I haven't had any really massive problems, the biggest one was the clutch cable failing, that was at about 60 thousand miles a year ago. The rest have been just sort of little electrical problems here and there, like sensors and warning lights and starter problems, that sort of thing. It's been over the space of nearly ten years so fair enough really, and it is a great little car, love it to bits, but it has had the odd thing go wrong now and then and it must have added up in terms of costs etc.
It's good value though. In comparison to the Punto I used to have, the Seat Ibiza had more kit fitted, and seemed a fair bit bigger inside, seats and in the boot, for the money. It's pretty good quality as well, I mean apart from the things that have gone wrong, it just feels well put together mostly.
I wish it had air conditioning though. I seem to recall someone saying at some point that was an option in the Seat Ibiza. Might have been the salesman when I got it. I bought it second hand about five years ago and he wanted to sell me all sorts of things to go with it, but it all got too much and in the end I just said I didn't want any of it. That's a shame as it's a bit too much in summer now, and I can't really afford to get air con added to it.
The Seat Ibiza is very economical, for its size I mean. I suppose I could do better nowadays, so perhaps I'll be shopping around a bit soon. Some of these electrical faults have repeated actually, so it makes me think that it's getting worse not better, so I might need to sell up soon.
The only other problem is the paintwork. It's a little bit thin and gets quite a few dinks and scratches and dents here and there. It doesn't bother me what it looks like, but it's probably affecting the resale price, so maybe I'll get it resprayed, I'll see how the cost of that would balance out.
Generally our little Seat Ibiza is a gem, just got these little things going wrong so maybe if you were looking at a second hand one then have a look over the service record and the paperwork, see what sort of life it's had. Maybe ours was just a slightly shakier one than usual.
I had a nasty old Vauxhall before this so I was going to be pretty easy to please here, but anyway this Seat Ibiza has been good so far. The only trouble is the way certain people pronounce it EEBEEFAAAHH. My mum is Spanish and she always gets annoyed the way British people ruined parts of Spain, so I suppose that kind of rubbed off on me. Anyway that's not the car's fault, and all the normal things you worry about with a car seem fine so far.
First up, it's reliable, so far at least. It is only about 18 months old mind, and there was a bit of an odd noise during gear changes early on which I got sorted out under warranty, but aside from that it's been plain sailing.
With our daughter arriving I knew I had to get something that wouldn't break the bank on petrol. I wanted a better car than we had, and I was looking at more exciting ones than the Seat Ibiza, but we compromised and this is a decent result really. It's really fast for a 1.4, and it gets better when you realise it's getting mid 40s MPG, maybe a bit lower the way I drive it sometimes hehe..
It's cheap too, not like tacky or like it's going to fall to pieces. I mean thousands less than you'd be paying for something similar by VW or anyone else. And it just looks better, to me at least.
It's fun to drive, not massively thrilling but fun. It's comfortable for me, but not perfect, as my mum has said it's a bit firm for her. She's used to her armchair on wheels BMW though, so that's not really a fair comparison. It can struggle power wise sometimes, like overtaking on a hill and things, but it's really nippy most of the time.
It's small so it's easy to move about and fit into spaces. The bonnet slopes in a slightly odd way so it can be tricky to see where it ends, but I think I've got a sense for it now. Anyway that's a minor thing, the Seat Ibiza is a great car all in all. Plenty of space inside too, in the cabin and the boot.
My first car, and maybe it's cos I'm young (my mum says) but I'm getting a little bit bored of my Seat Ibiza now. It's ok and it does the job, but it's just a bit sloooow on the motorways. I wanna get where I'm going! Maybe I'd have been better off with a bigger engine one, my friend had a similar car with a 1.4 and the difference was immense!!!
It's not that bad though, I'm being mean. I got it cos it looked quite good and I felt comfy and safe inside it, which is more than I could say for the other one I tried, Astra I think. It is quite comfy still but it can be a bit bumpy, well not bumpy but just a bit sort of stiff if you see what I mean, epsecially after a long trip. I really like the air conditioning though, keeps me cooooool :)
The Seat Ibiza is pretty big inside too. I'm quite tall for a girl and my boyfriend is enormous, so it's good to feel like you're not going to nut the roof when you get in it lol. Pretty big boot space too, we can get our two really big suitcases in there, although not much else. I tried to get my bike in there once though and that was a bit of a disaster really! I like the fact that it's got airbags, that makes me feel happier about it.
We've had to do a few repairs on the Ibiza now and then. Only little things, but then last month I had to get part of the exhaust replaced. I dunno that's not too bad for a car I've had three years. It's pretty cheap for insurance as well, I like that. I get to make fun of my dad with his big beast haha.
It's got some nice little things inside. There's a popout cup holder above the radio. Although that gets a bit annoying if you're trying to play around with the radio! We changed the radio in ours because the original one was a bit rubbish, only played CDs.
The other thing that's starting to get me down is that it just looks sort of flaky and old now inside. It's all plastic and just seems a bit sad. It's not an old car but it kinda looks like it is, and it also scratches easily which is a pain when you've got friends as clumsy as mine! They also complain about the palava of getting into the back past the front seats. It's not too bad but it's a bit of a mission when you're just trying to go out. I can easy get three people in the back though, so it's good for groups of us going out. But the boys sometimes complain about the leg room.
When I'm the passenger in the Seat Ibiza it's more relaxing. Maybe I just find driving stressful but it's a nice car to be in as a passenger. The glove box is a bit of a pain though, it's quite small and hard to reach.
Basically it's ok, and dead cheap to run, but just not all that special. I'd definitely go for a five door car after this one, and also one that didn't feel so tacky inside!
Firstly, I nearly didn’t buy this car because the name conjured up images of sweaty drunkards and plastic furniture – I hate clubbing and trance music and all of that. But I wanted a decent hatchback, I’ve had enough VWs in my time and I was on a budget, so it had to be the Seat Ibiza.
Don’t expect too much – the best thing about the Ibiza is how much it costs. And stepping inside you can certainly tell that it’s not going to break the bank – the interiors are as tacky as the model’s island namesake. It’s also too small for me (I’m not a small bloke, mind), and it even sounds cheap when you rev the engine.
But it’s a little beauty to drive and it handles extremely well. It has a reputation as being underpowered but I don’t agree. Mine is the 1.2 and even that is OK with pretty long journeys. This is where I Seat have the upper hand on your other budget cars: it’s a real pleasure to drive. Nippy, rewarding and steady. Would make a great first car in this respect. Great value, and glad I bought her.
I really enjoyed owning this car, looked good and drove well.
I had this car for a couple of years and never had any major problems with it,
Always felt nice and sturdy on the road, and it could handle itself on the motorway.
Not a bad looking car either, I liked how the dash and controls are angled towards the driver instead of straight ahead.
All in all a very nice car.