Common problems

SEAT Alhambra common problems

What MOT testers find on the SEAT Alhambra: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 110,632 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 6 years, the most tested age

Tyres fails per 100 MOTs (n=15,571)8.2

All cars at 6 years (n=10,382,720)5.6

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=15,571)25.4

All cars, same age (n=10,382,720)24.3

What stands out

Tyres fails show up on 8.2 of every 100 MOTs of a SEAT Alhambra at 6 years old (n=15,571), against 5.6 for all cars of that age (n=10,382,720).
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors fails are less common: 2.0 per 100 MOTs against 3.3 for all cars at the same age.
The fail item testers record most often at 6 years: tyre with cords exposed, on 3.3 per 100 MOTs (all cars 1.0).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 18.9 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 6 years

How many of every 100 MOTs found a fail, or an advisory or minor defect, in each area. A test with faults in two areas counts in both.

SEAT Alhambra at 6 years (n=15,571) against all cars at 6 years (n=10,382,720). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Tyres	8.2	5.6	25.4	24.3
Lights and electrics	3.5	4.7	0.9	1.9
Suspension	3.5	2.9	14.9	6.1
Brakes	2.5	3.5	14.6	16.9
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.0	3.3	2.8	3.1
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	1.3	1.3	0.7	1.2
Seat belts and airbags	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.2
Body and structure	0.4	0.8	0.3	1.2
Steering	0.3	0.5	0.2	0.8
Road wheels	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.6
Number plates and VIN	0.2	0.2	1.9	1.0

What testers fail most on the Alhambra at 6 years

Fail items on the SEAT Alhambra at 6 years (n=15,571), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,382,720).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Tyre with cords exposed	Tyres	3.3	1.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Suspension arm bush worn	Suspension	2.7	0.4	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	2.2	2.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Tyre condition: has a cut in excess of the requirements deep enough to reach the ply or cords	Tyres	2.0	1.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads under 1.5 mm	Brakes	1.2	1.9	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	1.1	1.8	£15 to £30 per blade
Headlamp aim: too low	Lights and electrics	1.0	0.8	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Malfunction indicator lamp: inoperative or indicates a malfunction	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	0.7	0.5	diagnosis from £39 (rough guide)
Headlight aimed too high	Lights and electrics	0.5	0.6	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Side repeaters: not working	Lights and electrics	0.5	0.2	£10 to £47 per lamp

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 6 years

Advisories and minor defects are recorded, but the car still passes. Across all cars, a part with an advisory or minor defect failed at the next MOT 5.5 times in 100 (n=88,666,940 pairs of consecutive MOTs), against 0.3 times in 100 when the same part had none (n=12,936,860,350).

Advisories and minor defects on the SEAT Alhambra at 6 years (n=15,571), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=10,382,720).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	18.9	14.3	£88 to £145 per tyre
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	12.6	2.1	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	7.5	9.3	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	7.3	7.3	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Child Seat fitted not allowing full inspection of adult belt	Other	5.2	2.4
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	4.2	9.2	£88 to £145 per tyre
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	3.0	2.0	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively	Brakes	2.4	2.5	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Nail in tyre	Other	2.2	2.0
Registration plates: deteriorated but not likely to be misread	Number plates and VIN	1.9	1.0	£23 to £63 per plate (rough guide)

Repair estimates are a guide for an independent garage: labour at the national median local garage rate (median £78 an hour from 65 garages, ONS price quotes) times estimated labour hours, plus a parts band. Labour hours and most parts bands are estimates, not quotes, and prices vary by model, engine and region. A warning light fault shows the cost of the diagnosis only.

How problems change with age

Fails per 100 MOTs in the three most common areas at 6 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Tyres	Lights and electrics	Suspension
3 years	3,584	5.8	3.0	1.0
4 years	6,156	6.1	3.0	1.7
5 years	12,188	7.4	3.4	2.6
6 years	15,571	8.2	3.5	3.5
7 years	15,037	8.7	4.2	5.2
8 years	14,365	9.5	4.6	6.2
9 years	9,850	10.0	5.6	8.0
10 years	7,094	10.9	7.9	10.3
11 years	6,109	10.9	9.0	14.0
12 years	4,613	9.5	11.3	16.3
13 years	3,404	9.2	13.4	18.3
14 years	2,566	9.2	17.0	21.4
15 years	1,867	8.1	23.2	27.6
16 years	1,955	8.1	23.8	28.2
17 years	1,881	8.1	23.6	27.5
18 years	1,791	8.7	22.8	25.7
19 years	1,494	7.8	25.0	27.1
20 years	1,107	8.3	27.2	27.8

Mileage

At 6 years, SEAT Alhambra cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 11.6% of MOTs (n=1,479); the band that failed most, 60,000 to 90,000 miles, failed 19.6% (n=3,826). For pass and fail rates by age, see SEAT Alhambra MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the SEAT Alhambra, testers most often record tyre with cords exposed; suspension arm bush worn; tyre tread below 1.6 mm. Look at these first, then the areas below.

Tyres

Check the tread across the full width of all four tyres, and the spare if there is one.
Look for cuts, bulges and cracking in the sidewalls.
Wear on one edge only can point to worn suspension or the tracking being out.

Lights and electrics

With someone outside, try every light: dipped and main beam, indicators, brake lights, fog lights and number plate lamps.
Check that the warning lights come on with the ignition and go out once the engine runs.
Look for misted, cracked or yellowed headlamp lenses.

Suspension

Listen for knocks or clonks over speed bumps and rough roads on the test drive.
Push down hard on each corner: the car should settle at once rather than keep bouncing.
Look behind the wheels for broken or heavily rusted coil springs and split rubber bushes.
Check that the car sits level and that no tyre is worn on one edge only.

Ask for the car's MOT history and service record: advisories that repeat from one year to the next show what has been left. GOV.UK MOT history.

Questions

What are the most common problems on the SEAT Alhambra?

At 6 years, the age with the most MOT tests (15,571), the fail items testers record most often on the SEAT Alhambra are tyre with cords exposed (3.3 per 100 MOTs), suspension arm bush worn (2.7 per 100 MOTs), tyre tread below 1.6 mm (2.2 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (18.9) and suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (12.6).

Which parts of the SEAT Alhambra fail more often than on other cars?

At 6 years: tyres (8.2 per 100 MOTs against 5.6 for all cars). Compared with 10,382,720 MOTs of all cars the same age.

SEAT Alhambra problems by area

Other SEAT models

All SEAT models · Common problems by make

Read this with care. A fail rate is not a measure of build quality. How far cars are driven, how they are used and how well owners maintain them all change it, and wear items such as tyres and brake pads are common fails. Compare a model only with cars of the same age. Methodology and limits.

The all cars figures cover all class 4 vehicles (cars and light vans) tested at the same age.

Looking at a SEAT Alhambra?

These figures describe the model, not the car in front of you. Found one you might buy? See what the VetTheCar Buying Report covers, or use the tools that work without a registration.

See a sample report Car tools · MOT fail rates by model · Compare models by MOT record

Repair estimates: ONS consumer price quotes for local garage labour (09/2025 to 08/2026), the MOT inspection manual for defect wording, and estimated labour hours and parts bands. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ONS.

Source

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: DVSA anonymised MOT test data, class 4 normal MOT tests, 2022 to 2025. MOT data updated 28 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA. How we calculate these figures · Data sources