SEAT Ibiza road tests and consumer car reviews

SEAT Ibiza 1.2 TDI SE COPA ECO 2011

Do not believe the advertised MPG!! I won’t hold back here, I’m really gutted about the MPG I’m receiving (and this is why I bought this car). I drive 120 miles a day and cannot even achieve the urban figure stated. I am having to drive at 55-60 MPH on the dual carriageway to get close to 70MPG. I am along way off from the 80 combined and 90 extra urban which is advertised. The car has been in and the dealer has stated nothing is wrong with the vehicle, although they couldn’t achieve the figures and stated they were achieved in test conditions. The 2 stars are for everything else going for the Ibiza; I love the look and the gadgets this car has. I personally think its the best looking of the Eco cars on the market at the moment.

Responses to this review

No one ever achieves the EU Official figures, they are only there to give you a guide and Seat have to quote them by law. All manufacturers have this problem, just enjoy the car - Paul from England

SEAT Ibiza 1.8T FR 2006

I have owned my Ibiza from new and have loved every minute of driving it. It looks really smart, and is much better than the lower models with its trim and 17" alloys. It is really nippy around town, but is also a fantastic moterway drive. It will happily sit at 90 and with the turbo has great acceleration even from 70- or 80 miles an hour. Everything in the interior is where you would expect it and the driver’s seat has plenty of movement for all sizes to be comfortable; I am 5 foot 2" and my husband is over 6 foot and we both enjoy the driving position. Having sat in a 58 plate Golf SE the other day I realised how good the quality of the interior was in the Ibiza! The boot is spacious for its class, and with the back seats down we have moved house and made numerous Ikea trips with no issues! The rear leg room is also good. You can easily fit 4 adults in the car for long journeys with no issues. The only issue I have had with it is the cost of running it! With tax of about £260 a year and only managing 35mpg if you are really careful (even on a motorway journey!) it is definitely worth considering. I have only done 30k in nearly 5 years so it hasn’t been a massive issue, but it is quite frustrating when you can see the fuel gauge moving on a long journey! It has been very reliable, with no issues apart from a couple of electrical issues when new which were all sorted out by the dealer quickly. Servicing is reasonablby priced. Overall a fun car to drive and an opportunity to drive a VW engine at a much lower cost!

SEAT Ibiza 2011

Quick.

SEAT Ibiza 1.4 Sport 2008

I bought a Ibiza in December 2008, it’s the 1.4 Sport model and I am far from impressed with it. As people have been saying below. the interiors are absolutely foul and whoever designed it didn’t think too much about safety because it’s very hard to make out all the switches that are down under the dash and the black shiny radio. I have had the car towed away to SEAT a few times due to it not starting or dying at traffic lights. Overall I have come to one conclusion, DO NOT BUY A SEAT IBIZA!

SEAT Ibiza SC 1.6TDi 2010

In Crono Yellow I love the appearance of this 3door. The driving position is good with comfortable leg room and plenty of steering wheel adjustment but in this sport version the seats feel hard and with sports suspension the ride is poor with pronounced road noise. Behind the wheel some controls are hap-hazard, the under steering wheel radio control is a waste of time. Otherwise the controls are light and the car is a pleasure to drive. Performance is adequate to brisk but high gearing requires the use of third in built up areas. My main concern is dreadful fuel economy. I am used to bettering published combined figures whilst traveling at the legal limit when safe to do so. In this car I have difficulty obtaining 50mpg against a claimed 65. The supplying dealer offers no explanation after four sessions in the workshop. Would I recommend this car? NO.

