Is the Formentor a reliable car?

[thepiman]

Hi, I went to a showroom a couple of weeks ago to look at a Seat Ateca, but ended up falling in love with the Formentor. Only problem is that I’ve never been an early adopter of new technology and some of the horror stories I’ve read online (including on this forum) have put me off. Before giving up on the Formentor altogether, I thought I would create this poll, to see if we can get some more accurate reliability data, than just anecdotal evidence. Please pass on the link to anybody you know who has ever owned a Formentor.

 

[LetsForment]

Any poll on any specific site is always going to be skewed by the audience and those willing to engage.

I have done 2k miles on a PHEV 2021 in a few weeks of ownership. It's amazing. Go buy it.

Most of my journeys are on the motorway and the 52mpg I seem to be clocking is nice. The DCC is nice, road noise is terrible, infotainment seems ok with the new upgrades.

Also keep in mind that none of the Formentor in the UK are out of warranty yet. You really need 3 to 5 years of post warranty milage to workout how reliable a car is, part availability, dealer and after market traction etc.

 

[Bear]

Hi, I went to a showroom a couple of weeks ago to look at a Seat Ateca, but ended up falling in love with the Formentor. Only problem is that I’ve never been an early adopter of new technology and some of the horror stories I’ve read online (including on this forum) have put me off. Before giving up on the Formentor altogether, I thought I would create this poll, to see if we can get some more accurate reliability data, than just anecdotal evidence. Please pass on the link to anybody you know who has ever owned a Formentor.

Hi Piman

I ordered my VZ2 310 in June 2021 and had it delivered in March last year, so have had it almost a year. I've done 7000 completely and utterly untroubled miles (not including a flat tyre which SEAT Driverline had sorted within the hour). No gliches in the infotainment software. Nothing to complain about whatsoever.
I suppose I could wish for better fuel economy but if I'm not pootling to the shops, the car brings out the boy racer in me and I 'clear its pipes' (as my old man used to say) at least a few times a week! My missus also likes to give it some beans too and absolutely loves it!
It is, without a doubt, the best motor I've had. As I've said before, there will be people in here who will have nothing but bad things to say about their Formentors, but that is what these forums are primarily for I suppose - sorting out issues and problems. Not many people will simply say 'my car is fackin' brilliant', as that is how things should be, but I know that there are people who drive top-end motors worth over £100k who will have complaints about them. Even Rolls Royces break down.
If you get one, and enjoy it as much as I have mine, you will be a happy boy.
B x

 

[thepiman]

Any poll on any specific site is always going to be skewed by the audience and those willing to engage.

I have done 2k miles on a PHEV 2021 in a few weeks of ownership. It's amazing. Go buy it.

Most of my journeys are on the motorway and the 52mpg I seem to be clocking is nice. The DCC is nice, road noise is terrible, infotainment seems ok with the new upgrades.

Also keep in mind that none of the Formentor in the UK are out of warranty yet. You really need 3 to 5 years of post warranty milage to workout how reliable a car is, part availability, dealer and after market traction etc.

Thanks, yes I agree this won’t be very scientific. But I guess if this poll goes on for long enough (I didn’t put an end date on it) it could eventually have 1000 or so yes or nos.

 

[Peyton]

I've done 20 000 miles - no reliability issues.

I did get a few niggles with the infotainment - rarely it restarts or some other minor thing happens, but the car works fine.

From the Croatian forums I follow, most people have no major issues. Silent majority.

 

[DEAN0]

In general - my V2 has been trouble free.
But - the two weeks it spent in the dealers trying to find an electrical issue ( lots of warning lights within 5 mins of starting the car ) were frustrating.
And the random infotainment reboots when driving are an anoyance.

Is it generally reliable - YES
Would I want one out of warranty - NO

 

[Secretagent]

I've had mine for almost three months now, yes it's had the infotainment niggles that seem to occur the following day after I've been scrolling through the menus randomly in the evening, we joke to each other about how it will behave on start up in the morning but nothing serious in fact it's recently been behaving quite well, yes we love the car, no squeaks or rattles and great performance if that's what you want?

 

[thepiman]

The DCC is nice, road noise is terrible, infotainment seems ok with the new upgrades.

... great performance if that's what you want?

I'd love to go for one of the more powerful engines, but I've always been fond of manuals and am not willing to treat my allergy to automatics just yet. The most powerful manual I can get is the 1.5L 150 hp. This will be fractionally nippier than my current car (a ford focus 1.0 ecoboost) and 0.4 secs quicker than the equivalent engine in the Seat Ateca, which is the other car I'm considering.

 

[Doogle]

Hi, I went to a showroom a couple of weeks ago to look at a Seat Ateca, but ended up falling in love with the Formentor. Only problem is that I’ve never been an early adopter of new technology and some of the horror stories I’ve read online (including on this forum) have put me off. Before giving up on the Formentor altogether, I thought I would create this poll, to see if we can get some more accurate reliability data, than just anecdotal evidence. Please pass on the link to anybody you know who has ever owned a Formentor.

Had mine around 7 months from new (1.5dsg V2) love the car, yes the infotainment could (Without doubt) be better, more reliable, BUT that said you get a LOT of car, even the “Poverty entry” models like mine, lovely to drive and hopefully mechanically reliable, I got mine knowing about the comments and views on here and while some I feel are warranted (Infotainment) some I feel are over egged at time’s particularly the driving assistants but that’s just my opinion, see if you can get a test drive and see for yourself, I still love driving the car and have had a few compliments on it’s looks, try not to let some of the negativity on here put you totally off what is still an extremely nice vehicle

 

[/dev/null]

I'd say mechanically, yes. Infotainment system - you must be joking

 

[ozzrahog]

I'd say mechanically, yes. Infotainment system - you must be joking

This, unfortunately so much of the systems rely on the infotainment system that it makes the car a frustrating mess.

