I was looking after my older daughter's late 2009 SEAT Ibiza 1.4 16V 86PS for roughly 3 years, and used it regularly on short or longer trips if I felt it needed using, it was fine, quite good fun driving around in a light weight low powered car, nothing to prove, I just kept it in good condition and used it sensibly - though that tended to remove some miles from my S4 which in one year dropped down to 865miles in 12 months, almost 1500 miles this past year so I/we need to get out and about a lot more, wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS is a very capable car for journeys of 100 miles each way and more, but its a lot nicer to be in the S4 unless it needs to get parked anywhere dodgy - I'm really too considerate and protective of it, so its just another under used S4 - one of the last with a 6MT gearbox and "full fat" road tax! Edit:- that daughter sold the Ibiza on in August for a new but pre reg'd SEAT Leon Cupra, so she bought what she wanted and not what she needed, I might have suggested a Leon 2.0TSI 6MT - but she had other ideas, annual mileage probably will not get much over 3000 miles a year - daughter like father!
Thanks for your thoughts @rum4mo. I've had one 130bhp diesel Ibiza and one 180bhp Leon Cupra (MK1) so it's familiar territory for me. No disrespect but I prefer an Ibiza to a Polo.
Buying a VW Polo for my wife originally came from me changing from Fords to VX to VW so she fancied changing from Ford to VW - and the Holland based dealerships that were willing to sell RHD cars tended to only sell VWs. At this latest, 2015 car changing time, two issues, I thought that she was a bit old for a stylish SEAT Ibiza,though if she had bought one of them she would have got a 1.2TSI 16V 110PS FR with Alcantara seating, the other issue was, at the time that I was ready to order SEAT was dragging its feet on getting the new version of the 1.2TSI 16V 110PS into the showrooms and I was not going to buy an old stock 1.2TSI 8V 105PS with crappy rear drum brakes, also the Polo was available with many toys including LED headlights which perform very well out in the countryside where we live. I did price up both Polo and Ibiza to include what I considered that she (I) expected from a car and the pricing for Ibiza with many extra bits was roughly the same if even available. Our older daughter has had an early 2002 Ibiza 1.4 8V - a dog of a car, then a new late 2009 Ibiza 1.4 16V 86PS which had as many costly stupid failures and BCM S/W issue that my usual SEAT dealer had no idea how to fix it, it started draining its battery, took over a year to resolve using a second SEAT garage, needed a S/W update. Her new but pre-reg'd Leon Cupra came with all its initial factory build faults logged, so I cleared them though door locks work okay but continually hand out faults, a job for its first service at the end of April, not very encouraging start, it runs okay though as far as I have been told. Her boyfriend hates it though he likes old Lotuses so has never updated himself as to what new cars with power are about driving wise!
That was not intended as a "snap/bark" at SEAT though, my wife's previous car was a 2002 VW Polo and it was a very greedy little car often demanding chunks of cash and time, daughter's next generation late 2009 Ibiza repeating some of these traits was annoying and leaves me a bit concerned as to if/when this similar 2015 6C Polo will start playing up! I've always said that in my world, all these multi marque platform(s) sharing VW Group cars will keep on inheriting the basic flaws from the "mother" marque as the supplier of parts will be the same, in the case of modern day (2001>) Polo and 2002> Ibiza, that unfortunately means, Skoda!! and that I have an issue with as most of the running gear fixings and parts are made from special chocolate steel always from CZ suppliers.
@scotty76 - Sorry to hear your S4 has gone - I only know that feeling to well Great looking SEAT. You are defo going to notice the drop in power lol But, just think how easy it is going to be keeping a white car clean as opposed to a black one There's 4 Ibiza's in our family and each respective owner loves them Good luck & keep us all updated buddy Still miss my S4 but not as much as my old Leon Cupra
Have watched your thread with interest over the years. I thought, 2 or 3 years ago my next car would be a S4. It may still be, and in different circumstances I'd have been after the hounds blue S4 when that went, or yours or some grumpy old mans one, if he was to ever sell! Nice un-modified well looked after cars, cared for by enthusiasts. Thank-you for sharing your experiences. However, like you, my commute to work is now by rail. I probably drive my car only once a week now so my 58 plate A3 sees 4-5k miles at most a year. More often than not when we go out, I end up driving the girlfriends Nissan Note as it was cheap as chips to get me insured on & we can share the driving. So I can see for those financial reasons it makes sense to downsize a little. I also can't justify doing anything car wise when there are things like holidays to be had and bills to be paid. And another 180bhp Mk1 Cupra owner here; great car! We had ours 'in the family' from September 2002 to last month, when my brother in law finally sold it on - 185k miles later.
Thanks @mister.c. glad you enjoyed the read. Cupra was a great car and my first fast car. Like the S4 it was a great all rounder! Mine was a 53 plate bought six months old.
Wow @scotty76, a very very lucky new owner of your immaculate S4 The defector list grows, but we all stick around as I am sure you will. Those wheels look tricky to keep clean, and white paint!!! Pah
I don't understand it. For years you owned a car which arguably had one of the most tuneable engines that Audi ever produced, but resisted the temptation. You've had this Seat how long?
