Seat Altea XL - Brother looking at these, anything to know?

[Ade07]

Hi, my brother is looking at buying a Seat Altea XL, diesel, probably around a 2009 model.
Is there any advice or anything he should know about them?
Thanks!

[J500ANT]

My brother has a normal sized Altea and i've got a normal sized Altea on order. He told me that the boot on the normal sized Altea wasn't quite big enough for his baby buggy. Don't know if that's relevant to the XL and your brothers circumstances but thought it worthy of mention.

My brother's done 95k in his 2.0 140 PD DSG, radiators leaking, cruise control switches failed and so did the boot switch a couple of times but nothing major went wrong.

[davepoth]

Look at the Skoda Roomster or Yeti. Crashy hard suspension is not what you want in an MPV.

[va1o]

davepoth said:

Look at the Skoda Roomster or Yeti. Crashy hard suspension is not what you want in an MPV.

Roomster is quite a bit smaller, its just a cheap MPV based on the Fabia. Yeti is super expensive and hard to get hold of. The Alteas make a wise buy IMO, decent chassis/ engines from the Golf and good value for money.

[Jettagti]

my father has an Altea XL, had it 3 years now, and there havnt been any problems with it. He's got the 140 bhp diesel 6 speed one, and I have to say, its very nice to drive as I have done in the past. nice punchey engine and very comfortable.
loads of boot space, he goes skiing in it every year and they get all their gear in it fine

get one, sensibly priced cars that deliver what you want from an mpv

[Dino D]

Hard/Sporty ride seems to be the main criticism of Altea (normal) but does that apply to the XL too?
Don't forget about the new shape Toledo - they come up at good prices too and seem just as big if not bigger.

[Ade07]

Thanks for advice guys.

Should he spend a little bit more and get the newer 2.0 tdi engine or is the 1.9 lump fine?

[74merc]

We had an Altea Stylance with 16" wheels and never found the ride crashy. Never had any problems with it either (1.9 TDi) although I did find it a bit unrefined. Sold it within 36 hours of listing it so obviously in demand on the secondhand market.

[LeoSayer]

Dino D said:

Hard/Sporty ride seems to be the main criticism of Altea (normal) but does that apply to the XL too?

I only drove the XL and my only criticism were the hard ride and excessive road noise. It's a shame as I like the look of it and it's ticks all the practical family boxes.