Seat Ibiza review

There are six Ibiza trims available, including SE, SE Technology, FR, FR Sport and topping out at Xcellence and Xcellence Lux. The former kicks things off at £18,595, while the latter is the icing on the range at £24,235.

If you go for Seat’s PCP deals, with 30,000 miles over three years and a £3k deposit, the SE will cost you £271 a month, while the Xcellence Lux is £343. With such a narrow spread you’ll easily be tempted up a trim, so make sure you stick to your budget.

What are the trims like?

Seat’s marketing department has helpfully (and possibly out of sheer boredom) come up with little nicknames for the spec levels: the entry level SE is ‘the essential one’, and it comes with 15in alloys, smartphone integration on the 8.25in infotainment touchscreen, air conditioning, auto LED headlights and cruise control. Not too bad a spec, to be fair. 

SE Technology is ‘the connected one’, which means a 9.2in infotainment with some internet stuff and 16in alloys, while FR is ‘the stylish one’ (17in alloys, dual-zone climate control and upgraded interior trim).

FR Sport is predictably ‘the sporty one’ (18in alloys, 10in digital instrument panel and not much else, but it’s only £900 more than the FR). 

Xcellence is billed as ‘the indulgent one’, with its 17in alloys, keyless entry, rear parking sensors and rear electric windows (!) along with some trim-specific styling tweaks. Xcellence Lux (the luxury one) adds 18in alloys, the 10in digital instrument panel, adaptive cruise and a rearview camera. Phew.

What are the costs like?

All of the manual options fall within the £210 first year VED rate, but the automatic cars tip over into the next bracket above 131g/km CO2, which means £255 in the first year. Then of course it’s £180 a year after that. Likewise if you’re taking the Ibiza as a company car you’re looking at between 29 and 31 per cent BIK rates. 

Insurance is very low on the naturally aspirated 79bhp version of the 1.0-litre engine – group 4 – rising to 11 for the 94bhp turbo and 13 for the most powerful 108bhp engines. Presumably the entry motor is so low because it can’t get fast enough to crash very hard.

You get a three-year/60,000-mile warranty as standard, which can be extended if you ask Seat nicely and hand over some extra cash. The fixed price servicing plans might be worth a look too if you’re organised.