2002 Seat Arosa WU from UK and Ireland - Comments

Slight rattling from the rear tail pillars and that's about it.

The car drives very well and has immense control around corners.

It may have only a 1.0 engine, but through the gears its pretty quick and a slight burst of acceleration is always available.

Great car to drive, particularly as its my first and I would definetely recommend it to anyone!

Great little car indeed, I had a 1998 one (this one was build in Germany) and it was great fun.

I changed the standard wheels to 15 inch ones and that made it even better.

Be careful if you buy the 1.0 that it had it's recall, because Seat (vw) knew there was a problem with these engines, but it took them 4 years to do something about it.

The problem has to do with the engine oil getting thick and muddy due to an engine design fault, check the oil filler cap for gray oil resedues.

I had this problem way back in 98 and although my dealer told me that they have seen several engines die, they did not how to deal with it.

In 2002 VW finally admitted that there was a problem with all there 1.0 engines (used in Seat, Skoda, VW).

Oh and I also had the famous VW coil problem.

But having said all this, I drove 35.000 miles in 3 years, all over Europe with this little car and I enjoyed every mile of it.

Derek, Seat Arosa 1.4 TDi July 2003.

It is great fun to drive this little car. I used to have a Golf Turbo Diesel which was just as perky as this car, but, not quite as frugal. My wife and I regularly get around 50 mpg in and around town and around 60 mpg including weekend rural driving.

It has had one major fault so far which was there from new. Our original dealers' shop couldn't fix it (didn't even know what the problem was) but, now that the dealership has changed hands the problem was spotted and rectified.

We now have a problem with the passengers seat not tilting forward as it should to allow easy access to the rear, but, it is a small point.

What would I like to see changed? well...

Wipers that wiped the whole screen when it is frosty weather - it looks like they mold themselves to the shape at the bottom of the screen and when they wipe, parts of the screen get missed. Perfectly OK in warm enough weather though.

A light in the boot - I mean in this day and age to have to add your own light is disgraceful even if you can only get a few bags of shopping in it.

An automatic diesel with a decent turn of speed or indeed an automatic petrol with a decent turn of speed, there is absolutely no reason for the acceleration figures to be as low as they are. It isn't only old men in bonnets that drive automatics - anyone that has to sit in a queue of traffic for any length of time will bless the benefits of an auto box.

Oh, and instruments that you can read in any light would be a blessing.

Having said all that we would certainly not hesitate to buy another and maybe have the old one chipped to up its' performance by 30% (that's what I have been quoted for £650).

What recall has there been on this 1.0 litre engine? I have heard nothing and the dealer knows nothing about it? Has anyone had a problem with oil pressure or engine failure due to this fault?

Below minus 8 degrees centigrade, condensation in sumps of 1.0 and 1.4 engines emulsifies and blocks crankcase breather pipe leading to lack of engine lubrication and engine failure.

Please could someone inform me of this 1.0 engine recall as I seem to have problems with my engine, getting like a jerk when the car is accelerating, is this due to the oil becoming thick and clogging the engine up??

Probably not to do with the engine/oil problem. More likely a lazy back plate on your clutch.

I have the same problem in my Arosa, and am going to flush the engine. Hope this cures it.