Evening all,
I have a question to put to you all, sorry if it's a bit wordy; I start a job on tuesday which will entail probably driving 15k or so a year on company business. The company are generously giving me 40p / mile towards the cost of my expenses, but I don't get a company car. I don't own a vehicle at present having been out of the country for a while, so need to buy a car without the benefit of a trade-in.
My obvious first choice was a nearly new Mk4 Golf TDi (I have a budget of about £11k), however not having kids or grannies to ferry about I didn't need the five doors and the 3 door 115bhp PD models are rare as hens teeth round here (well decent ones are anyway). A quick look for similar spec A3's reveals a lack of choice, and the ones I've seen have been a bit tatty.
However, I've just had a brainwave about the new Seat Ibiza. It's built on a VAG chassis with VAG running gear and best of all the TDi comes with the 130 PD engine. I can get a 6 month old one for the same price as a 18 month old golf with less miles, and it's loads quicker. I know it's smaller, but thats not so much of a problem. It all seems almost too good to be true, so what I want to know, is it ? Does anyone have any horror stories, or is it as good a buy as it seems ?
thanks...
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Humdinger,
I see you are new in the Backroom. HJ's car by car breakdown gives a honest appraisal of cars. Also if you do a search you will see a number of references to the Seat Ibiza 130; most commenting favourably on its combination of performance and economy. Any "Horror stories" would have emerged by now. It is of course based on the Polo and not the Golf.
I see "your obvious first choice" was a second hand Golf Mk4Tdi(the 115bhp version)with a budget of £11k. Trade Sales are selling brand new Golf Mk4 1.6i 5 door models with Aircon etc for £10k. These have similar performance to a 115tdi. At 15,000 miles pa your fuel costs will be in the region of £200 - £300 more per year. From an economic point of view it is a 'no brainer'
C
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Cardew,
Not new, just been out of the country for a while and haven't been contributing. Glad to see the back room is as useful and as prompt to offer assistance as ever.
Just as a quick update; I have now put a deposit down on the Seat after a test drive this morning. Have to say I was impressed by the level of sheer grunt available, even in 6th at 80mph. Plus, 130 Bhp with group 7 insurance and 55mpg was too good to miss out on - the example I'll be splashing the cash on is on an '03 plate with 10k on the clock. Seemed quite reasonable at £11595.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions - I did try a search on 'seat ibiza 130' but I was really looking for other peoples opinions having driven one, rather than stuff gleaned from press releases, which was all my search seemed to turn up.
Thanks once again...
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Congrats, Humdinger.
I can only echo what others have said about the Ibiza. The combination of perfrormance, economy and low insurance in a small car is just about unbeatable.
I drove an Ibiza TDI 130 for an afternoon shortly before buying my Impreza. The Seat so impressed me that i seriously thought twice about buying the Scooby. When i get fed up with 25 mpg and group 17 insurance, the Ibiza will be a serious candidate to be my next car.
You have ordered a cracker, enjoy it.
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'Golf Mk4 1.6i 5 door models with Aircon etc for £10k. These have similar performance to a 115tdi.'
Absolute nonsense.
The 115TDI is actually much quicker than the 1.6 petrol, (or the 2.0 non-turbo, for that matter). I assume Cardew has never driven a Golf TDI PD and is basing his view on meaningless 0-60 times. In normal, real world driving a Golf TDI 115 feels startlingly quick due to the huge mid-range torque. The 6-speed box allows the engine to be driven within this power band for much of the time.
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Bradgate,
"I assume Cardew has never driven a Golf TDI PD and is basing his view on meaningless 0-60 times."
Your assumption is wrong! and it might have been better if you stated "I do not agree" rather than "Absolute nonsense"
C
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Seat have quite a good 'Move Up A Class' promo on the Cordoba at the moment. They are doing the 130 SE TDI Cordoba for the same price as the 100 S TDI, at £12,000 on the road.
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Haven't heard any bad news about reliability for the Ibiza. Gloveboxes can rattle, I think, but that's about it. However, a friend who owns one did comment on how hard the ride is in the TDi Sport 130 that you're looking at. I had a petrol Ibiza as a courtesy car for a day and have to admit I was a bit disappointed with the trim quality, but it was one of the poverty spec ones so I'd guess the interior of the SE or Sport models will be superior. I did feel as though I was perched a bit too high in that one - on it rather than in it - but again, I don't think that base spec had seat height adjustment (or else I couldn't find it!). You may want to look at the TDi SE with 100 bhp - for that size of car it won't be underpowered, it's significantly cheaper than the Sport on the list price and the ride might be more compliant. Test driving back-to-back should help you decide.
andymc
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Dont ignore the Skoda Fabia RS TDi 130(VW). I am not a fan of the Fabia but this model seems like a different car, has a six speed box and goes like stink, the interior trim is much better than that of the other models and I found it suprisingly quiet, even when standing still in traffic.
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I asked about the Skoda for a friend a while back, and got some good responses re the Ibiza too... www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=16725&...f
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Hi Humdinger. I own an Ibiza 130 Sport 5-door which I bought last April from Jefferies Farm in Crawley for £11,995 - £2000 less than dealer price. It's now done just coming up on 18,000 miles and so far has been 100% reliable.
Good points:
Economy is 50-plus mpg without trying, nearly 60 mpg if I drive like Granny out for a Sunday drive and 45mpg if I push it hard (which the gutsy engine constantly tempts me to do).
