SEAT ALTEA STYLANCE 1.9TDi (Seat Altea 1.9tdi Stylance)

Member Name: mickwolf

Product:	Seat Altea 1.9tdi Stylance
Date:	31/08/09 (103 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: COMFORTABLE,PRACTICAL

Disadvantages: SO NOISY,TYRE WEAR ISSUES POOR DEALER NETWORK

SEAT ALTEA STYLANCE 1.9TDI-COULD BE GOOD,BUT.....................
I've been running my Altea for 2 years now,and have covered 70,000 mostly trouble free miles.I decided to buy one to replace my Renault Megane 19 DCI coupe,which although fast and sexy,was not practical enough for my new family.I chose Lunar Grey metallic,and ordered an electric sunroof,a steal at £310.
On taking delivery of the Altea,i was shocked when i started it up.The engine was SO NOISY.I had a Golf TDi once,which had the same powerplant,but VW fitted much better sound insulation.Driving the car,i also noticed road noise was excessive,compared to most other cars.
The car,however drove quite well,with a good balance of sharp handling/steering with decent ride quality,although bumpy town roads do feel uncomfortable at times.Long journeys are much better,and the seats are superbly confortable,even after 5 hours of driving.
Economy is not the class best( i average 44mpg) and performance is repectable at best.The car is practical with a large boot,which can be made bigger by sliding the rear bench seat forwards.There is a few cubby holes,for bits and pieces and the rear seats fold 40/60.
The Altea is well equipped with nice 16" alloys,front fogs,cruise control,multi airbags,remote control radio/cd,trip computer,and leather steering wheel.
I said at the beginning of the review,that i had done 70,000 mostly trouble free miles.Now i will tell you about the other none trouble free miles......

2000 MILES......started to have gearbox problems.
The gear box kept jumping out of 5th.I took the car to a Seat dealer,who changed a bearing in the gearbox.All was well until
6500 MILES......very loud noises from gearbox.
The car was recovered by towtruck and taken to another Seat garage,who eventually fitted a new gearbox.Total time off road in 6500 miles was 14 days.
25,000 -70,000 MILES.....excessive road noise,especially less than 30mph.This is caused by irregular tyrewear,caused by wrong suspension geometry.This is a common problem with many Alteas/Leons,and Seat UK won't admit to this,although some dealers do,as will many tyre retailers.This noise has spoilt any enjoyment i have from this car,and it is akin to driving over a cattle grid.My daughter hates this,sitting in the back,i hate it,and Seat dealers won't do anything about it.
Quite simply this should be a good car,but for a few quite annoying issues,it isn't.

Summary: COULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD CAR,BUT........

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