SEAT Toledo Owner Reviews: MPG, Problems & Reliability

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I am developing a respect for Seats in general, and Toledos specifically. I bought a low mileage ex demo 1.2 SE manual for £9,500 last year (13 plate) and rove it over to our place in Portugal, 3 up and fully laden. And what a treat that journey was., 38 degrees of heat, 10/10 for comfort . On the basis of that experience, I bought a brand new 1.4 SE DSG for the UK at £3,500 less than list (it pays to bargain). So far it has been every bit as good as it's smaller brother in Portugal. It is very fully loaded (sat nav, auto lights, wipers, full winter pack, cruise control, etc) and one of the few cars that you can get into and out without contorting yourself (and am over 6 foot) and no backache after a long trip. Plenty of boot and plenty of headroom, too. I am unsure why people moan about the interior finish, it's around the same as a mid range golf, or compare it with a Polo (it's twice the car that my daughter's Polo is). The Encap rating is a big plus, having been involved in a major pile up 8 years ago. If I can fault anything it is the ride, which is a little bit on the hard side, but there's very little roll, the car and steering are responsive and it is so much nicer to drive than the BMW 116D work car

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I bought this car on 29-Apr-2014 and have done about 2750 miles at the time of writing this review. The main drivers for buying this car were the NCAP 5-Star Safety Rating, low maintenance (good fuel economy, insurance, road tax, servicing cost), "fully loaded" (Sat Nav with Traffic, Multi Media system, cruise control, climate control, Start-Stop, Isofix, 16" alloys with Low Rolling Resistance Tyres). The interiors are very well designed and easy to use. The dual colour interiors with beige panels have a nice cosmetic feel. The storage is very practical and well placed and very useful. I'm very impressed by Sat Nav which has saved me 2 hours in the first 14 days of use and is very easy to use and is very quick to respond and recalculate. The speedo display is in increments of 10mph, is easy to read, well placed and "Maxidot" display which even shows navigation info. The car is very quiet and very composed at motorway speeds. The boot is amazingly large and is very practical to use with the necessary additional storage compartments, storage nets and compartments under the floor. There small issues - the additional Fuel Cap Lock which needs the key to open (in addition to the central locking) and the Tyre Pressure information label in kPa and Bar (rather than psi) and Isofix points within the seat fabric. The ride in town is on the hard side but is not uncomfortable; however this is easily forgiven when compared to how much car and functionality the Toledo offers for the price!

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One of the best vehicles i've owned. Same running gear and quality as a vw, yet much cheaper to buy and insure.

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No Red thumbs down

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Owned 4 audi's over a number of years and unfortunately couldn't afford to replace the last one stolen in january 2010. Ran a cheap car for a few months just so i could get to work but wanted a vw golf for better peace of mind. Whilst looking for this type of car i drove a seat and couldn't believe how much alike an audi or vw it was and for much less money so i made the purchase. Only had it 15 days when the abs module failed but was covered by the supplying dealer although the repair took 3 weeks.

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I bought this car 18 months ago, it was a pre-registered vehicle with delivery mileage. I have done nearly 29,000 miles so far and have averaged over 55mpg. Very occasionally on a trip the consumption will drop below 50 but that will be in town driving with traffic jams. On a long run it has frequently done in the 60's and even 70's. So economy is, for me, excellent. As previous reviewers have stated the build quality is good. Perhaps because I've had my car longer and done higher mileage than the other reviewers I must point out that a few rattles are starting to make themselves heard. There is one which comes from the drivers top seat belt mounting which is placed right next to the drivers right ear. There is another which comes from the driver seat belt buckle where it seems to move against the plastic trim on the seat base. I will be asking for these to be looked at when it next gets serviced. The handle which allows the ski hatch flap behind the rear seat armrest to be opened fell off and that is the only actual failure ... so far. On the subject of services, my car is on the extended service intervals (c. 18000 miles) so has only been into the dealer once. The service cost just under £200 and didn't uncover any problems, although the wash and vac was a bit half hearted! One of the reasons I bought the car was for its space, the boot is the same size as the Ford Mondeo, and there is plenty of room for two six foot plus adults in the rear. If I'm to be a bit picky the car is a little narrow so getting three abreast in the back is a bit of a squeeze. To drive the car is absolutely fine. The ride is, as others have described, a bit on the firm side and this is exacerbated on my car as it came with the (optional) 17" wheels which have very low profile tyres. However I have not experienced the vibration through the pedals which the professional reviewers all seem to report. The handbrake can be difficult to use if the central arm rest (in the front) is down. The 1.6 diesel engine on mine is a bit vocal if you put your foot down but it is also quite brisk. On the motorway the car will purr along happily at 70ish and I've not found a stretch of motorway in the UK that requires a change down out of 5th - not sure if a sixth gear is required. If you need to overtake then there is plenty of oomph, usually without needing to go down a gear, to get the maneuver out of the way quickly. There are a few signs of cost cutting on what was, at the time I bought it, the top of the range model. There are only 2 rear headrests as standard, the drivers window only goes down with one touch, the dashboard lighting cannot have the brightness adjusted and that's about it. So all in all, so long as you don't pay the list price, a roomy, reliable well built car and quite good to drive but, as with most VAG products, a bit spartan.

