Across examples of every age, so this is a description of the fleet rather than an annual figure.

Fuel mix of tested cars

Petrol91.6%

Diesel8.4%

Compare within the range

Other Seat models

• Seat Leon — 75.3% adjusted
• Seat Arona — 84.2% unadjusted
• Seat Ateca — 87.9% unadjusted
• Seat Alhambra — 73.2% adjusted
• Seat Mii — 74.3% adjusted
• Seat Altea — 59.2% unadjusted
• All Seat models →

Similar test volumes

Compare against other makes

• Kia Picanto — 65.5% adjusted, ranked 217
• Citroen C3 — 63.9% adjusted, ranked 230
• Land Rover Range Rover Evoque — 82.3% adjusted, ranked 37
• Honda Cr-V — 80.3% adjusted, ranked 50

Common questions

Is the Seat Ibiza reliable?

On MOT evidence the Seat Ibiza is below average. It passes 66.6% of tests once age and mileage are accounted for, against a national average of 72.3%, which ranks it 209 of 262 models with enough data for a fair comparison. This measures how often the car meets the MOT standard, not how often it breaks down or what a repair costs.

What is the most common MOT failure on a Seat Ibiza?

The item recorded most often is "A suspension pin, bush or joint excessively worn", which appears in 19.0% of failed Seat Ibiza tests. Because one failed test can list several items, these shares do not add up to 100%.

What do testers most often warn about on a Seat Ibiza?

The most common advisory is "Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements", noted on 26.2% of all Seat Ibiza tests. An advisory is not a failure: it flags something that will likely need attention before the next test.

What mileage does a Seat Ibiza usually have at its MOT?

The average odometer reading recorded at test is 72,210 miles. This is the mileage across all tested examples of every age, not an annual figure, so treat it as a description of the fleet rather than a target for one car.

Does a Seat Ibiza get harder to pass as it ages?

Yes. At 3 to 5 years old, 87.0% of Seat Ibiza tests pass. By fifteen years or more, that falls to 52.5%. Nearly every model follows this pattern, which is why comparing raw pass rates between models is misleading unless age is accounted for.

Are most Seat Ibiza models petrol or diesel?

Of the Seat Ibiza cars tested, 92% are petrol, 8% are diesel. Fuel type affects which items tend to fail, particularly emissions and exhaust components.

How this was worked out

Method and limits

Figures come from the DVSA anonymised MOT testing dataset, published under the Open Government Licence. Only class 4 initial tests are counted: retests are excluded so a car appears once, and abandoned tests are excluded entirely. The adjusted rate is directly standardised across twenty-five age and mileage bands and reweighted onto the national distribution, so this model is compared against cars that have lived a similar life rather than against a younger or lighter-used fleet.

An MOT measures whether a car met a legal standard on the day. It is not a breakdown record, a service history or a running-cost estimate, and a pass rate is a property of a fleet rather than a prediction about one car.

Further reading

Make sense of the numbers

• How to judge reliability from evidence rather than reputation
• What counts as high or low mileage for a car’s age
• The most common MOT failures and how to avoid them
• What to check before buying a used Seat