SEAT Arona SUV Xcellence 1.6 TDI 95PS DSG auto 5d Owner Review

Xcellence 1.6 TDI 95PS DSG auto 5d
SEAT Arona review (2021) driving

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In their own words

Had my Arona Xcellence 1.6TDI back on August 1st 2018, and wasn't happy from day one that the dealership registered it on last day of July so missed out a months tax knowing full well i was collecting on the 1st. Car has been good until recently when i have been experiencing issues with the brake pedal on start-up.. Car is an Automatic so when i jump in the morning brake pedal is solid and will take on average between 7 and 9 attempts to start the car, once it starts i can feel the vacuum in the brake pedal releasing and then its fine. It was reported to the garage on 2 separate occasions but they still cannot locate the fault. They have had it overnight as only seems to happen in the morning and nothing, recently they had it in for 3 days and still unable to find issue. Seat Technical have been advised of this and they are stumped, so have now reverted to doing a video so they can now see for themselves the issue. I am still waiting on a response from Seat and the Dealership on where to go next, as this is still happens a daily occurrence. The other issue i have had is with the ad blue where it sends a shot through the system it crystallizes before hitting the tank, so when the next shot happens it spikes the system and the Engine Management Light appears on the dash. Considering this car is just over 1 year old this surely shouldn't be happening, so a further 2 trips to the garage to resolve, and have been told it will go again but don't worry you can still drive the car, we are awaiting a software update to rectify the issue. Sort this out SEAT. I find the ride very uncomfortable and the seats are not very supportive but i do suffer from lower back issues so getting comfortable for me is an issue as the car is designed more for people out in Spain where its built so flat even roads an not what we have to cope with in the UK. For the first 5000 miles the fuel consumption was really bad and I was lucky to get 40 mpg, but this is now a lot better and there are days when i can get between 66 and 74 mpg but more like 55-56 for everyday use. Would i recommend this car, well considering there are a lot of other SUV's on the market I would have a good look round before buying. The VW T-Roc the Arona's sister car is slightly bigger and build quality seems to be a lot better however the specs are not as good as the Arona, you also have the Renault Captur, Citroen C3 Aircross, Hyundai Kona as alternatives.
  • How they rated it

  • Reliability: 4 out of 5 4.0
  • Meets Expectations: 3 out of 5 3.0
  • Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 3.0
  • Kevin Rees recommends this car

About their car

  • Fuel type Diesel
  • When purchased August 2018
  • Condition when bought New
  • Current Mileage 10,000 miles
  • Average MPG 55 mpg