New SEAT Ateca - bargain or avoid?

[vaud]

I've been offered a SEAT Ateca 1.5 TSI 150 EVO XPERIENCE DSG 5dr, registered to 74 plate from a SEAT dealer for £25k with delivery mileage - seem too good to be true, but at a guess it was the dealer bulking out their orders with SEAT (It's a big group dealer network).

Quite like the drive, comparing it to a Tiguan and a Golf Estate. Dealer seems much more down to earth than Audi, etc...

No naming the dealer; they have a mixed view of experiences of the Group from customers but as a SEAT main dealer I could take it any dealer to resolve warranty issues...

One thing I don't like is (like so many cars) is the larger wheels - the XPERIENCE come with 18" wheels. I asked if I could fit SEAT 17' wheels (which are common on the lower specs) but was told this would invalidate the warranty... (which I know is partial BS)

All thoughts happily received.

[worsy]

vaud said:

I've been offered a SEAT Ateca 1.5 TSI 150 EVO XPERIENCE DSG 5dr, registered to 74 plate from a SEAT dealer for £25k with delivery mileage - seem too good to be true, but at a guess it was the dealer bulking out their orders with SEAT (It's a big group dealer network).

Quite like the drive, comparing it to a Tiguan and a Golf Estate. Dealer seems much more down to earth than Audi, etc...

No naming the dealer; they have a mixed view of experiences of the Group from customers but as a SEAT main dealer I could take it any dealer to resolve warranty issues...

One thing I don't like is (like so many cars) is the larger wheels - the XPERIENCE come with 18" wheels. I asked if I could fit SEAT 17' wheels (which are common on the lower specs) but was told this would invalidate the warranty... (which I know is partial BS)

All thoughts happily received.

You can order a brand new one from drivethedeal for £26195 so maybe not the bargain it seems.

[Jazoli]

We have two in the family, my daughter has the exact same spec and year you are looking at and I have an older Excellence diesel model, they are good cars and drive more like a car than an SUV if that makes sense, good spec with all the expected modern toys, decent economy and very practical, I don't know why they are sometimes overlooked, they are great value compared to the Tiguan (which is the same platform anyway).

One good thing is that up to and including the '24 model year the nannying can be turned off and stays off!

Mine is on 19's and the ride is definitely better in my daughters on 18's but its still not terrible, the 18's wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

[Trevor555]

I recently drove a Skoda with that engine/DSG..

Very impressive.

[vaud]

worsy said:

You can order a brand new one from drivethedeal for £26195 so maybe not the bargain it seems.

Thanks, I hadn't considered that. Years since I bought new...

I was impressed by it (it's a second car). Tried the Tarraco as well but the ride was much crashier.

[Skodillac]

Trevor555 said:

I recently drove a Skoda with that engine/DSG..

Very impressive.

I own a 72 plate Skoda Superb with that engine gearbox and I'm floored with how well it drives and how economical it is. It's a brilliant car. Would not hesitate to recommend it. Excellent torque numbers and delivery negates any concerns about the headline BHP figure, it's just not relevant. It's smooth and punchy when you need it. Gearchanges are seamless, the car is quiet, composed and comfortable. I'm sure the drivetrain is more than good enough in an Ateca.

The only thing which is a disappointment is the poor infotainment system, by which I mean it's a bit laggy when using Android Auto, and even when hard wired via USB it suffers dropouts if I dare hit an unsmoothness in the road surface. Sometimes endlessly reboots the connection if my phone hasn't been rebooted recently too, which can be an annoyance if I've just set out on a long journey and then need to find a layby or something and stop for 5 minutes to reboot the ruddy phone and get the car to play nicely with it again.

[vaud]

worsy said:

You can order a brand new one from drivethedeal for £26195 so maybe not the bargain it seems.

Reading up - they require you to use PCP to get the full contribution, otherwise it is £300 more for cash.

[worsy]

Yup, sign up, pay off in first month.

[ciqi]

Glad to see this thread. I've seen some XPERIENCE models on Autotrader advertised as Brand New, unregistered, cash offer just under 25K. I'm hesitating over them as none of the dealers are close by and I cant see why they would be cheaper than used...

[Mammasaid]

Had one for nearly 4 years (1.5 FR) on 18s and for a FWD crossover it drove well. The reason they're cheap is that it's now an old car, but that doesn't mean it's a bad car, by any means.

[SteBrown91]

ciqi said:

Glad to see this thread. I've seen some XPERIENCE models on Autotrader advertised as Brand New, unregistered, cash offer just under 25K. I'm hesitating over them as none of the dealers are close by and I cant see why they would be cheaper than used...

Probably there are too many imported by Seat UK and they need to shift them.

You can get the Cupra ateca with the same base engines as the Seat now for not alot more money and they look smarter so Im guessing they have been kicking around or they pre-ordered an allocation but now realise they will hang around and just want them gone.

[Sheepshanks]

Regarding dealers, have you got a couple of choices within reasonable easy reach? SEAT dealers can be quite thin on the ground. You might be lucky and not really need them, but they generally have a terrible reputation.

Wife has the Skoda version of the car you're looking at, also on 18" wheels. I'm currently running daughter's cast off 2018 Ateca SEL, it's manual with the 3 cyl 1 litre engine. That's on 17" wheels. It's done 90K miles (wife's 22 Karoq has done 12K) yet the Ateca feels "nicer" to drive - it's just more planted and somehow more compliant than the Karoq, but far more than just an inch smaller wheels would suggest.

[ciqi]

Sheepshanks said:

Regarding dealers, have you got a couple of choices within reasonable easy reach? SEAT dealers can be quite thin on the ground. You might be lucky and not really need them, but they generally have a terrible reputation.

There's an Arnold Clark Seat dealership 5 miles away from me, their prices are nowhere as keen as the dealers 200 miles away though

Many of the reviews I'm finding online are from 3 or more years ago, so that fits in with the idea it's an old model

I'll check the Cupra Ateca out as well

[Sheepshanks]

ciqi said:

Arnold Clark

Oh, and regarding Cupra - not all SEAT dealers also have Cupra. The one we used doesn't.

[DSMSMR]

Mammasaid said:

Had one for nearly 4 years (1.5 FR) on 18s and for a FWD crossover it drove well. The reason they're cheap is that it's now an old car, but that doesn't mean it's a bad car, by any means.

I have a 1.4TSi FR. Lovely car