2004 Seat Ibiza Sport review from UK and Ireland

Air Conditioning is working intermittently.

Stereo adjusts volume and 'loud' randomly.

Power Steering went on one occasion - never happened since?

I bought the Ibiza last year after selling a BMW 330ci, in an effort to save money. Having been used to a quick car, but with a reduced budget, I wanted something that would be brisk and economical. The Ibiza 1.9 TDi 130 seemed a good choice in my situation. It met my budget, had reasonable boot and cabin space, offered reasonably low insurance and good mpg and promised, due to the hefty torque, to cope well on the motorway.

In a line the car has achieved the above.

However, I can't help thinking the Ibiza TDi 130 is a rather disjointed package...

It's marketed as a warm hatch, but really it is not! The engine doesn't suit the car. The big 1.9 was surely never designed for the small Ibiza? It always feels to me that VW bolted it on to the car just to increase the range, and as an after thought, firmed up the suspension and stuck on big tyre's to help it cope. The added weight at the front obviously puts the little Ibiza off balance and the immense amount of torque in such a small unbalanced car means big torque steer. The firmed up suspension is unforgiving and jittery whilst definitely not offering GTI handling. And, despite the abundance of torque, 0-60 is well over 9 seconds, again no GTI. So best off going for the Cupra 1.8T (Petrol)

On the other hand if you forget the marketing and just take it as a small hatch it still fails, as for small hatch duties the 1.4 petrol or TDi are cheaper to buy, maintain and probably have a much friendlier ride.

Having said this, I don't think this is a bad car at all (I love it!), just one with limited appeal. So if you, like me, want a 50MPG, thump in the back 'warm?' hatch with a crawling 0-60, hard ride, mediocre handling and torque steertastic 2nd gear, but low insurance then this is certainly the car for you!