Faults:

New gear box at 20,000. Still have a smell of burning when in crawling traffic in 2nd gear or going uphill.

Drivers window failed at 36,000.

Timing chain has just snapped (whilst 280 miles from home), needing new engine. Waiting from Seat HQ to comment and recommend contributing to cost, as I and am unable to afford repair, and only 6 months out of warranty.

How come, reading all the previous comments, this car won Car of the Year the year I bought it?

Faults:

Front off-side wheel bearing - fixed promptly under warranty.

General Comments:

Bought the car after being messed around by a dealer on a Fiat Stilo Sport - how glad am I!!

Never been a huge fan of diesels in the past, but the torque oozing 130Bhp unit pushing a car this size is nothing short of breath taking, in fact, I find it very hard to stick to the speed limit.

The wheel bearing did problem make the car quite noisy and a little hard to turn, but now its fixed the handling is superb.

30-40 Mpg with hot-hatch power. Wait until the rev's hit around 1500rpm and hear the turbo kick in, then just let it pin you to your seat!

Not quite the usual VW/Audi quality interior however it does share the same layout - but for the price, it provides plenty of bang-for-the-buck thrills!

Faults:

Not had it long enough for anything to have had anything go wrong.

General Comments:

This is a first impression of the Seat Ibiza.

Good points:

The car holds the road well and feels stable.

The gearbox is smooth and the clutch is light.

Fuel economy is good.

Bad Points:

The power steering is too sensitive.

The car comes with only a single wireless remote key; a standard key is also supplied.

Unlocking the car with the standard key sets the alarm off briefly sometimes, even if the ignition is turned on immediately.

The worst problem with the car is the amount of road noise - even at relatively low speeds it is noticeable.

Faults:

The offside front indicator had fogged with moisture that had entered the unit.

The drivers door internal trim panel rattled constantly from purchase.

Both fault rectified quickly and under warranty by local dealer.

General Comments:

The car looks very stylish and this model is still a fairly rare sight on UK roads, which means that you can stand out from the crowd.

This car represents a fantastic compromise between performance and economy. Rapid acceleration is available in any gear, but 50 mpg is achievable on long journeys.

Insurance is also manageable, for this model it is Group 7, which compares favourably with 13 for the Golf Mk4 with the same engine and similar performance, which makes it an ideal buy for the younger buyer.

Tyres can prove fairly expensive if you want to replace with top brand, due to the 205/45 R16 low profile.