Seat Ibiza PD130 - 2005? - Talk To Me........
Discussion
No problems with the interior of my Cordoba PD 130. Now on 160k miles.
Engine-wise - plenty of power, but a very small torque range. I have become increasingly irked over the 7 years I have owned it by the fact that unless you have over 1900 rpm on, it bogs down and falls quickly off the power band. I understand this is a characteristic of the PD engines. 70mph in 6th equates to just about 1800rpm, so it is a bit of pain on long runs. Generally I get an indicated 60mpg or so on the mainly dual carriage way driving, which I reckon is about 10% optimistic. I do 25 miles or so each way to work.
Recently, my compressor clutch has failed and last year the heater matrix pipes split. They appear to have split again this year as I had no coolant left in the reservoir again last night. When the clutch seal went in May, the garage told me it was a gearbox out job as the clutch is built into the gearbox.
Its been a really useful workhorse for all the miles I had to do over the past few years. It had been generally reliable with only servicing (until it stood for a year while I was in the US), but I found the cabin a bit too small, it feels pretty basic inside with lots of hard plastic, the engine can be a pain having to live within its torque band. Overally I think my next car (whcih is imminent if the garage have the same trouble fixing the matrix leak again) will be petrol - I just prefer the power delivery
Engine-wise - plenty of power, but a very small torque range. I have become increasingly irked over the 7 years I have owned it by the fact that unless you have over 1900 rpm on, it bogs down and falls quickly off the power band. I understand this is a characteristic of the PD engines. 70mph in 6th equates to just about 1800rpm, so it is a bit of pain on long runs. Generally I get an indicated 60mpg or so on the mainly dual carriage way driving, which I reckon is about 10% optimistic. I do 25 miles or so each way to work.
Recently, my compressor clutch has failed and last year the heater matrix pipes split. They appear to have split again this year as I had no coolant left in the reservoir again last night. When the clutch seal went in May, the garage told me it was a gearbox out job as the clutch is built into the gearbox.
Its been a really useful workhorse for all the miles I had to do over the past few years. It had been generally reliable with only servicing (until it stood for a year while I was in the US), but I found the cabin a bit too small, it feels pretty basic inside with lots of hard plastic, the engine can be a pain having to live within its torque band. Overally I think my next car (whcih is imminent if the garage have the same trouble fixing the matrix leak again) will be petrol - I just prefer the power delivery
Agree on the interior front. I had an Ibiza Cupra TDi and I had to replace the glovebox lid 3 times. You only needed to breath on an interior plastic and it would scratch! Upside is that the interior plastics are cheap to buy though and I would pick one over a VRS.
Thoughts? Puts a smile on your face but more for the reason there is so much torque and scrabbling for grip rather than fun handling. Certainly wouldn't put me off buying another though.
Thoughts? Puts a smile on your face but more for the reason there is so much torque and scrabbling for grip rather than fun handling. Certainly wouldn't put me off buying another though.
We had a late 2004 1.2S in the family, so completely different engine, but otherwise similar.
Bits did drop off - the front cup holder broke (but still opened and closed OK), the rear cupholder and the small cover around the hatch latch never fitted properly so would stay in place. Ours had manual heater controls and if the were pulled then the would disconnect from their cables - I think this happens if you change the airflow direction against the fan while it's on a high speed. I was always able to push them back together again. Never had the glovebox break though.
One thing that's a complete nightmare on these cars is the rear windscreen washer line freezing and popping apart at the various places it uses connectors, some of which are in *very* awkward positions. Make sure the rear washer works and use tons of additive in it in winter.
All the front suspension bushes and drop links are a bit of weakness on this VW platform so budget a few hundred for getting them changed and the alignment done if they haven't been done recently.
If the model is a 3dr then the doors are relatively long and heavily sprung - bit of a pain in tight car parks. I always avoid parking next to 3dr Ibizas now!
Even though ours was only the horrible 3cyl 1.2, I enjoyed driving it, as it happens particularly on flowing A roads. Seats were supportive and comfortable. Ours always had wind noise from the driver door at 50MPH+ which was a pain and neither I nor the dealer could ever get rid of it. Some do and some don't, apparently.
Bits did drop off - the front cup holder broke (but still opened and closed OK), the rear cupholder and the small cover around the hatch latch never fitted properly so would stay in place. Ours had manual heater controls and if the were pulled then the would disconnect from their cables - I think this happens if you change the airflow direction against the fan while it's on a high speed. I was always able to push them back together again. Never had the glovebox break though.
One thing that's a complete nightmare on these cars is the rear windscreen washer line freezing and popping apart at the various places it uses connectors, some of which are in *very* awkward positions. Make sure the rear washer works and use tons of additive in it in winter.
All the front suspension bushes and drop links are a bit of weakness on this VW platform so budget a few hundred for getting them changed and the alignment done if they haven't been done recently.
If the model is a 3dr then the doors are relatively long and heavily sprung - bit of a pain in tight car parks. I always avoid parking next to 3dr Ibizas now!
Even though ours was only the horrible 3cyl 1.2, I enjoyed driving it, as it happens particularly on flowing A roads. Seats were supportive and comfortable. Ours always had wind noise from the driver door at 50MPH+ which was a pain and neither I nor the dealer could ever get rid of it. Some do and some don't, apparently.
I currently have a 2003 1.2S
Only interior issue I've had is that rear cupholder, other than that, this thread has actually surprised me a little on that front!
Suspension bushes, as mentioned, are a big job, front subframe has to come out, or at least be lowered quite a bit. Labour is the bulk of this bill.
And yes, the rear washer is a pain in the arse. Check whether the washer sprays form the top of the window or is integrated into the wiper (and motor) itself. Being an earlier car, mine is in the wiper so depending on where it comes apart, it can drown the motor. Later cars have them positioned above the window, possibly done at facelift time (2006 onwards) so although they still pop, the electrics aren't at risk as much.
Only interior issue I've had is that rear cupholder, other than that, this thread has actually surprised me a little on that front!
Suspension bushes, as mentioned, are a big job, front subframe has to come out, or at least be lowered quite a bit. Labour is the bulk of this bill.
And yes, the rear washer is a pain in the arse. Check whether the washer sprays form the top of the window or is integrated into the wiper (and motor) itself. Being an earlier car, mine is in the wiper so depending on where it comes apart, it can drown the motor. Later cars have them positioned above the window, possibly done at facelift time (2006 onwards) so although they still pop, the electrics aren't at risk as much.
Edited by 722Adam on Sunday 7th August 12:16
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