SEAT Ibiza 1.4 SPORT 5 DR 2009

Hi, After owning an Ibiza 14 Sport I bought in September 2003 brand new I said to myself never again am I buying a SEAT because my Ibiza lost power all the time. I was crossing a busy dual carriage way and I put my foot down to get accross quickly as there were cars pretty close to me. But it simply moved off at a snails pace and almost had me killed! Losing power was the least of my problems because the suspension gave alot of trouble and also the engine was making a very bad knocking/ rattling sound. I brought it back to Seat and they couldn’t of been any les helpfull if they tried! But foolishly I fell for the new model last year and bought a 1.4 Sport, and I DO NOT like it at all any more. The cabin is so drab and boring to sit in and the seat fabric feels and looks so cheap but it does feel durable. The engine isnt particulary progressive and its not as economical as my old Ibiza. I’m not impressed to be honest, I was expecting to be pleased but I’m not.

Responses to this review

Hi, I understand where you are coming from in terms of the interior beings very basic, with plastics that aren’t appealing to look at. I bought a 2009 1.4 SE and its not a great car either but in terms of MPG I’m getting just over 38 to the gallon. Its not particularly comfortable and the steering is indirect and and has no feel to it. Also when cornering hard it feels as if it isn’t going to make it. Overall I’m not impressed with this car at all and I totally agree with Micheal. It looks nice but that’s it - Judith Mc Clelland from Herefordshire

SEAT Ibiza 2006

I have owned the SEAT for 4 years now. It has had a couple of faults, which were luckily covered by the warranty. It has only driven 13,000 miles in 4 years so things could be different if it was driven more. Main dealers not very good with aftersales.

SEAT Ibiza Chill 2001

I love this car so much I have just ordered a brand new one, 1.4 sc se 3 door in Citrus. Can’t wait to drive it. Never gone for the same car twice, but so impressed with the ’chill’ that I won’t ever go for any other make now and I have had a few in my time!! The only problem I had was with electrics, luckily when still under warranty and so it was sorted at no cost to me . It’s a trendy little car and pretty zippy for the likes of a ’young’ pensioner. With VW under the bonnet you can’t go wrong really.

SEAT Ibiza 1.6 tdi sc sport 2009

I just got this SEAT and am first time owner of the SEAT Ibiza. I had a Renault Megan 120 diesel prior to this. The Ibiza is a nice drive and the brakes are superb. The inside finish is excellent, if a little plastic, but hey its a cheap car. I’ve only done 50 miles so far but it cruised down the duel carriageway at 70-80 at 2k rpm. It’s rather deceptive and you really do need to keep an eye on your speed. My only moan is a serious lack of cabin storage, in fact it has not got much at all! The driver visibility at the front is obscured with the door pillars (just like the new fiesta), you need to take extra care for motorcycles and pedestrians as the blind spot is quite large, suppose its the 5star ncap thing but I think these new designs are dangerous being a biker too.

