Just Bought a 1.6 TDI

[SecretWeapon]

Well, after considering an Ibiza for over 12 months now, I today put down a deposit on a 59 plate 1.6 TDI.

It was a really hard choice, as I've read an awful lot about the fuel consumption issues which people have faced with this this particular engine. During my test drive, the average meter read out 38mpg at the start of the short trip, and 42mpg at the end of it - which didn't fill me with confidence. I sort of re-assured myself with the fact that it was a road full of traffic lights and it was still climbing... although in hindsight it'd probably have been better if I'd took the time to figure out how to reset it before setting off!

Anyway, I know that on here a few people have claimed 50-55mpg and to be honest I'd be pretty happy with that. As soon as I got home from making the purchase I read the comments on this article though, which have put a bit of a downer on things really.

If only I knew I'd be getting over 50mpg, I'd be able to be totally happy. My current clio gets up to 47mpg, and that's a 1.4 petrol claiming a modest 42mpg on the combined cycle.

If you're wondering why I went for this model even after knowing about the potential problems, it's simply because the petrol engines receive lacklustre reviews and don't have great consumption themselves, apart from the 1.2TSI which is too new for me to afford.

I took some pictures on my phone before I left, and I do love how it looks in red. Managed to get them to swap the alloys from another one they had in too - so it'll have the 17" Saga ones on .

I'll be sure to report all of my findings anyway! In the meantime if any 1.6 owners who do get decent fuel consumption would like to reassure me I've made a good choice - please feel free!

 

[J400uk]

Looks good

I'd have probably gone for similar if I had a bigger budget, I really don't rate the 1.4 petrol in mine after living with it for a couple of months. It's a shame SEAT didn't put the TSIs and CR TDIs in from the start.

 

[Theowls88]

Dont believe all the moaners on here mate. If you drive the Ibiza sensiblly then you can get good returns. Im averaging over 600 miles to a tank now im taking it more steady which is pretty good from a 40ltr tank. Thats by doing 65 on the motorway rather than 70+ mainly, but if you can live with that then you are laughing! Even if i decide to boot the thing around for a while i still achieve nearly 500miles to a tank

 

[Biker]

I have the exact same model as you have just bought, even the same colour. Whilst there are some people who are suffering poor economy, I am more than happy with mine. Normal urban driving always returns around the 60mpg mark. The best I have seen over a full tank of fuel is 72mpg, that was mainly motorway driving.
I regularly see over 70mpg for single journesys, if the conditions are favourable. Below is a picture of the fuel computer after my commute to work this morning........

Pretty happy with that.......

 

[Trotski]

700 miles from new, getting about 52 mpg at the moment but that's mainly short trips of 15 miles (ish)

 

[Chemical Al]

if your not sure about it mate, get and have a longer test drive to put your mind at rest. after all, its your hard earned cash buying the car last thing you want is a "lemon". and if the garage wont let you then tell them they will loose the sale.

if you get a good one, then you wont be dissapointed with the mpg, i get similar figures to Biker on a ver regular basis

 

[Trotski]

if you do go back and look, remember there are TWO trip computers, one is short term, the other is longer, that would hold data from more than one trip, to switch between the two just lightly press the bottom button on the right hand "stalk"

 

[SecretWeapon]

if you do go back and look, remember there are TWO trip computers, one is short term, the other is longer, that would hold data from more than one trip, to switch between the two just lightly press the bottom button on the right hand "stalk"

How long is the reading on the second screen for exactly? Only I did fiddle around and think I did change screens, but it didn't really make much difference - I think both were in the 38-42mpg range. If I knew that one of those screens was like the last 1000 miles, that would worry me.

 

[J400uk]

The long term one only resets if you tell it to, the short term memory is every 2 hours IIRC.

 

[SecretWeapon]

The long term one only resets if you tell it to, the short term memory is every 2 hours IIRC.

Ah right thanks, so I guess there's still no real way of knowing if the figures are worth worrying about...

 

[Ibiza06]

I wonder if the 70mpg figure is do-able in the fr's 2.0 tdi??

 

[skeat12]

I wonder if the 70mpg figure is do-able in the fr's 2.0 tdi??

Not even close so far.

 

[Biker]

Only I did fiddle around and think I did change screens, but it didn't really make much difference - I think both were in the 38-42mpg range.

