Seat Ibiza 1.2 12V

I bought this car car new from my local dealership which is primarily VW and has recently taken on the SEAT dealership as well. It came with 3 yrs warranty and 3 yrs breakdown cover which covers UK and Europe. So far I've been quite impressed, especially with the DSG gearbox which is incredibly smooth in the full auto mode, and can also be used in sport mode or TipTronic mode. Though the 1.2 tsi engine is a real step down from my old 2.0 tdi Jetta, it delivers plenty of power with the 0-100kph time very similar to the Jetta at under 10 seconds. Being a 3 door sport coupe, it is great for access as I am very tall. The interior is a bit plasticky in places, it has reasonable interior storage but not great. I'm not keen on the roof aerial as my last few cars the aerial has been built in to the windscreen so was not a potential target for vandals. Overall a great little car with proven VW engineering, which hopefully will be problem free.

We have owned our 1.2 3 cyclinder 2002 ibiza now for about 7 months now and after owning 3 ibiza's previous to this (a 93 diesel, 96 diesel and a 97 gti) would definatly say this is the best all rounder. Only having 63 bhp the perfermance isn't amazing, but taking this into consideration the ride is smooth and the fuel consumption is pretty good, unless you do lots of motorway miles, we average around 45mpg around town, top speed is about 110mph but this is pritty much flat out and the engine isnt perticuly comfortable there.

The car has plenty of space, with a decent size boot, ours has air con(although there we have had issues with the motor on the heat exchanger playing up) handy cup holder and really light power steering has made this for us one of the better cars we owned, and would recommend to others.

I have just bought a late 2006 Seat Ibiza 1.9 TDI Sport. The car is fantastic but the only thing I would say is before buying one check the suspension bushes and brake discs.

These parts seem to wear out very quickly, lucky for me the dealer changed the discs all round (the front were changed after I got the car when I explained they were badly worn-they had only replaced the pads!)

had the car for 2 months now and its been in the garage 6 times, first was the misted up headlights, second was the back washer had packed in and the last 4 times was down to the car over revving and sticking at 3000 rpm with the clutch pressed in. it doesnt stick any more but now it takes a few seconds for the revs to drop and when i stop at a junction the revs drop to 500 and trys to cut out.

now the garage are saying that normal and there designed to do that, absolute rubbish (dealerships must think people are stupid or to british to complain). getting rid or the car asap as i dont wanna spend out when my warrenty runs out as i fear it could could cost me the price of a small house

I recently bought a 2004 1.2 Seat Ibiza from my mother who taught me to drive in it. She previously owned it for 3 years so I have a good overall experience of this car as both a passenger and a driver.

I'm not exactly sure which trim it has, but I believe it is the "1.2 Chill".

Overall we are both very happy with the car. It's been very reliable, with only one or two problems which I will describe below. It's incredibly easy to drive (and that's coming from someone who only passed their test 6 weeks ago!). It's responsive with an excellent gearbox, and considering it's only a 1.2 I think it's nippy if you choose the correct gear.

My mum previously owned a 1.4 Rover 25 (AWFUL car) and this Seat 1.2 is leaps and bounds ahead of it in terms of power.

However, because it is only a 1.2 it does require more revs to really get it going. My mum used to always drive it around the 2,000 - 3,000RPM mark, which is perfect for around town, but when you want it to move or you need the power to get it up inclines, it really starts to pull beyond 3,000RPM.

On the motorway/A roads it's very happy to cruise at low RPMs.

The car has pretty much everything that I would need, including air conditioning and a decent CD player.

It's also got power assisted steering and ABS on this particular model trim.

The interior is what you'd expect from a car of this price range. It's pretty basic with nothing really exciting and the plastics do feel a bit cheap, but I expected that anyway.

The seats do feel surprisingly comfortable though and they are very supportive, even on long drives.

It's a very fun and easy little car to drive and it does look very stylish compared to it's competitors (in my opinion). It's definitely a decent looking car, and because it doesn't have "1.2" written on the back of it, people would think it's a more powerful car.

Now to the running costs. I don't know exactly how many MPG this car gets, but I know it lasts on a tank of fuel for a very long time. I rarely see the fuel light on, which is brilliant. It's only an insurance group 3 and the tax is cheap too because of it's low emissions.

However, we haven't been so lucky when dealing with Seat themselves. The last service and work costs were colossal, and the customer service appalling.

When my mother owned the car last year and she had it serviced, they claimed that the car needed a new anti roll bar and suspension bushes, among other things. My mother asked how much it would cost and they told her £400. She told them to go ahead and do the work, expecting a bill of £400 at the end of it.

When we both went to pick the car up we were asked to wait because it was being taken out for a test drive. We sat in the waiting room for 40 minutes until we eventually asked where on earth they'd taken it. It turned out that the car had actually been back for about 30 minutes, but nobody bothered to tell us.

They then gave her a bill for £750! Apparently when they quoted £400 on the phone, it didn't include the service and labour costs, etc.

I feel that she got completely and utterly ripped off, and after speaking to experienced mechanics, they questioned whether the work was even needed. My mum drives at the speed limits and is very careful, it's very unusual for a car to need a new anti roll bar unless it's been in a collision. The car was only worth £4,000 at the time, so a £750 bill is ridiculous and it made the overall running costs of the car not so good after all.

My mum shares a Range Rover 4.6L as a second car, and she's never had to pay out costs like that even on a Range Rover. We both expected the servicing and work from Seat to be very cheap.

It's really put a cloud over my view of Seat unfortunately, and I certainly won't be using my local garage again. My mum, who was going to buy one of the new Seat Leons, has now bought a VW Golf instead because of the poor service from Seat.

The only other problems we've had with the car, besides the anti roll bar/bushes, is the headlights which seem to keep misting up. Apparently it's a common problem with these cars. We haven't had it fixed yet so I don't know the costs, but it's only a minor problem.

I would definitely recommend the car itself, especially to young/learner drivers, but watch out for the service you get from Seat and make sure you get a proper quote from different garages before going ahead with any work needed.

I have had several different cars but this is the best, most reliable car. Even in this bad weather, I left it untouched for a week and it started first time no problem as it always does. For being a small engine it is so nippy and a lovely car to drive. Had never considered one before but will consider again in future.

i had a Seat Ibiza 1.2 12V car as a courtesy car and the spoiler fell off when i was on the motorway no impressed crap car

Would buy again, but you need to trade it in every 3 years otherwise can work out expensive to keep on the road.

The engine diagnostic light has come on 8 times on my Seat Ibiza 1.2 12V. 5 times there was nothing wrong. The rear windscreen washer faulty, temperamental electrics, needed whole new suspension after 3 years, and the catalytic converter failed at 3 and a half years. The petrol cap attachment rotted and fell off, and the drinks holder snapped off. I have had a poor response from customer services and dealerships. I will never buy one again.

The Seat Ibiza 1.2 12V family car is excellent, lovely to drive. Even though it has a very small engine it is very nippy. The safety fetaures are excellent, anti-highjacking, central locking, imoboliser etc. I could not be more pleased with this car if I tried.