To be honest I would have never considered a Seat before it came under VW?s wing. I?ve been in the pre-VW vehicles and they were poor to say the least. With VW breathing new life into the Seat range they are really worth checking out. I bought my 2000 Toledo V5 used about 5 months ago and am totally delighted with it. The car is essentially a pretty version of the VW Bora (nice car, but a bit boxy for my tastes) and the floor-pan and underpinnings are also used in Audi and Skoda marques albeit with some modifications. It?s built along side the Bora in Belgium and the current models use the 1.8 20v petrol, 1.9 TDI Diesel and 2.3 V5 engines from the VW Range.

The UK-spec cars are very well specified and include cruise & climate control, CD changer, 8 speakers, alloys, folding mirrors?.etc. The V5 gets leather/alcantara 'leccy sports seats and later models also get auto wipers and satnav.

Although I?ve got the specced up V5, all the models are well equipped and offer fairly good performance 1.8 ? 125bhp, 1.9TDI ? 110 bhp (good torque too), V5 ? 150 or 170bhp and solid VW reliability. I love the V5 performance and it sounds great with the off-beat 5 cylinder burble ? it?s also the only 5 cylinder engine with a ?V? configuration (I can think of anyway) so is also a bit different. The best news is that they are very affordable, don?t rust any more and have a good warranty from new - 3 years with 3 years AA cover.

The boot is huge ? 500L much bigger than the (bigger) Mondeo and the seats split for the awkward loads. Safety is good with 4 air bags ABS, EBD and newer cars also have traction control and electronic differential as standard.

The only minor disadvantage for me is that the service intervals are slightly more frequent than some rivals ? 10,000 miles rather than the 12,000-15,000 of other makes. But I can live with that when I?m hammering around at great speed feeling smug ? it?s the Dog?s back wheels.