Common problems

SEAT Ibiza common problems

What MOT testers find on the SEAT Ibiza: the parts that fail or get advisories most often at each age, against all cars of the same age. From 775,282 DVSA MOT tests taken 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

At 9 years, the most tested age

Lights and electrics fails per 100 MOTs (n=73,557)12.1

All cars at 9 years (n=9,949,012)9.2

Tyres advisories and minor defects per 100 MOTs (n=73,557)29.2

All cars, same age (n=9,949,012)25.8

What stands out

Suspension fails show up on 12.1 of every 100 MOTs of a SEAT Ibiza at 9 years old (n=73,557), against 7.9 for all cars of that age (n=9,949,012).
The fail item testers record most often at 9 years: suspension arm bush worn, on 5.1 per 100 MOTs (all cars 1.1).
The most common advisory or minor defect: tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge, on 18.8 per 100 MOTs.

Problems by part at 9 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 Ibiza at 9 years (n=73,557) against all cars at 9 years (n=9,949,012). Per 100 MOTs.
Area	Fails	All cars	Advisories	All cars
Lights and electrics	12.1	9.2	4.0	4.5
Suspension	12.1	7.9	24.7	14.9
Brakes	8.9	5.6	21.8	20.3
Tyres	8.5	6.7	29.2	25.8
Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	7.2	4.0	3.4	3.7
Body and structure	2.6	2.3	3.9	2.9
Exhaust, emissions and leaks	2.4	2.4	3.9	3.1
Steering	1.1	1.8	2.6	2.1
Seat belts and airbags	0.6	0.6	0.3	0.4
Road wheels	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.7
Number plates and VIN	0.3	0.3	2.0	1.7

What testers fail most on the Ibiza at 9 years

Fail items on the SEAT Ibiza at 9 years (n=73,557), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,949,012).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	Typical repair (estimate)
Suspension arm bush worn	Suspension	5.1	1.1	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Tyre tread below 1.6 mm	Tyres	3.9	2.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Dipped headlight not working	Lights and electrics	2.7	1.5	£18 to £86 per lamp
Wipers not clearing screen	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.5	1.7	£15 to £30 per blade
Shock absorber leaking	Suspension	2.4	0.7	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Headlamp aim: projected beam image is obviously incorrect	Lights and electrics	2.3	0.8	£16 to £39 per car (rough guide)
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.3	1.3	£2 to £14 per car (rough guide)
Coil spring broken	Suspension	2.3	2.7	£64 to £236 per spring (rough guide)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps	Lights and electrics	2.2	1.0	£10 to £47 per lamp
Washers: not working	Windscreen, wipers and mirrors	2.2	0.7	£28 to £118 per car (rough guide)

Early warnings: advisories and minor defects at 9 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 Ibiza at 9 years (n=73,557), per 100 MOTs, with all cars at the same age (n=9,949,012).
Item	Area	Per 100 MOTs	All cars	If it needs replacing (estimate)
Tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge	Tyres	18.8	16.4	£88 to £145 per tyre
Shock absorbers: has light misting of oil	Suspension	12.6	3.1	£122 to £484 per axle (pair) (rough guide)
Brake discs: worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened	Brakes	11.7	9.2	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Suspension arm pins and bushes: pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement	Suspension	10.1	4.9	£92 to £237 per arm (rough guide)
Tyre condition: slightly damaged/cracking or perishing	Tyres	9.4	8.5	£88 to £145 per tyre
Brake pads: wearing thin	Brakes	6.0	8.3	£72 to £174 per axle (rough guide)
Play in steering rack inner joint(s)	Other	4.7	1.0
Engine oil leaks: leak, but not excessive	Exhaust, emissions and leaks	3.5	2.5
Brake discs: worn, but not excessively	Brakes	3.1	2.7	£148 to £376 per axle (rough guide)
Service brake performance: binding but not excessively	Brakes	2.9	1.1	£55 to £267 per wheel (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 9 years. Ages with fewer than 1,000 tests are not shown.
Age	Tests (n)	Lights and electrics	Suspension	Brakes
3 years	35,715	2.6	0.2	1.8
4 years	43,260	2.9	0.5	2.3
5 years	50,471	3.4	1.8	3.1
6 years	60,851	4.2	4.9	4.3
7 years	66,072	6.6	8.1	5.7
8 years	72,781	9.1	10.4	6.9
9 years	73,557	12.1	12.1	8.9
10 years	69,064	14.1	13.0	10.2
11 years	65,335	14.5	14.6	11.2
12 years	56,806	15.1	16.6	11.7
13 years	49,192	15.9	19.0	12.2
14 years	40,756	18.1	20.2	13.3
15 years	30,537	20.9	20.4	13.8
16 years	22,283	23.2	20.0	14.5
17 years	14,349	26.1	19.1	15.0
18 years	9,734	25.1	17.9	14.3
19 years	6,697	24.9	18.0	13.5
20 years	4,100	22.8	18.0	13.0
21 years	2,472	22.9	15.9	11.8
22 years	1,250	22.5	15.2	11.1

Mileage

At 9 years, SEAT Ibiza cars showing under 30,000 miles failed 16.4% of MOTs (n=3,784); the band that failed most, 120,000 to 150,000 miles, failed 43.9% (n=1,780). For pass and fail rates by age, see SEAT Ibiza MOT fail rates.

What to check on a viewing

On the SEAT Ibiza, testers most often record suspension arm bush worn; tyre tread below 1.6 mm; dipped headlight not working. Look at these first, then the areas below.

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.

Brakes

On the test drive the car should stop in a straight line without pulling, juddering or grinding.
Look at the discs through the wheels for a deep lip, heavy rust or scoring.
Check that the handbrake or electronic parking brake holds the car on a slope.
Ask when the pads, discs and brake fluid were last changed, and for the receipts.

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 Ibiza?

At 9 years, the age with the most MOT tests (73,557), the fail items testers record most often on the SEAT Ibiza are suspension arm bush worn (5.1 per 100 MOTs), tyre tread below 1.6 mm (3.9 per 100 MOTs), dipped headlight not working (2.7 per 100 MOTs). The most common advisories or minor defects are tread depth: worn close to legal limit/worn on edge (18.8) and shock absorbers: has light misting of oil (12.6).

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

At 9 years: suspension (12.1 per 100 MOTs against 7.9 for all cars); brakes (8.9 per 100 MOTs against 5.6 for all cars); windscreen, wipers and mirrors (7.2 per 100 MOTs against 4.0 for all cars). Compared with 9,949,012 MOTs of all cars the same age.

SEAT Ibiza 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 Ibiza?

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