2003 Seat Ibiza review from UK and Ireland

This is truly an excellent car. I am a young driver having just turned 20 years of age and this car is perfect for me:

Firstly its very economical; out of a full tank of petrol I consistently get around 200 motorway miles (70-75 Mph) and 230 combined urban/extra urban miles (430 total), resulting in 52MPG.

It is also very comfortable in many respects. These include the seats which support you well when cornering. An adjustable steering column also makes an ideal driving position easy to find. I am 6'3" and can easily do 5 hour drives without stopping for a rest and stretch which is great.

The handling on this car is also very good. The steering is quite communicative of the road and the stock tyres (Pirelli P6000's - 185/60 R14) tell you when they're about to lose grip, which is not often at all! The only problems are perhaps that the stiffened suspension can make the ride firm and the tyres emit quite a lot of road noise.

As for the luxuries, the stock CD/Radio is great - 8 speakers and wow is it loud! (it can also take CDRW's) Driver and Passenger airbags ensure a good 4 N-Cap stars, I got the optional side airbags also in a deal. Air-con is effective quickly however drains the engines power noticeably.

The interior of this car is also very spacious and evidently inspired by Volkswagen. At night you are greeted by a warm red glow from all instruments when the exterior lights are turned on which I personally love. The engine also is very quiet and the 3 cylinder thrum sounds great. I have had nothing, but praises from my passengers.

Ill let you judge the exterior for yourselves - I personally think it's great.

My only problems with this car are:

No ABS as standard, however this car does stop hard and fast - I've tried a few times.

The engine doesn't like to pull in 4th gear and above, however you can't expect much from a 1.2 anyway.

A minor problem is that the engine sometimes resonates the car slightly when idling.

Finally I have heard of problems with this car finding 1st or reverse gear with difficulty. I do not know whether it was a fault of my own however I have once had an occurrence where a miss-engaged 1st gear 'popped' out of gear.

If you buy - you'll not be disappointed! I tried many of the competitors (Yaris, Polo, Fiesta, Clio etc.) and they didn't come close.