Are Seats sh*t?

[jpcibiza90]

iv had my ibiza about 3 months, i thought it was mint untill, i lost 5th gear, a gearbox seal is leaking, my central locking doesnt work i have to unlock it by key and have about 10 seconds to put my key in the ignition before the alarm goes off and my one of my seats a cable snapped so it doesnt fold anymore!
all these problems on a 02 ibiza sport with 32k on the clock did the previous owners thrash the **** out of it or are seats crap?

 

[Poverty]

iv had my ibiza about 3 months, i thought it was mint untill, i lost 5th gear, a gearbox seal is leaking, my central locking doesnt work i have to unlock it by key and have about 10 seconds to put my key in the ignition before the alarm goes off and my one of my seats a cable snapped so it doesnt fold anymore!
all these problems on a 02 ibiza sport with 32k on the clock did the previous owners thrash the **** out of it or are seats crap?

previous owner probably didnt look after it well.

 

[Nath.]

I would check the mileage mate. Either it's had a herd life or it's been clocked. Is there a polished look to the steering wheel,gear knob or pedal rubbers?

An 02 reg car could very easy have 130k on the clock

 

[jpcibiza90]

oh and my starter motor makes a right stupid noise and takes a few times to start somtimes AND my epc light came on today but it drives like it normal,

 

[jpcibiza90]

erm no not really doesnt look to be much wear on the car to be honest, the 2 previous owners must have been abit like the stig, plus i dont really drive it too kindly myself somtimes

 

[jpcibiza90]

id get rid and get a ibiza tdi or somthin but i still have 1500 to pay off the ******* thing on my credit card! silly little 19year old rushing into buying a car! should have kept my w reg 106 that i knew had only done 31k because i was the 2nd owner!

 

[jpcibiza90]

haha it censored* a word in there automatically lol cool, it says BAR STEWARD if you wanted to know

 

[veezee]

id get rid and get a ibiza tdi or somthin but i still have 1500 to pay off the ******* thing on my credit card! silly little 19year old rushing into buying a car! should have kept my w reg 106 that i knew had only done 31k because i was the 2nd owner!

All I can say is, I was an impatient 18 year old when I got mine, 3 days after I passed - mines an 02 1.2S, now at 41000 miles (36000 when I got it) and had no technical trouble with it at all. And yeah, mine isn't always treated too kindly. It's the same with most manufacturers - there are bad examples within every model.

As for the comment about the 106...ewwwww.

 

[jpcibiza90]

my 106 was pretty good, 1st car first love i guess, i used to rag the crap out of it n it loved it! i was thinking because my cars the 1st year they did that shape so im sure thers a few faults and probably hasnt been called back because its not done many miles and been treated well untill i got my grubby little hands on it

 

[cupra.al]

like veezee said theres always bad examples for any car some are great no faults and some just love going back to the garage if your cars one and its been abused theres your answer.not to mention its the first year of its shape id never buy the first model as they can let you down big time.

 

[jpcibiza90]

suppose im glad to realise that mistake before i buy a car thats worth more

 

[cupra.al]

the only way to learn is to make mistakes.

 

[krussel]

suppose im glad to realise that mistake before i buy a car thats worth more

Weve all been there at some time.

My first car (Truimph stag) was a looker but a total wreck, auto gearbox, diff, propshaft, driveshaft etc all shot to smelly sticky stuff. I took it to a local garage to see if they could fix the terrible viberation i was getting at 45 mph and they told me to scrap it, laughing as they did. All my mates took the pi** i had no real money to chuck at it to get it fixed so i drove it all summer slowly (it was a convertable) and in the winter i bought a Haynes manual and set about putting a few things right.
I d never really got it 100% right and i sold it 3 years later and i am sure i made a bad loss BUT i learned loads at an early age and over the years its paid me back many times.

If you like the car why not have a go at sorting some of the problems out yourself. People on here can be a great help. If your not so keen clean it up and pass it on for what you can get back but more importantly taking what you have learned with you, for your next car.

Can be a hard but you live and you learn. Best luck mate.

 

[ScottHmk4]

My 02 plate had only done 16400 when I got it over a year ago, Now it's at about 24000 I think

 

[wisejason]

I think that it would be fair to say that SEAT's build quality/quality control is very average. The 15 year old Corrolla I had before the LC had less rattles/squeaks... but it has only become noticable in the cold weather.

Roll on the summer....

 

[glynnd]

A corolla built 15 years ago, built in the land of the rising sun! Well they dont make cars like that anymore Toyota included. My leon is on 143k and 04 plate. Only broke down once when the turbo failed. That aside its been fine, only needing to replace the normal wear and tear stuff. I had a corolla tsport before the leon, the clutch was crap and the bearings went in the gearbox at less than 50k. Went well though, I bought it as I used to be a bm in a toyota garage and had 5 as demo's. The leon is the best car I have owned personally and could not get rid of it, it would break my heart!
Glynn

 

[markthommo_84]

my brothers 02 plate 1.2, previously my mothers, is creeping up to 100k and its absolutely faultless. paintwork and everything seem good. Its for sale at the moment actually, and cheap if you ask me.

i think its had 3/4 owners, 2 of them in my family, so they must have all looked after it pretty well.

he's keeping an eye out for a newer FR than mine just so he can go one better!!


seems strange yours is causing you problems. like someone said you do get unlucky cars that seem to go wrong more than others. i remember years ago my dad used to be a volvo man and he'd always wanted a 440 (Sporty looking one at the time) and he finally got one, spent a bit of money on it too... and it was absolutely awful. Leaked water into it, stuff blew up, heating stopped working, seemed unlucky enough to have two punctures within a few days. luckily he's a mechanic so he fixed it up and sold it on within about 4 months of hving it...but he never went back to Volvos.

just hope you don't get put off by Seats because of this car. As most of them are lovely cars!!

 

[beezanick]

To answer the thread question - no. I only had to get three of them in a year to find one without electrical faults which couldnt be fixed But like all cars, some are good and some arnt. Its all down to luck. But I love the drive of them, which is why I keep buying seats. Its a bit like alfaromeo i suppose?

 

[JohnS]

Had 9 Seats over the last 12 years, 3Ibizas,2 Cordobas, 2 Arosas Mk1 Leon and an Altea and only had 2 real problems, A sensor went on an Arosa and had to have a loan car under the warranty and a speedo cable failed on one of the Cordobas, again fixed under warranty. If they were sh*** I wouldn't have kept buying them. When I bought a Picasso instead of a Seat,I had nothing but trouble with it for two years, it always seemed to be going in for something, alternators, lcd displays failing three times, couple of recalls, engine mountings failing, and the build quality wasn't a patch on the Seat. Traded it in for a Leon Mk1 and enjoyed two years trouble free motoringbefore changing to an Altea 1.9tdi Ref Sport in Jan 2006. Best car we've had.
I am a shift worker on a chemical complex just outside of Middlesbrough so need a reliable car, whatever the weather in the winter none of the Seats have let me down and we get some pretty extreme weather during the winter months. If they are looked after they'll look after you, I have a suspicion yours might have been thrashed over the years. If you need to change bits there are always the breakers yards and specialist independant VW parts suppliers that supply any part you require for less than the dealers ask. You never know you might get the bug and start bigger custom projects.
Hope you sort it out.

 

[markthommo_84]

JohnS

would you be John from round the corner? haha.

Mark