Faults:

The car have some tolerable noises in the doors mainly.

The back doors and seats squeaks a lot.

The main attraction!, water on the passenger side floor. I get the car to the dealer, the first time they said the car was OK and there were nothing to do.

The second time they thought it may be a problem with a small radiator of the Air Condition system (climatronic), they have disassemble all the dashboard to change that "tinny" part. Go figure out all the noises that this action causes.

One week later a storm came down and, guess what? Yes water came in again, but this time it was a pool.

By now the car is at the dealers workshop, and they have no idea of what could be the cause.

I cape hear and I read that is a recurrent problem with seals.

Wait a minute I almost forget about it, the electric elevator of the drivers windows makes a big "clunk!" noise when you get it down. The dealer promises to change it... when they have the part in stock.

General Comments:

The engine is just great and fast.

Very well equipped for the price.

But the problems with eat came to early.

Previously I owned a VW Pointer (also known as GOL in Brazil) It was a good car smaller and slower, but very reliable.

Faults:

Ignition Barrel failed

Boot catch would not open when unlocked

Strange clunking when applying brakes occasionally

Horn stopped working (then started again!)

General Comments:

From a value for money point of view this car is fantastic, performance is very frantic now after doing 8000 miles it is nicely run in and a lot smoother to drive.

Suspension is too soft, you can't exactly throw this car around much. In the wet this car is scary to drive!

Seats don't give enough support.

Faults:

Coil broke down - replaced at 8k.

Leaking door seals.

Rattle from hatch.

Rattle from rear seat.

Interior trim falling off (various).

Intermittent alarm fault.

Paint chipping on bonnet.

Grabbing brakes.

Weak synchromesh on 1st gear.

Engine hesitation from cold.

General Comments:

Reasonable acceleration, but suspect handling on anything other than smooth surfaces. When driving hard, the lack of body control is actually dangerous. The car needs softer springs and stiffer dampers. I'm astounded VAG allowed a vehicle like this to be sold.

Decent comfort over long distances, but marked down for the intrusion of the centre console into the left leg - very painful, and almost 12K on, just as annoying.

The seats are comfortable when travelling in a straight line, but for a car with sporting pretensions, fail to hold the driver or front passenger in place when cornering quickly.

Fuel consumption is reasonable for a car with 180bhp, but I'd hoped for better. There isn't that much difference consumption wise between it and a hard driven Impreza Turbo, but in performance terms, the two cars are like night and day.

After being initially impressing with its build quality and reliability, things are going down hill quickly of late. Shame...

My underlying memory of the last 9 months of Seat ownership won't actually be the car, but the help and advice I've had from the members of SeatCupra.net. I hope it's acceptable to mention it here.