Introduction
What Car? says...
The Seat Ateca broke new ground when it was launched; until that point, the Spanish brand had built as many SUVs as it had spaceships – it hadn’t built any spaceships, just to be clear. So Seat was more than fashionably late to the SUV party, but it turned up with an absolute belter.
Along with its Volkswagen Group cousin, the Skoda Karoq, the Seat Ateca owes much of its success to solid foundations. How so? Well, it's built on the same underpinnings as the more expensive Volkswagen Tiguan and, as a result, shares most of that car's important oily bits.
FAQs
The Seat Ateca was ranked 18th out of 28 family SUV models in our 2021 What Car? Reliability Survey, which is not a great result. Seat’s position in the brand rankings tells a similar story: it came 17th out of 30 car makers. The Ateca comes with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty. Most manufacturers offer similar cover, but Hyundai and Kia warranties are much longer. Read more here
The Ateca is not available as an electric car, but you can get it with very mild hybrid assistance, which offers very marginal efficiency gains. The Ateca’s petrol and diesel engines are relatively efficient in the real world, but if you’re committed to electric savings, rival family SUVs from Hyundai, Kia and Peugeot are more likely to appeal. Read more here
The Ateca’s 1.5 TSI EVO engine provides the best blend of performance and economy in our opinion, building speed from low revs in any gear, but still officially returning around 45mpg. We recommend sticking with the entry-level SE trim level. It offers great value for money, with highlights including cruise control, dual-zone climate control and 17in alloy wheels. Read more here
The Seat Ateca SE is the entry-level model – and also our favourite because it offers a strong amount of kit for an appealing price. Highlights include metallic paint and 17in alloy wheels, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and four USB-C sockets. FR is designed to look sportier inside and out, and includes privacy glass, body-coloured wheel arches and more. Read more here
The Ateca did very well in its Euro NCAP safety appraisal, scoring five stars overall. However, that was in 2016, and standards have become tougher since then, so it’s hard to directly compare it with newer rivals. If you want to make sure your Ateca has the latest safety kit, you’ll have to go for the high-end Xperience trim level, because you can’t spec safety features separately. Read more here
The Seat Ateca’s 510-litre boot (or 485 litres if you have four-wheel drive) is marginally bigger than the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage boots. Perhaps more importantly, it’s a good square shape, with a wide aperture for loading broader items, although you can’t have a height-adjustable floor, as you can in some rivals. We managed to fit eight carry-on suitcases into the Ateca’s boot, while the Skoda Karoq managed nine. Read more here
| RRP price range | £26,085 - £38,135 |
|---|---|
| Number of trims (see all) | 6 |
| Number of engines (see all) | 5 |
| Available fuel types (which is best for you?) | diesel, petrol |
| MPG range across all versions | 34.9 - 58.9 |
| Available doors options | 5 |
| Company car tax at 20% (min/max) | £1,600 / £2,748 |
| Company car tax at 40% (min/max) | £3,199 / £5,496 |
| Available colours |
