1998 Seat Cordoba SE 1.4 petrol

Summary:

Nice condition and performance for a 10 year old car. Reliable brand indeed

Faults:

I got the Cordoba used from private seller with the following problems:

Oil leak from the engine.

Dents from driving fault.

General Comments:

Very good engine power/hp for 1.4L.

Moderately economical.

Very responsive engine.

Stiff suspension system.

Small driver's leg room.

Uncomfortable seats.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 1st August, 2009

1998 Seat Cordoba Vario TDi SXE 1.9 turbo diesel

Summary:

Reliable, frugal, mile muncher

Faults:

Rear suspension bushes.

Passenger window regulator.

General Comments:

Overall the Seat Cordoba offers fantastic value for money.

The superb TDi engine offers fantastic fuel economy, 64mpg on motorway run at 60mph, quick acceleration when needed, and reliability, which swallows up the miles on a long journey with ease at low revs.

The SXE spec provides front electric windows and air-con.

The only faults I have had with her are rear suspension bushes. What with the way I have overloaded the boot and rear seats, it is not surprising.

The window regulator rusted and snapped. It is a poorly designed mechanical item in my opinion, and a regular fault item on these cars.

The brakes are decent. The handling quite poor. Front tyres will wear quickly if care is not taken when accelerating from standstill, as wheel-spin occurs easily.

My next car will certainly be a SEAT and have the 1.9 TDi variant engine.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th June, 2008

1998 Seat Cordoba 2.0 SX Coupe 2.0 16v

Summary:

It's a great car, well worth a go in one if you get the chance

Faults:

The power steering belt started to slip in the wet.

General Comments:

This is a great car, it handles pretty well, although it can be a little light at the rear end causing it to spin out in the wet.

It's pretty comfortable, I drive down south quite often and doing a five hour journey is not much trouble at all.

The only gripe about driving position is that the accelerator pedal is at an awkward angle, and makes you ankle ache after a few hours.

Fuel economy for a two liter car is pretty good, until you start to floor it then it disappears pretty rapidly. You can't have it all I suppose. It's very quick when you floor it.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th November, 2005

20th Jan 2013, 08:58

I happen to agree. This particular model is a really good drive for the money. I have only been an official owner for a little over a month, and other than an air flow problem, for a 13 year old car, it will perform well amongst some of the modern popular cars today.

I would however recommend taking it to a track day to fully test the performance, as out on the road, this car will keep giving, the more you ask.

1998 Seat Cordoba SE 1.4 petrol

Summary:

Mostly reliable and well built, but very uncomfortable

Faults:

Clutch cable replaced twice. Cables were always very stiff, and still are.

Clutch cable & gearbox replaced at 80,000 miles (probably as a result of the clutch cable issues).

Spark plug leads replaced at <20,000 miles, due to premature corrosion.

General Comments:

Very reliable in all areas except clutch. Bad clutch cables have resulted in new clutch & gearbox, and generally make driving uncomfortable.

Engine performs well compared to other 1.4 engines.

Seats are very uncomfortable, and cabin space is a bit cramped in the back.

Steering is too heavy.

Grundig radio has lots of features, but poor sound quality - causes speakers to vibrate too much.

Build quality seems quite good, inside and out.

Specification is very basic in the 1.4 SE, but that is reflected in the price.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 17th September, 2004

17th Oct 2006, 06:20

Know what you mean about the clutch, is a very common problem on VW's for the clutch cables to stiffen up, mine was exactly the same and is a pain when swapping between our Cordoba and Peugeot 206, which has an extremely light clutch in comparison, even after we had a new clutch cable fitted on the Cordoba.

Can't really say I have found the steering all that heavy, maybe you might need to get the PAS rack looked at?

Have never found the car uncomfortable at all. In the time I have owned this car I have covered nearly 30,000 miles, a lot of these being quite long journeys and I have never had a problem. As a passenger in my friends Mondeo I got severe backache after an hour (this is on a 51 reg motorway cruiser!) however this is not a problem I have ever suffered in my Cordoba.

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1998 Seat Cordoba Vario SE 1.9 turbo diesel

Summary:

Economic, reliable estate. Quirky but practical

Faults:

Nothing besides normal wear and tear.

General Comments:

A very practical compact estate car, the TDi engine has bucketloads of torque and the mpg return is good.

Not quite as solid as a VW but a hell of a lot cheaper and better spec!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 18th October, 2000