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Good, comfortable but not all that much leg room in the back. I wish it was slightly more economical, though.

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A good effective family car and motorway vehicle. Needs better ground clearance for some country roads.

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Apart from a propensity to eat clutches it gas been the best car i have ever owned!

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Car seems ok, only had it 6 months

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Apart from clutch/flywheel failures(6 in 8 years! Out of 8 in 30+)

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I bought my Toledo Xcellence this summer and love it. I do not know why this car was slated by some in the industry. As a top spec with LED lights and in its metallic blue colour, it looks great. The front end is not much different to a handsome Leon. The inside with its Alcantara and leather seats is equally attractive. It is such a comfortable, good looking car and the engine has some oomph! I do think "lesser" spec models with normal lights can look bland, but in top spec she looks great, drives great and has every gizmo you need (apart from electronically folding wing mirrors!) . I like the fact there are not many on the road either, unlike all the Leons, Ibizas, Aronas and Atecas.

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Great car; the new facelifted version 2016 onwards is a vast improvement over the previous version. It has new suspension which glides along soaking up all the bumps smoothly. The interior though similar has been vastly improved, better quality with premium materials; the niggles mentioned by others have been resolved. The 1.0 litre TSI petrol is amazing I still cannot believe it's a 1.0 litre. So impressed with performance. When I pick up friends they all comment on how nice the car is. The improvements on the facelift have made an okay car a great car with all the equipment I could ask for and more. It has full led lights with self dipping headlights, a full leather interior leather steering wheel and gearknob, full sat nav with Bluetooth and wheel controls, climate control, cruise control autonomous emergency braking and the list goes on and on!

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My apprehension at buying a SEAT was offset by the reassurance of the VAG lineage and the fact that it will be used 3 months a year over in Portugal (thus servicing etc would be easier). I wanted to buy new, but every dealer lied about stock ("Oh, you mean you want an ex-stock from our own resurces, not ex-stock from SEAT") and I needed a car in a hurry. In the end I bought a year old very low mileage demonstrator at a very decent price. So far (2,700 miles in) I am absolutely delighted. Trim and comfort is a little basic, but about equal to mid range Golf, the car is practically silent, good economy, good performance (for the size of the 105 engine) and a pleasure to drive. And I am comparing that with an A6 that I drive daily! The passenger compartment is generous, the boot is enormous and although the ride is a tad on the firm side, handling isn't shappy. For less than £10k I have bought myself an absolute bargain, and will probably replace my wife's 4 year old 308 with one of these (although DSG will be chosen next time). Well done, SEAT.

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Absolutely brilliant car

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Best car i have ever had except for persisent water ingress via badly designed door seals. Seat aware of the problem but repair not available under warranty despite the bad design. Equipment level is 1st class and the engine is just fantanstic the oil remains clean from one service to the next.

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Good

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Ignore the press, this is a great car. It's spacious, refined, frugal, more than quick enough, very relaxed on motorways, can be hustled along an A or B road at a decent pace. Very quiet on the move and comfortable. Feels classy inside and out. Brilliant infotainment system with sat nav and parking sensors. Negatives... Not many. Doesnt like speed bumps or potholes, seems a little under damped when faced with them. A little on the narrow side. The armrest gets in the way of the handbrake, so it usually folded up out of the way. These can be had new (pre registered) for around 13k, thats an awful lot of car for the money. I've had mine for 16 months and the more I drive it the more I love it.

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Generally well appointed but the handling is nothing to write home about. The gear ratios seem badly chosen, you really can't drive at 30 mph in 4th gear as the engine protests by grumbling, so inevitably you have to downchange to appease it. The car is due it's first service so will ask if this is normal or if there's a problem!

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So far good. Have replaced timing belts and consumables- but now some unidentified noise evident.

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The car has surpassed all my expectations of what i expected from the seat brand. Volkswagen's input has made a big different. Its a genuinely solid car. The engine problem i had was a vacuum pump failure that runs off the camshaft which took the belt with it, which i think is something that could of happened to any car. Thankfully no serious damage caused, and not a reflection on seat or vag build quality.

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Yes Green thumbs up