Faults:

So far nothing.

General Comments:

First the engine:

1.2 seems like it's too small, but in my mind it's perfect for driving in city or on B roads. After 3000 revs the engine sounds beautiful and is quite gutsy. You can have an incredible amount of fun while driving it, and it is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

The economy is quite impressive, but strongly depends on your driving style. If you try hard, you can get the promised 50 mpg. On highway, the engine is a little noisy, but nothing annoying or painful.

The chassis:

Ride can't be called comfortable, it is more on the sporty side. Therefore it jumps on bigger potholes around town. But on a twisty side road, you will enjoy every corner.

The transmission:

Nothing out of the ordinary. But sometimes I struggle to find reverse.

Interior:

Standard VW, but in my mind it's better looking than the Fabia or Polo. Space in the rear seats is good for a small car, and in the front seats you will have plenty of space. The steering wheel is adjustable in 2 directions, so almost everyone will be able to find comfortable seating position.

To sum up, for your money you will get a lot of car. Running costs and reliability are quite good. I can say that I am very glad that I chose an Ibiza, and I would do it again.

Faults:

Failed MOT at 4 years due to suspension bush wear (unacceptable on 4yr/34K gently driven car), uneven rear brakes (drum brake cleaning should be part of service schedule) and perished tyres (these were the originally fitted Dunlop SP Sport tyres and were about half worn. They had been correctly maintained, but developed open splits at the base of the tread).

Car has broken down 4 times due to coil pack failure - the same position (no 1) keeps failing.

Radio/CD and blower fan resistor pack both failed in warranty.

Dashboard has had to be removed and refitted several times to cure rattles.

3dr car suffers terribly from excess wind noise - door seals changed but no better.

General Comments:

I helped my daughter buy this car and chose it as it seemed a good package (A/C, remote locking ABS etc etc) for the price. It's a reasonable size (not too small) and I felt it seemed like quite a safe car - I was impressed by touches such as having twin tail lights on each side so if a bulb fails the other would still show.

The car drives well on the open road, it's comfortable (for a small car) and handles nicely. I find the seats very good for such a class of car but the low slung driving position might not suit everyone. The car (3dr) does suffer badly from wind noise right next to your ear which is tiring after a while.

Around town the 3cyl engine is juddery and the car isn't so nice. Overall fuel consumption isn't very good for a 1.2 engine - it does about 35MPG on a gentle main road commute.

Too many things have gone wrong - the breakdowns (4 in 4 years) have always been attended promptly by SEAT Assist (operated by the AA) but they won't change parts under warranty, which means getting the car to a dealer and in some areas SEAT dealers are very thin on the ground.

I was also dismayed that the car failed MOT at 4yrs - SEAT should be embarrassed about that and should work with the dealer, but instead the dealer seemed to see it as an opportunity to take money off us. Even though the car has a service package with the dealership, they still made us pay extra for work that should have been included.

If the car had been more reliable, or the dealer had made more effort to look after us, then I would probably be happy to buy another - the car itself is good, but spoiled by lack of support from SEAT UK and the dealership. As it is, we'll be changing to something else shortly.