Repair costs · SEAT Alhambra

SEAT Alhambra corrosion welding repair: MOT fails on these items more often than other cars of the same age

At MOT, the SEAT Alhambra fails on items fixed by corrosion welding repair at least 2.5 times as often as cars of the same ages and fuel. From 110,632 MOT tests at 18 ages (3 to 20 years), DVSA data 2022 to 2025.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026

SEAT Alhambra, at least, per 100 MOTs (n=110,632)1.51

Cars of the same ages and fuel, per 100 MOTs0.60

Times as often≥ 2.5

Ages compared18

What this shows

These are MOT fail items that corrosion welding repair fixes, as testers found them on the day of the test. Repairs done between MOTs never show up in MOT data, and mileage is not taken into account, so this is not how often owners pay for the repair.

By age

Fail items fixed by corrosion welding repair, per 100 MOT tests, against cars of the same age and the same fuel mix. The model figure is a floor: DVSA data lists each model’s 25 most recorded items per age, and an item outside that list is counted as zero. The comparison figure is a ceiling: an item too rare to be listed for a fuel is counted at its highest possible value.

SEAT Alhambra: ages with at least 1,000 tests.
Age	SEAT Alhambra per 100	Same age and fuel per 100	Tests (n)
3 years	0	0.005	3,584
4 years	0	0.004	6,156
5 years	0	0.003	12,188
6 years	0	0.004	15,571
7 years	0	0.007	15,037
8 years	0	0.015	14,365
9 years	0	0.039	9,850
10 years	0	0.10	7,094
11 years	0	0.27	6,109
12 years	0	0.59	4,613
13 years	0	1.07	3,404
14 years	1.36	1.82	2,566
15 years	11.2	2.69	1,867
16 years	17.2	3.81	1,955
17 years	17.5	4.91	1,881
18 years	15.2	6.06	1,791
19 years	16.5	7.15	1,494
20 years	21.6	8.06	1,107

How we decide: a page exists only when the main generation’s rate, weighted to its own mix of ages and fuels, is at least 1.5 times the rate of cars of the same ages and fuel, from at least 50,000 tests at 3 or more ages, with at least 100 expected items.

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.

What garages charge

Prices are national. They are not specific to the SEAT Alhambra.

No public source records the price of this whole job, and the time it takes varies from car to car, so we do not publish a single figure. Garages charge by the hour, so ask for a quote that lists labour time and parts. The rates below are what UK garages charge per hour.

Local garage labour, per hour (65 shops)£78

Local garage, middle half£70 to £96

Main dealer labour, per hour (62 shops)£156

Main dealer, middle half£144 to £174

Median hourly rate charged for car repairs, from 1,058 local garage and 953 main dealer price quotes collected by the ONS, September 2025 to August 2026. The same shops are priced each month, so the number of shops is the real sample.

Corrosion welding repair: garage rates and all models

MOT defects this repair fixes

Component mounting prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive0.63 per 100, all cars
Component mounting prescribed area excessively corroded significantly reducing structural strength0.49 per 100, all cars
Chassis condition is corroded but structural rigidity is not significantly reduced0.38 per 100, all cars
Integral vehicle structure condition is corroded but structural rigidity is not significantly reduced0.37 per 100, all cars
Seat belt prescribed area strength or continuity significantly reduced0.18 per 100, all cars
Integral vehicle structure condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced0.13 per 100, all cars
Chassis condition or chassis corroded within 30cm of a mounting, but not seriously affecting overall security0.12 per 100, all cars
Seat belt prescribed area is corroded but not considered excessive0.096 per 100, all cars
Chassis condition or chassis has excessive corrosion, seriously affecting its strength within 30cm of a body mounting0.081 per 100, all cars
Chassis condition corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced0.080 per 100, all cars

Other models that fail on these items more often

Model	Times as often	Tests (n)
Ford Transit	at least 5.3	1,227,954
Ford Transit Connect	at least 4.5	676,611
Ford Ka	at least 4.5	743,190
Suzuki Jimny	at least 3.7	98,308
Alfa Romeo Giulietta	at least 3.3	104,085
Toyota Aygo	at least 3.1	1,006,151
Citroen Relay	at least 3.0	57,180
Citroen Xsara	at least 2.8	125,734
Jaguar X-Type	at least 2.6	111,254
Volkswagen Sharan	at least 2.4	145,752

Looking at a SEAT Alhambra?

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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, and the MOT inspection manual published on GOV.UK. Prices: ONS consumer price inflation price quotes, September 2025 to August 2026, UK.

MOT data updated 28 September 2026. Prices updated 22 September 2026.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by DVSA or the Office for National Statistics. How we calculate these figures · Data sources