1996 Seat Ibiza GTi review from UK and Ireland

4 new tyres.

General service needed.

I purchased this car very cheaply in October 2005 via an internet auction site.

Ended up buying it for £500.00 which for a 1996 N reg model in purpura iris (Met purple with a slight flip in paint was very cheap I thought)

The car had been pretty much run into the ground by the previous owner so the first thing to sort were the wheels & tyres (Original 3 spoke alloys) as they had corroded away and the tyres were as bald as Elton John! After some looking around I found a set of Original Seat Ibiza Alloy wheels with virtually new Pirelli tyres for £100.00.

Over the Xmas period I had a Heart Attack which basically put me in hospital for a week and more or less got me sacked from my place of work.

The wife has been using it since the begining of 2006 and it's been pretty OK. It dislikes the cold weather, often refusing to start (Cold damp days it never starts) although this could be down to the fact it's not been serviced.

It's due its service next week and I will update this review in a few months time to see if it's performing any better.

The main downsides to the car is petrol consumption. It seems to drink the stuff even when driving at moderate speeds.

The paintwork finish is a bit iffy, it almost looks like it should have had another coat of paint. Rust has not been a issue on the car thankfully as I have seen much later models with quite bad outside rust signs.

Interior is pretty good and very hardwearing. Our car has 80k + on the clock now and it's still looking like a 40k model inside.

Heater controls are excellent, standard stereo was OK we have updated it to a High Power Cd player and the speakers handle anything that's thrown at it (6 speaker seat system still fitted)

Hate the space saver spare wheel, but you can't have it all.

Boot Feels quite big for such a small car and the back seats are OK although a bit annoying on long journeys.

Electrics all work as they should. One complaint I have is the sunroof that's fitted is a bit noisy, as is the passenger door at high speeds.

All in all for the money I invested I think it's a fair car that's really not seen very often on the roads.

Don't buy one to win races at the lights as it's not going to happen, but buy one if you fancy being a little bit different from the Saxo crowd!