MOT comparison

Ford Focus Mk3 vs SEAT Leon Mk3

How the Ford Focus Mk3 (2011–2018) and the SEAT Leon Mk3 (5F) (2012–2020) do at their MOTs, compared at the same mileage so a high-mileage car is never measured against a low-mileage one.

Ford Focus Mk3

4,411,119

MOT tests compared · built 2011–2018

Passes more often in 2 of 15 mileage bands

SEAT Leon Mk3 (5F)

1,060,966

MOT tests compared · built 2012–2020

Passes more often in 11 of 15 mileage bands

MOT pass rate by mileage

Share of MOTs passed first time, at the mileage recorded at the test.

Ford Focus Mk3 SEAT Leon Mk3

Under 10,000 miles 94.4% vs 93.5%

62,286 and 9,659 MOTs

10,000–20,000 miles 92.0% vs 90.3%

278,250 and 60,813 MOTs

20,000–30,000 miles 88.6% vs 87.6%

498,515 and 122,057 MOTs

30,000–40,000 miles 85.1% vs 85.9%

574,842 and 143,521 MOTs

40,000–50,000 miles 81.7% vs 84.0%

564,789 and 141,163 MOTs

50,000–60,000 miles 78.0% vs 81.9%

516,290 and 126,928 MOTs

60,000–70,000 miles 74.2% vs 80.6%

451,972 and 107,526 MOTs

70,000–80,000 miles 70.5% vs 79.3%

377,042 and 88,681 MOTs

80,000–90,000 miles 67.5% vs 77.8%

301,793 and 70,333 MOTs

90,000–100,000 miles 65.3% vs 76.8%

230,842 and 54,343 MOTs

100,000–125,000 miles 62.6% vs 75.6%

338,483 and 81,648 MOTs

125,000–150,000 miles 60.4% vs 74.4%

138,833 and 34,944 MOTs

150,000–175,000 miles 59.5% vs 73.6%

50,834 and 12,744 MOTs

175,000–200,000 miles 58.4% vs 73.0%

17,858 and 4,386 MOTs

200,000–250,000 miles 58.4% vs 72.7%

8,490 and 2,220 MOTs

Parts that fail more often

Only differences that hold across at least half of the mileage bands we could compare, and that are far too large to be chance, are listed. How we decide

Ford Focus Mk3 fails more often on

Front coil spring

Fails about 7 times as often as the SEAT Leon Mk3: 3.8% of MOTs against 0.71%.

In 13 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks
Side repeater

Fails over 20 times as often as the SEAT Leon Mk3: 1.1% of MOTs against 0.03%.

In 13 of 15 mileage bands
Front position lamp

Fails about 6 times as often as the SEAT Leon Mk3: 4.3% of MOTs against 0.77%.

In 11 of 15 mileage bands · Lights & Signals

SEAT Leon Mk3 fails more often on

Rear coil spring

Fails over 20 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk3: 1.7% of MOTs against 0.06%.

In 13 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks
Shock absorbers

Fails about 7 times as often as the Ford Focus Mk3: 2.0% of MOTs against 0.41%.

In 12 of 15 mileage bands · Springs & Shocks

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Check a car's MOT Compare the Ford Focus Mk3 with another model

These are differences in real MOT results, not engineering verdicts. Owner mix differs between models (some are more often taxis, first cars or rural cars), which is why every figure compares cars at the same mileage. How we compare cars.

MOT records: DVSA MOT history, which contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. See this the other way round.