Performance is superb in the mid-range. I often leave more overtly sporting (and much more expensive) machines struggling to keep up. Naughty but nice.
The high level of torque (which is available from 1900 rpm) has enabled them to fit a six-speed gearbox with a long top ratio (37mph per 1000 rpm) which makes fast motorway cruising a relaxing doddle. At 70 mph (which of course I never exceed) the engine is turning at a mere 1800 or so rpm yet there is still plenty of grunt for acceleration without changing down. Indeed it pulls strongly in any gear from 1400 rpm upwards. Incidentally the gearchange is light and accurate.
Steering is precise though a bit light for some people. It is however electro-hydraulic and can be adjusted by the dealer to several different levels of weighting.
Despite using the performance a fair bit the Pirelli tyres on the front have at least 5000 miles of legal life left which I consider pretty impressive. This might be partly down to the Traction Control System controlling wheelspin.
Equipment is good for the price bracket - aircon, multi-speaker CD audio, electrically adjusted and heated mirrors, electric windows etc.
The seat IS height adjustable and the steering wheel for height and reach so it's easy to get comfy.
Bad points:
The handling could be sharper - it's not quite up to the performance, though I've got used to it. Most of my driving is on main roads and it's fine there. If I did a lot of fast stuff on twisty minor roads it might annoy me more.
Ride is a bit joggly over bumps at low speed but smooths out as you speed up.
The engine sounds quite diesel-rattly at low revs, though it smooths to a nice beefy hum as you speed up.
Before I bought the car I'd decided on a diesel for the unbeatable balance of performance and economy. The PSA and Ford diesels were smooth but lacked something in the torque department. The BMW ones were out of my price range. The Alfa Romeo likewise (and with suspect reliability). I didn't check out others such as Renault so can't comment on them. Having driven a Golf 130 and a Skoda Fabia 100 I was pretty sure that VW had the answer for me in their PD range of engines, but I wasn't prepared to pay the Golf price. With the 130 engine now available in both Fabia and Polo you should check them out too. The Fabia has a great ride though it does roll a lot in corners and the Polo is probably over-priced to retain VW's spurious superiority.
In short, I'm glad I chose the SEAT and would happily recommend it.
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I have borrowed a workmates Seat TDI 130 for the w/e ( it was me that made him get one from the company car list ) and I can only echo the remarks made on here. The thing is an absolute rocket, and huge fun, cheap on diesel and cheap to insure. I found the handling when pressed very hard was quite tidy, bit of torque steer and understeer, and i was able to make it cock an inside rear wheel but huge huge fun. The ride can be a tad hard but not unbearable.
Great choice, enjoy yourself
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On the comments on the Ibiza handling - the new Ibiza does look rather tall and narrow does anyone think ?. I wonder if this explains the handling comments made here - the Skoda Fabia looks much 'squatter', if you know what I mean. When I test drove the 100bhp 1.4 it was a real hoot to blast down some country lanes, with little body roll and great control.
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Bradgate - 25 mpg and group 17 insurance. Oh dear, what have you done?
I hear the Cupra diesel version of the Ibiza will have 160+ bhp and even more torque.
If you thought the 130 was impressive...........
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And here am I trying to persuade SWMBO to allow me to chip our Fabia tdi from 101 bhp to around 130 bhp!
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Malteser, you may wish to have a look at this; www.uk-mkivs.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11160
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Thanks, AndyT - looks a bit "electric" for a simple soul. I live in Spain where it can get hot(up to 40 degrees Celsius) in summer, so that which works OK in UK may not be quite so suitable here!
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Buying the Impreza was still the right decision. Good as the Ibiza undoubtedly is, the Scooby's performance and handling are on a different level. I can put up with the running costs for a couple of years.
The Cupra diesel sounds very interesting, provided the insurance group doesn't go through the roof.
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Ive driven the Ibiza 110 and the 130 golf.
The Ibiza I tried was rattling my fillings out on bad A roads and every B road, if you intend to drive on these roads (The majority of time) I would avoid (err im not one of the pipe and slipper brigade) The seat is as firm as the Civic Type R on the roads noted above.
I would try the Corolla D4D 114BHP its got bags more grunt than the 130 vw tdi unit. I\'m getting 55mpg average and that?s over fell roads and b roads, at speed (500 miles a week). The overtaking ability is great as well.
Horses for course me thinks
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One thought - is an Ibiza big enough? If I were doing 15K plus my own mileage I would want to be in something a bit bigger and a lot safer...
You're going to be spending a lot of time in it.
MB
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Joining this one just a little late - sorry...
I used to own one of these & agree entirely with what everyone says re. performance. Mini Cooper Ss just can't keep up and I once drove very ungently from my bit of the south coast to Durham (335 miles) on about £26 of diesel, which at the prices then in force was around 56 mpg. Absolutely unarguable from that point of view.
Size (or lack of) never an issue either - probably because of the performance, it felt a lot bigger than it is (and as superminis go it is one of the larger ones). I commuted 60 miles a day in it with no worries.
Only problem is the handling - it really doesn't match the acceleration at all, and mine understeered expensively into the side of a dual-carriageway roundabout at a speed (<40 mph) with which the repair company's boggo Corsa had no trouble. Am prepared to believe it had something to do with the USELESS supplying dealer messing up the wheel alignment but overall they don't feel as surefooted as (say) a Leon - or as well built.
I miss the poke, but not the ill-behaviour the red paint and huge wheels seemed to induce in others, nor the difficult-to-find tyres at £130 a wheel.
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