I'd guess that the S4 was felt to have enough power for what it was used for, but the big jump down in power to the 1.2TSI 90PS Ibiza has prompted this. In my situation, my wife had a 90HP Fiesta 1.6Si before I replaced that with a new 75PS VW Polo 9N, she didn't enjoy that car much thought it lasted for 13 years, so her then getting a 110PS 1.2TSI Polo was a vast improvement. Personally I'd be very concerned about how long the Ibiza's gearbox lasted with that increase in power and torque, I'd think that it still keeps it just within the design parameters of that gearbox, but these 6MT family of gearboxes in these small VW Group are not too good in my and other's experience - I would not be surprised if we needed to replace the gearbox in that 2015 Polo while it is in our ownership. Edit:- also the clutches are it seems by manufacture as well as design a bit on the weak side.
I've had the SEAT -1 day, I get it tomorrow! @rum4mo has it spot on, I never felt the need to remap the S4. Will I remap the Ibiza? Probably not, it's a car of necessity rather than choice but it's fun to look at the options.
White does seem to be good, satisfying to keep clean, my daughter's previous car was a white Ibiza SC, and while I was looking after it, it was easy to keep clean, only annoying issue was maybe "blackness" bleeding down after washing from seals etc. White did not shame her into keeping it clean though, she must have too many other important things to do! (same for her new Leon Cupra!) - maybe things will change when she and her boyfriend complete their move back into his house which is being "sorted out" - his car cleaning stuff is still in storage, including long hoses etc! Actually, maybe her Cupra is safer looking a bit dirty,keeping it clean might see it being "taken"?
So today was the day. The end. Collected the S4 on 9th June 2014. I always wanted to own the supercharged S4 so pleased I managed it. It was always out of reach but then rare circumstance allowed me to get one. I think my memories of it will be what an all rounder it was and honestly how little trouble it was. There were a few early warranty fixes for loose boot panels and a rattling window regulator but nothing major. The coolant had me worried for a while but was still sitting happily betweeen the min and max marks this morning. My take on this is for whatever reason the car does use a little coolant each year but no idea why. It shouldn't, the manual is quite clear it's a sealed system. Here are some final pictures plus it's replacement (which is already being booked in for rear bumper respray and detail). I'll write an end of ownership report when the dust has settled. I'm told it will go to auction in Salisbury if you are looking for it.
@scotty76 S4 still looking as good as new! As much as like my B9, still think my B8.5 supercharged was better. My current pcp ends April and I’m not sure what I’ll do
Thanks @Keef. There was a touch of disappointment picking up a newer car with many more cosmetic issues than the S4. The hard work paid off in the end! But I'll fix the Ibiza up within budget. Just need to work out how to rid dog smell from the boot!
I am a little disappointed that I never read the post that I might once have expected from @scotty76: That a member from this or other forum had heard that a well looked after S4 with sports diff was available and snapped it up and was taking it for a stage 2. Are the days of the B8 S-enthusiast coming to an end?
Hi Scotty - I picked up mine on exactly the same day! I shall look fwd to your final review - all the best with the Seat.
Agree the S4 looking good as new Bring on the white, and smaller car to clean...you will get it looking good again
No mention of sports diff or indeed drive select, flat bottom steering wheel and black styling pack. But they did spot HHA and parking system plus. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...d=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used
End of ownership The S4 has gone. I owned it for 5 years 7 months and approx 31,400 miles from new. It was bought new from Reading Audi having made initial enquiries via Carwow then directly emailing local dealers. I'd already owned a 2.0T and wanted something a little different. I think the word supercharger conjured up images of Mad Max or muscle cars, whatever the reason it certainly ticked the different box. Was it what I expected? Yes I'd say so. It was fast and well built. Equally good fun on the long way home or cruising the motorway. DSG made an ideal commuting buddy as well. I had two niggly warranty issues sorted. One was a loose boot panel and the other was a rattling window regulator both fixed first time. Aside from a brief experiment with super I ran the car entirely on standard unleaded. Shell in the early days and Texaco for the last few years. It worked just fine and the super unleaded experiment proved (to me at least) that it wasn't required on a standard S4. I never did fully sort out the driver's seat to my liking. I found it uncomfortable on longer runs. I've often wondered if the super sports seats would have been better. I specced a very limited set of options and never really felt I was missing out with the exception of ACC. Having driven cars with it since I didn't realise how helpful it can be on busy motorways. I'd definitely recommend the S4 experience to anyone. Had my usage not changed so drastically I would have kept it for a long time.
I clicked on the auto trader link a couple of months ago (I think - Covid makes memory recall for 2020 sometimes be a bit out!) and it didn't exist & I couldn't see it at the provider you sold it to, so whether it went to auction or had been sold by then... who knows! I really have enjoyed the S4 threads from you and others over the last few years; I still havent taken the plunge..maybe one day.
A bit of thread resurrection but my S4 has sadly just left, it has given me 6 years of pleasure with no issues at all and is still in excellent condition. But it has given way to a new RS4 hopefully arriving tomorrow. Final picture:
