UK vehicle statistics / Seat

How many Seat cars are left?

At the end of 2026 Q1, DfT recorded 644,720 licensed and 45,262 SORN Seat vehicles in the UK, across 13 published model groups. That means 1 in 15 surviving Seat is currently off the road.

Looking at a Seat?

Population figures describe a model group, not the car in front of you.

Check its registration free for the official tax, MOT and mileage record. Before buying, the optional £9.99 full history check adds outstanding-finance, stolen and insurance write-off checks.

Is the Seat fleet shrinking?

Adding up every published Seat model group: Licensed numbers peaked at 649,972 in 2025 Q1 and stand at 644,720 in 2026 Q1, down 1%. That is up 5% in the five years since 2021 Q1. A further 45,262 are declared SORN — 1 in 15 of the 689,982 still on the DVLA record is off the road, laid up, part-restored or waiting to be sold.

Seat MOT pass rate

In 2024, 73.6% of 473,442 Seat MOTs passed first time — above the 71.2% UK average.

The items most often behind a first-test failure across published Seat model groups:

  • Condition — 4.2% of tests. Corrosion, damage or wear on a tested component. Worth seeing in person, as the cost ranges from trivial to structural.
  • Headlamp Aim — 3.6% of tests. Headlights pointing too high or low. Cheap to adjust, and common on every make.
  • Tread Depth — 2.8% of tests. Tyres below the 1.6mm legal limit. Budget for tyres, and treat it as a sign of how the car was maintained.
  • Brake Performance — 2.4% of tests. The brakes underperformed on the rolling road. Expect brake work rather than an adjustment.

See every model on the Seat MOT pass rate page.

Before you buy

  • Condition — 4.2% of tests in 2024. Corrosion, damage or wear on a tested component. Worth seeing in person, as the cost ranges from trivial to structural.
  • Headlamp Aim — 3.6% of tests in 2024. Headlights pointing too high or low. Cheap to adjust, and common on every make.
  • Tread Depth — 2.8% of tests in 2024. Tyres below the 1.6mm legal limit. Budget for tyres, and treat it as a sign of how the car was maintained.
  • Brake Performance — 2.4% of tests in 2024. The brakes underperformed on the rolling road. Expect brake work rather than an adjustment.
  • Check the actual Seat — These figures describe the model group. Enter the registration for that vehicle's free MOT, tax and mileage record before you pay a deposit.

Rarest Seat models

The published Seat model groups with the smallest surviving populations.

  • Cordoba — 85 licensed, 436 SORN
  • Inca — 95 licensed, 833 SORN
  • Arosa — 1,347 licensed, 1,530 SORN
  • Exeo — 4,745 licensed, 776 SORN
  • Toledo — 5,250 licensed, 2,218 SORN

Every Seat model

ModelLicensedSORN
Ibiza214,19716,605
Leon195,43715,936
Arona83,013351
Ateca73,936289
Alhambra23,9103,599
MII18,174269
Altea11,4742,378
Tarraco13,05742
Toledo5,2502,218
Exeo4,745776
Arosa1,3471,530
Inca95833
Cordoba85436

How to read these numbers

Licensed means taxed and legal to use on the road at the end of the quarter. SORN means the keeper has declared it off the road — it still exists, but it is not in use. A model group's total is the best available proxy for how many survive, and a shrinking one means fewer donor cars, fewer specialists and slower parts supply.

Common questions

How many Seat cars are left in the UK?

644,720 Seat vehicles were licensed and 45,262 were SORN at the end of 2026 Q1, across 13 published model groups, according to DfT and DVLA statistics.

Which Seat is rarest?

Of the published Seat model groups, the Cordoba has the smallest surviving population at 85 licensed and 436 SORN.

Is the Seat fleet shrinking?

Licensed numbers peaked at 649,972 in 2025 Q1 and stand at 644,720 in 2026 Q1, down 1%. That is up 5% in the five years since 2021 Q1. A further 45,262 are declared SORN — 1 in 15 of the 689,982 still on the DVLA record is off the road, laid up, part-restored or waiting to be sold.

What is the Seat MOT pass rate?

73.6% of 473,442 class-4 initial MOT tests on Seat cars passed first time in 2024 — above the 71.2% UK average.

What do Seat cars fail the MOT on?

Across published Seat model groups, the most common initial failure categories in 2024 are condition (4.2% of tests), headlamp aim (3.6% of tests), tread depth (2.8% of tests). DVSA publishes each model group's six most common categories, so this ranks the biggest published causes.

Does a Seat population figure describe the car I am looking at?

No. It describes the model group. Enter the registration for that car's own free MOT, tax and mileage record.

Source and limitations

Source: Department for Transport and DVLA, df_VEH0120_UK. Released 2026-07-15 under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

DVLA make and model fields are administrative data and can contain omissions or inconsistencies. These statistics describe model groups, not an individual registration.

Confidential cells marked [c] represent between 1 and 4 vehicles and are treated as zero in aggregates, so totals can be slightly understated.