USED Seat Altea Hatchback (04 - )

My car

Our car was 5 months old when we informed dealer that was October 05, we are now at June 06 (within this period of time the car has also had to be towed twice by the AA to a SEAT garage )and we have had to take our car and its problems to an APPROVED SEAT dealer in Uddingston where it has had a new alternator, twice had renewed seat belt b post covers (we have been told this is a problem on all Altea's?) and re-wiring of managment system, heat sheild has had to be secured and is now booked in for the 11th time for a possible blowing exhaust!

this has been inconvenient,costly (£300-£400 on fueling our own and courtesy cars not to mention time of work) yet Arnold clark say they will not replace/refund or compensate because or problems have not been excessive enough! how many times warrant an excessive ammount? before we experienced any difficulties we were very impressed with the altea, but not now!

My car

What a great car. For a small family it is wonderfully suited. Lots of little smart extras all over the car. Size of car is very decieving. Lots of leg room and a fare gap between driver and passenger.

Having the DSG gearbox is a dream. Out guns most vehicles from a standstill. Just sit back and let the car do all the work for you.

Boot size and design is very good. The foldaway boot shelf is very clever. For a deisel its very quiet and not to hard a drive being as its the sport model. Its a shame i only have this car for a short time (company car) but would deffinately purchase it privately if given the chance. It will be a shame to let it it go. Would deffinately reccomend to anybody.

My car

This is my wife's new car, which we share. I think on the whole she made an excellent choice. She did consider a Focus C-Max and Toyota Verso, which were both a little more expensive.

The Altea is a very good car, and is practical and very sporty. The engine is a peach, with masses of torque and acceleration. Through the gears it feels very quick and composed. The gearbox is precise and positive. It's still early to comment on fuel economy, but 40mpg is easily achievable.

Build quality seems excellent so far, with no niggly rattles yet, which some of my other vehicles suffer from.

Equipment levels are very good, all the toys are here. She opted for rear parking sensors and I insisted on the larger 17-inch wheels. Ride quality is on firm side of sporty and there can be a little tire roar.

Only the CD/Radio player seems to spoil the package - it seems to be all or nothing on the volume side. However, it could be a set-up thing - I need to look further into it.

Overall, I'd give four stars for the Altea. If you are looking for a mini-MPV, give it the once-over - you might be suprised!

My car

I have just purchased a brand new, metallic black Altea during Seat's Revolution Week (January 2006) and managed to scoop a whopping £2000 discount as a result (thank you, Seat).

I'd anticipated a painful separation from my beloved 16V Polo, however the Altea gives a pretty thrilling ride and stood out a mile from the other cars I test-drove. Reviews of the Altea also seem to hold up very well against my alternative choices (VW Golf and Mercedes A-Class). Having now taken the plunge, I'm still surprised at how much bigger a bang I got for my buck.

I have absolutely no complaints - the car has a smooth, comfy ride, a spacious cabin, six-channel stereo, alarm and a plethora of safety features. It's also nice to also see VW's very decent traction control bundled in, too. The superb VW/Audi-group build quality is evident all round and - surprise, surprise - it's a bit of a looker.

A great buy.