 

[/dev/null]

This, unfortunately so much of the systems rely on the infotainment system that it makes the car a frustrating mess.

I can honestly say if it weren't for the pathetic excuse of an infotainment system, the car would be fantastic. But it completely ruins it. Definitely won't be buying another Cupra when this one goes back. I'll pay the extra few grand for an Audi.

 

[ozzrahog]

I can honestly say if it weren't for the pathetic excuse of an infotainment system, the car would be fantastic. But it completely ruins it. Definitely won't be buying another Cupra when this one goes back. I'll pay the extra few grand for an Audi.

Tbh the software is spread across the VAG not touching anything they produce in this generation

 

[/dev/null]

That's a shame. My two previous Audis (66 plate A4 and 62 plate A3) entertainment systems were flawless. Not as much in them compared to the modern offering obviously, but Cupra can't even get the basic tried and tested stuff right it seems.

 

[SRGTD]

Tbh the software is spread across the VAG not touching anything they produce in this generation

Me neither.

That's a shame. My two previous Audis (66 plate A4 and 62 plate A3) entertainment systems were flawless. Not as much in them compared to the modern offering obviously, but Cupra can't even get the basic tried and tested stuff right it seems.

Agree, it is a shame. Dynamically, many of the current generation of VAG cars are very good, let down by substandard software and infotainment systems. I personally couldn’t live with a car that requires multiple trips back and forth to the dealership to investigate issues and attempt fixes, when neither the dealers nor VAG seem to know how to fix some of the issues.

Let’s hope things improve with the next generation cars.

 

[Secretagent]

Just when I thought things had settled down with the infotainment system this afternoon I decided to wash the car then as it was good weather I dried it. I opened the driver's door and the alarm goes off and the rear passenger windows go down a few inches, no way can I cancel the alarm.
I was just about to lift the bonnet and disconnect the battery when it stopped, my God it's one thing after another.

 

[LetsForment]

Haha.much fun to be had trying to disconnect the battery on the phev !

 

[Doogle]

Just when I thought things had settled down with the infotainment system this afternoon I decided to wash the car then as it was good weather I dried it. I opened the driver's door and the alarm goes off and the rear passenger windows go down a few inches, no way can I cancel the alarm.
I was just about to lift the bonnet and disconnect the battery when it stopped, my God it's one thing after another.

 

[Gregums]

I've been an owner for 26 months, VZ Edition and covered just shy of 19000 miles (I think I would have covered more, but you'll see why later). No reliability issues with the car itself, as an example of automotive engineering, its amazing. However, throughout my ownership I have had numerous software glitches, issues and frustrations. Most have been relatively minor and the Forum has been a source of assurance that updates were coming and resolving things, but the most recent 'recall' in November took a massive turn for the worse.

In a nutshell, the 'upgrade and recall' completely screwed the software. On collecting the vehicle, all software settings had defaulted to factory - bit of a pain, but easy to work through, but then strange things started happening, from sensors failing and unfailing, the sunroof blind closing and opening, keyless entry not working and then working, through to a very scary full system crash whilst moving - this rendered the centre display blank and numerous alarms on the instrument cluster, as all systems that rely on the centre screen failed (blind spot monitoring, lane detection, crash detection, ACC etc., plus no SatNav, Phone, Audio etc.). I've experienced this 'crash' three times and it gets more scary each time.

The car has been back three times for resolution, but without success. I contacted Cupra who promised to support, but they went quiet for over a month, turns out their CRM software was swapped out late Jan and they couldn't see anything and couldn't respond or call - how ironic!! Cupra Spain have been contacted for support by the Dealer, still no response 5 weeks later.

So I guess if you have a 'good one' from a software perspective, then great, you can look forward to an outstanding car. If you get one (of the seemingly many) with software issues, you're in for an 'interesting' ownership experience and I would suggest you can't rely on Cupra Customer Services, or Cupra Spain. Hope you have the former, if you do get any software problems, I suggest you reject the car as soon as you can. I have forgiven failings far too many times with my car, but I suspect that is down to the car being great, when it all works. Also, the local Dealer (Fish Bros, Swindon) have been outstanding, despite their lack of support from Cupra, so a small positive. I won't be owning a VW Group car any time soon and I'm currently looking at what I can replace my Formentor with.

I'm also still awaiting a replacement engine cover, removed as per the safety recall last summer. Cupra can't even resolve this in a reasonable timescale, and they can't blame the lack of semiconductors as they just need to redesign the fixings so it can't come loose!

As an aside, according to Cupra Customer Services, Forums like this one are just full of a noisy 'minority' and should be avoided/disregarded!

Good luck with your new car and I sincerely hope you avoid the software minefield

 

[Gregums]

That's a shame. My two previous Audis (66 plate A4 and 62 plate A3) entertainment systems were flawless. Not as much in them compared to the modern offering obviously, but Cupra can't even get the basic tried and tested stuff right it seems.

I'd be wary of any VW group car, Audis and VWs have had many similar problems, only difference appears to be the Customer Support from Audi? Check out the forums like this one for Audis and you'll see similar software themes. I'm currently looking at what I get next as I can't see me owning a Cupra out of warranty and avoiding anything VW/Audi/Skoda/SEAT/Cupra, which narrows down the field a bit, particularly matching the spec on my VZ Edition