SEAT Ibiza SC Ecomotive 2009

In this eco-conscious era where it’s ’all for one and one for all’, the new Ibiza 1.4 Diesel Ecodrive couldn’t have come at a better time. The ’Three Musketeers’ of little cylinders combine to produce cardinal performance, high in the carbon sensitive arena, while reassuring the lucky driver that he has more than sufficient horsepower to gallop into the sunshine with a dash of style and a splash of chic sophistication. This Catalonian carbon buster has more ’Goya’ in the tank than you’d give it credit for. You may be forgiven for wondering at the surreal level of economy. Seat claim a combined mpg figure of 76.4mpg but I only achieved 67.4mpg. Readers must remember, however, that the car encourages enthusiastic use - and I have to tell you that my enthusiasm knew no bounds. Economy is so good that the Chancellor ought to check it out rightaway and make it a model for the dictum that you don’t have to be threadbare to be thrifty. In these penny pinching days you might question the need for a new car, but a turn behind the wheel of this endearing and exciting package will reassure you that the answer is - Yes! Three times: one for each of the little pumping cylinders. Built to the usual high standards of the Volkswagen Group, it feels solid and robust with not a squeak or rattle as you drive over the roughest surfaces. It’s a comfotable interior with plenty of room in the front, but rear accommodation is not that generous. Seat is the sporty arm of the VW Group, but the new Ibiza proves beyond doubt that a sporty heart and a sensible head do go together. Granny will adore its sense of security and its comforts (You put her in the front seat, of course.) and little Billy and Bettina (or the Spanish equivalent) will nod their heads with the enthusiasm of a thousand parcel shelf novelty dogs at the swiftness, nimbleness and altogether prowess of this car. And that’s without mentioning the stylish appearance of this well integrated package that, in the jargon of youth is `as cool as a brace of Barcelona organic cucumbers`. As for the driving - at low revs the little diesel pulls reassuringly. It’s not too much of a stretch of the imagination to compare the high gear torque with classic performance cars of the past - such, even, as the E Type Jaguar. In that supreme sporting machine one could pootle along at 15mph in top gear; apply pressure to the throttle and carry on all the way to 150mph. While the little Seat will achieve not more than 110mph, its robust engine imparts something of the high gear/low rev. torque sensation. Leaving the restricted confines of narrow streets and their customary proliferation of anti motoring ’street furniture’ , and welcoming, at long last the open road, a touch on the throttle induces instant alacrity - and all the feters of over concerned nambypambyism fall away in one burst of exhultation. On a dappled, twisty country lane, the surefooted nimbleness and peppery endeavour of the Ibiza makes one reflect on the very real progress made by automotive engineers. Those long of tooth tend to take as a yardstick, the cars they enthused about in their youth. Had a car such as this existed at that time, there would have been such a run on superlatives as to empty every dictionary in every library and family home up and down the land. To technically minded readers who want facts and figures and not purple prose, I say to you ’go read a workshop manual’ - for when discussing the actual driving experience, it is ’sensation’, not ’slide rule’ that rules. OK. The clutch is light with a positive take up, the gearbox is precise, solid feeling and altogether hassle free in operation, the throttle is light when you want it to be, but with an encouraging resistance to pressure that suggests more is to come. In the words of the song - ’The Best is Yet to Come’. Steering is direct, precise - just right: not over light and not over heavy. Goldilocks herself would find little to complain about. More than anything though, it’s the combined package that delivers the goods. This is a car compact enough to be nimble, large enough to be comfortable, light on its feet, solid in its protection, sensible in its ergonomics, appealing both to driver and passenger and economical enough for the most parsimonious parson. And, as if this is not enough, it’s actually stylish, exciting, stimulating - did I say sensational? Seat, drive it, like it, buy it. At £11,805 it’s not overly expensive.

SEAT Ibiza FR TDi 130 2005

It’s a smart looking little car, with not too many on the road. It has loads of torque- 229lb/ft so it’s easy to drive around town but is still capable of returning 65-75mpg on a long run, if driven right! Best not to use the 130mph top speed then! Inside it’s reasonably well equipped, though the trim feels a little cheap in places, but show me a car that doesn’t these days. The ride is a bit hard, but it handles well enough despite the inert steering- not a patch on my old Peugot 306 XSi in this respect! A few minor niggles have sent it back to the dealer, but it has been cheap to run and insure and everyone is jealous of the fuel economy, even at todays stupid prices £50 will get you 600 miles per tank on a run. I will be sorry to see it go!

SEAT Ibiza FR 130 tdi 2006

Owned from new and as yet no problems after 15 months. Great Car - excellent performance and economy which do not normally go hand in hand. The downside is that it needs servicing every year.

SEAT Ibiza 2007

Really Really Really Really unimpressed with this car! Had this car now for almost 1 Month and have driven it 5 times, nearly caused me a fatal car accident and twice the back lights have failed to come on and i may add this is a brand new car which was sitting in the very showroom when i bought it!! The engine has failed twice and the electrics have gone and still SEAT has denied me a new one!

SEAT Ibiza 1.4 16v Stylance petrol 2007

I bought this car because I wanted space and affordability and I got both with this car. Pratical and versatile.