Seat Alhambra Stylance 2.0 TDI 140

This was one of the early imports of the common rail 2.0 TDI's on a 60 plate. It replaced an 07 plate which was a good car except for the gear ratio's and a hole on the early power delivery. The next version of the Alhambra sorted those issues and for about 3.5 years (until just out of warranty, naturally) I was a happy bunny. There was nothing not to like about this comfortable, reliable, well equipped, decently powered and practical car that carried family, dogs and luggage with ease up hill and down dale.

Then I got a wheel wobble that defied being balanced out. On holiday in Brittany, the wheel wobble appeared during braking. Into the local Seat dealer where despite a robust language barrier, I gathered that the front discs were uneven and needed replacing. Oh, and also the NSF wheel bearing. £740 later it's done. 2 weeks later back in UK I came off the motorway and heard a metallic clatter. Seemed to be better when the clutch was down, but it just got worse over a short distance. The AA man quickly diagnosed either a shot flywheel or a shot gearbox bearing. And he was right. At under 35,000 miles the flywheel has come apart and I'm looking at £1,900+ for a new flywheel and clutch. Clutches now are Dual Mass Clutches. In short, the damping springs are built into the flywheel instead of the clutch plate. They don't have a good reputation - not just in VAG vehicles.

Up until the flywheel incident I only had 1 moan about the car which was the lack any means of recovering from a punctured tyre. The Contiseal tyres are very good - you can put dozens of nails into the tread and it'll not deflate. But. For some reason Seat don't sell this bus with anything other than low profile tyres. It's a bus guys, not a sports car. The low profile tyres have to be extra strong because the bus is heavy. This makes the sidewalls thick and it also makes them brittle. Gently clip a kerb (for instance) enough to crack the sidewall... and you're on the phone to your roadside recovery people. You have no other option.

I am loath the dish the dirt on this car - it has so many good points but a flywheel in under 35k miles is taking the michael. I've been driving for nearly 40 years and I've driven some pretty old and knackered cars in my day. I have never had a flywheel come apart. Beware of dual mass flywheels on VAG cars (That's VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda) because you will be 'cruising for a bruising'.

I have owned two seat alhambras. The latest one is a 2.0 tdi 2009 stylance. I have had issues with the main dealer servicing the vehicle. The service at the main dealers was poor and I had to ask for a courtesy car which they did offer reluctantly, but said I had to take back at 8am the next day. meaning I could not get to work on time!!.

I have just had to have the flywheel and clutch replaced as they failed after 13,000 miles!!! . The seat dealership put this down to driver abuse. Which I do not agree with as the car is used carefully. I suspect that the clutch design/assembly is weak and possibly from a standard 5 seater car. The Alhambra is intended to transport up to 7 people + bags etc. I would warn others to be very wary before owning a seat. Overall the quality, performance of the car and performance/ quality of the main dealer in Crewe is poor.

My other car is an Audi and their main dealer in Crewe is the exact opposite with very high quality of service and performance.

The bill for the clutch & flywheel came to £1,300 from the main dealer. I am wary about using the car again in case the clutch fails again.

The cruise control has also failed last month.

My summary would be that I personally will not ever desire to own another Seat again after this car has turned out to be a real lemon. Together with the poor service from the main dealers this has put me off them for LIFE!

This is the 4th Seat Alhambra I have owned having owned an Espace previously. I can not fault the Alhambra. It as never failed to start. The sports suspension (option in Reference) makes the feel of the drive like a car and not like driving a sofa with most other people carriers (Espace and Galaxy included). It is not a big car outside but has hige anounts of space inside and is incredibly practical. I regulary return 50+ mpg on the diesel engine. The toys (sports suspension, climate control, heated seats, cruise control, heated windscreen) are standard in the Stylance. Theses specifications would cost thousands on other MPVs. I am just about to buy my fifth!

7 months ago I bought at Seat Alhambra Stylance 2.0 TDi and I have been very pleased with it. Here are my thoughts about the car and reasons for buying it.Our 3 growing kids meant that our old style Renault Scenic was getting a bit small for our needs, so we opted to get a 7 seater to give us extra room, and a diesel engine to give better fuel economy. I am a fair bit taller than average, and one big problem I have is due to the modern trend to have a lot of plastic between the driver and front passenger footwells. This meant that most of the 7 seaters did not have enough leg room for me to drive the car comfortably. Of the cars I tried, the best were the Renault Espace, Seat Alhambra, and new Ford Galaxy. All drove well and all seemed well equipped, but the Alhambra seemed best for us (the Espace was a bit expensive, seemed a bit heavy, did not have brilliant fuel economy and I was not keen on the electronic handbreak [though it did have the most room]; the Galaxy was a touch small for me and I was not sure of the folding rear seats).I found a good deal on an 8 month old Alhambra Stylance with less than 4000 miles on the clock, and so far it has been brilliant. This is the first diesel I have owned and the 2 litre engine is just great for powering the car along, it is a rear pleasure to drive the car and is very easy. Even though we do a fair amount of short journeys as well as some long ones, we are still getting the same fuel economy as our old, smaller petrol Scenic. Though I did not buy the car from a main dealer, I have also found the local Seat dealerships in Nottingham and Derby really helpful. There is loads of room in the Alhambra for our kids, and there is now space between the child seats for them to do up their seatbelts without struggling (and arguing !). The 2 extra seats are great for carrying our kids 'friends, and the height of the Alhambra helps my ageing parents-in-law get in/out of the car. Though the 2 rearmost seats are a bit heavy they are not too difficult to take out, and once removed give a huge amount of space in the back. We have just come back from a holiday driving through France, and the car was just right for the job " it ate up the miles with ease and gave us loads of room for all the suitcases, beach stuff etc.The Stylance model is a bit fancier than we really need and some of the features we don ' t make much use of (e.g. the seat warmers). However, the most useful of the 'knobs and whistles 'are the parking sensors, which make life so much easier.So, so far, I have been very happy with the Alhambra.