SEAT Cordoba MOT reliability

SEAT Cordobas passed their MOT first time 58% of the time across 123 tests in 2025. 77 are still licensed in Great Britain.

First-time pass rate

58%

MOTs analysed

123

Still licensed (GB)

77

Body type

Sedan

Pass rate by year of first registration

Older cars fail more often, so compare a car with others of the same age. Years with very few MOTs can show extreme pass rates, even 0% or 100%, so give more weight to years with more tests.

In detail:

First registered

2004 diesel

20 MOTs

These figures come from 20 MOT tests. That's a fairly small number of cars, so they may not be typical of these cars as a whole.

Passed first time 65%. Typical mileage 118,930 (most between 86,612 and 149,062).

2006: 75% → 2007: 76% → 2008: 66% → 2009: 61% → 2010: 61% → 2011: 52% → 2012: 56% → 2013: 54% → 2014: 50% → 2015: 51% → 2016: 43% → 2017: 49% → 2018: 39% → 2019: 52% → 2020: 47% → 2021: 39% → 2022: 53% → 2023: 59% → 2024: 62% → 2025: 65%

Most common failures

Stop lamp: not working (10.0%)
Position lamp: not working (10.0%)
Washers: provides insufficient washer liquid (5.0%)
Washers: jets misaligned and not providing sufficient fluid to the windscreen (5.0%)
Wipers: does not clear the windscreen effectively (5.0%)

2004 petrol

6 MOTs

These figures come from only 6 MOT tests. With so few cars, a single pass or fail changes the percentages a lot, so treat them as a rough guide rather than a true average.

Passed first time 33%. Typical mileage 88,422 (most between 82,892 and 129,745).

2006: 80% → 2007: 86% → 2008: 77% → 2009: 76% → 2010: 72% → 2011: 59% → 2012: 53% → 2013: 54% → 2014: 45% → 2015: 51% → 2016: 39% → 2017: 48% → 2018: 41% → 2019: 44% → 2020: 38% → 2021: 50% → 2022: 50% → 2023: 58% → 2024: 20% → 2025: 33%

Most common failures

Exhaust system: has a major leak of exhaust gases (16.7%)
Registration plate lamp(s): inoperative in the case of a single lamp or all lamps (16.7%)
Other body component: component corroded and likely to cause injury (16.7%)
Headlamp aim: too far to the right (16.7%)
Mirrors: seriously damaged, affecting the rear view (16.7%)

Where 2004 Cordobas fail

Lights & electrics

20.0%

Visibility & wipers

15.0%

Exhaust, emissions & leaks

10.0%

Suspension & axles

10.0%

Body, structure & corrosion

5.0%

Steering

5.0%

Looking at a particular car?

See its own MOT history, mileage and red flags, compared with these figures. Free.

Based on 2025 initial MOT tests in DVSA's anonymised MOT dataset (cars and light vans). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Model details: Vehicle data by VehiclesDB.