2001 Seat Alhambra SE from UK and Ireland - Comments

Seat Alhambra 1.9 TDi (130 bhp) 2003

Nearly 5 years old. Eats tyres like no tomorrow! Just required service and still visiting main dealer. Issue now the car needs replacement clutch, inner driveshaft splines, replace the cambelt. Also the flywheel needs replacing which I find hard to take as this was recalled by SEAT in 2006 and replaced then. So this flywheel has only lasted 2 years!!!

However the car is useful in that the space is fantastic and it behaves well on motorways.

On my 2nd Seat Alhambra, generally love them, but my current one 2001 TDI SE has cost almost £5000 in repairs and maintenance in the last 18 months, not including tyres which I agree, it eats.

Apart from the usual, recurring problems include:

Rear washer.

Disc brakes

Air-Con.

But the latest issue has been one of the front plastic grills coming off while doing 60 mph, cracking my windscreen and causing other vehicles to swerve to avoid flying plastic. I`ve been told by a Seat garage that this happens! Anyone else had a similar experience?

BJ Ireland.

We have a 1999 Alhambra TDI SE, from new. 110k thus far.

No issues save the wet footwell problem and sticking wipers 2 months ago.

Wet footwell - 1st time cleared out the debris - about 2 years ago. Now it's happened again and not sure why, but only since the wiper mechanism was re-assembled by a local garage.

The soundproofing was off its grommet and wet, maybe that was blocking the drain, appears not to be the case.

Other possibles - the grill and clips or the windscreen sealant. Apart from this it's been excellent.

Oh, and those speaker covers on the doors - located perfectly for putting your knee through. I've replaced 4 of them.

Can anyone help me? I've got a W plate Alhambra 1.9 TDI. Every time it rains, the passenger footwell fills up with water. Sealed the pollen filter housing, cleared the drain holes, sealed the windscreen and it's still leaking. Regards.