I was sad to see this car go! It took me to Scotland and back, up to Birmingham, sight-seeing and was my faithful friend that never put a foot wrong. From delivery mileage until time of saying goodbye at around 8000 odd miles, it was a great car.
It was of the first face lifted Ibiza’s on site at Crawley Down Group and I was given the chance to use it. With its new look and updated interior over the previous model, I was looking forward to seeing how much SEAT had improved it.
The 1.6 TDI 105PS engine is pretty effortless in such a lightweight car. Around town averaging 40mpg is respectable enough and on long runs, you were seeing between very high 50’s and low 60’s. Great fuel consumption. It pulls very well from around 1,200rpm where the torque of the engine is very apparent and it makes driving the Ibiza easy.
The interior is well laid out with everything within reach and the dashboard aimed towards the driver. I really liked the illumination of the dials; the red and white worked really well and felt somewhat upmarket and a nice touch. The seats are comfy although I would have preferred a little more support around my back. I prefer to sit in a seat as opposed to sit on one.
The stereo main control is situated on the right hand side of the unit which takes a little bit of getting used to but feels right when you have adapted. It has MP3 capabilities as well so loading up a CD full of mp3 songs is a great way of listening to music whilst on the go especially when you can fit something like 150+ songs on one disc!
I drove this car a fair distance and on some long runs. The distance to my arrival in Scotland from my home in Crawley is around 480 miles. I had to give up before the Ibiza gave up! I arrived still having a quarter of a tank of diesel left! Fantastic! Albeit quite tired though!
It’s for all the little and small reasons why I liked the Ibiza. It never appeared to be phased by anything thrown its way, no matter the size. Being able to fit 2 pushchairs in the boot, 2 kids and 3 adults is no easy task but it managed it, just!
The only thing missing from it was character. I like cars to feel like they have a soul and unfortunately the Ibiza didn’t. However, it made up for this in many other ways. As a car to use on a day to day basis, I couldn’t fault it. It delivered every time and with ease. I don’t know how the petrol version would be but in diesel form, the Ibiza is very reliable and easy to use.