2004 Seat Ibiza S review from UK and Ireland

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.

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.