If both displays were reading roughly the same, that suggests to me they had been reset and were both reflecting solely your journey. If the test drive was quite short and you were in heavy traffic and probably a cold engine also, I wouldn't get myself too concerned about 42mpg.
If you are bothered go back and have another test drive. If your not convinced at least the worst case is you may lose your deposit.

Personally I think it will be fine.

 

[allh2k]

What types of commutes/drives do you do?

Most ppl who get bad mpg dont drive a diesel far enough to get the best mpg

 

[SecretWeapon]

If both displays were reading roughly the same, that suggests to me they had been reset and were both reflecting solely your journey. If the test drive was quite short and you were in heavy traffic and probably a cold engine also, I wouldn't get myself too concerned about 42mpg.
If you are bothered go back and have another test drive. If your not convinced at least the worst case is you may lose your deposit.

Personally I think it will be fine.

I probably won't go back now to be honest... I only put £150 down today to secure the deal but that'd sort a good couple of tanks of fuel in itself!

Hopefully you're right... I think the average on both screens was changing fairly often anyway, which I guess wouldn't be the case for the 'since last reset' screen if that was done ages ago.

I'll certainly report back once I've got the car to let everyone know! Keeping everything crossed for now...

 

[SecretWeapon]

What types of commutes/drives do you do?

Most ppl who get bad mpg dont drive a diesel far enough to get the best mpg

I have a 28 mile journey to work each day which consists of a 7 mile stretch of duel carriageway and then a mixture of 40mph/60mph A roads with little traffic on them. Before my current job my petrol car did 38mpg, and on this route it does 45mpg - so it's certainly suited that car! I hope it's not a bad journey for a diesel either...

 

[allh2k]

Sounds good

Diesels take longer to heat up it can be 10-15 mins which can be most of a journey

I have 16 miles and can either mway or A road but i cant stick to 60 on the mway

 

[rji]

Dont believe all the moaners on here mate. If you drive the Ibiza sensiblly then you can get good returns. Im averaging over 600 miles to a tank now im taking it more steady which is pretty good from a 40ltr tank. Thats by doing 65 on the motorway rather than 70+ mainly, but if you can live with that then you are laughing! Even if i decide to boot the thing around for a while i still achieve nearly 500miles to a tank

Hi SecretWeapon, I'm one of the moaners on this site. I hope your Ibiza turns out to be as good as the ones that Theowls88 and Biker have.

It is not possible to get anywhere near decent economy in ours. For 12 days now we have been driving a SEAT Alhambra 2.0 TDI Ecomotive as a courtesy car while ours is being looked at again.

The ALHAMBRA got 66 mpg at 60 mph over 70 miles. That's 8.4 mpg more than the Extra Urban. It gets around 59 mpg at 65 mph. That's still more than the Extra Urban. It has returned an average of 54.8 mpg over more than 1k miles. That's 4.4 mpg more than the Combined Cycle. The mpg figures are quoted from the Trip Computer display.

If a car the size and weight of the 7 seater Alhambra can easily exceed it's own official figures there is no reason why the Ibiza shouldn't do the same. It's not the way it's driven and it's not the type of journeys that we do - it's a serious problem with the car that SEAT cannot identify or correct. So they refuse to accept that it has a problem.

The new VW TDI engines really are very economical - if they are running right.

SecretWeapon if your Clio exceeded its Combined Cycle then your Ibiza should do the same. The Combined Cycle for the Ibiza is about 23 mpg higher than your Clio.

If you are buying a car for it's fuel economy then you should make sure what your going to get. We bought the car new so we couldn't test it but when buying a used car you can. Ask to take it on an extended test drive and check it properly.

I hope it's a good one. Let us know how it performs.

 

[craig247]

had mine since march done 5000 miles and also do a 28 mile run to work going on a roads at 60mph with a few towns, plus going through milton keynes, lots of stopping and starting at roundabouts, and mine has been amazing can easily get a good 60-65 mpg each way

 

[Stebb]

Hi,
I've got to agree with most on the list: 35 miles each way each day and I have to be trying really hard to get under 50mpg on the trip computer. BTW, the second display maintains a rolling average from the last 2000 miles: it will never appear to reset unless you force it.

It is true what the guys say however, if you want to get over 60mpg you need to bring the speed down under 70mph, makes sense really.

Post us some pictures with your 17" alloys on!