6 months on

[banditdog]

And 22,000 miles later some impressions of my company car - Altea XL. Might help anyone considering it, then again probably not!

Chosen because it was the best blend of car come family vehicle and by far the best spec on the list I was given at work!

Just to give some background - my previous car was a second generation Octavia 2.0 diesel that I did 106,000 miles with in just under 3 years.
We have also just sold the wifes Honda FRV 2.2 diesel (she now has a 1 series Beemer ?????)

Plus points - Great looking car in black. Seats are great, very comfy on long trips (been all the way to Lyon in the south of France stopping only for fuel). Plenty of go from the 2 litre diesel. Good sized boot. Sporty but not too firm suspension gives an excellent ride. All the toys you could ever want. Better radio reception than the Skoda had. Like the red on the dash at night! No problems what so ever so far.

Minus points - Why does it need servicing every 9000 miles when the skoda (same eng, box etc) was every 18,000 miles? No clock on the radio so you have to change the info on the drivers display all the time cos I have it on mpg range(small thing but annoying). Arm rest on drivers door is ROCK hard and gives my elbow real jip! The centre consol one I have bought the leather cushion accessory so that one is sorted. Boot not as big as the Skodas was. Seemingly more engine noise than the Skoda (which had the engine cover by the way)

All in all a good car but if I am honest I would prefer the Skoda back but with the Seat suspension and seats!

Does the drivers door armrest bother anyone else?

 

[Tell]

10,000 miles between service ?, not 9,000. Sure the Skoda wasn't on variable with the high spec oil ?. Leave that one to an expert. Audi and VW I think are on extended... perhaps it's Audi but if they are worked on by a VW garage in Germany they only stock the higher spec stuff.

It probably warns 1,000 miles before the 10,000 is up mind you.

Arm rest is fine by me.

 

[shads]

10,000 miles between service ?, not 9,000. Sure the Skoda wasn't on variable with the high spec oil ?. Leave that one to an expert. Audi and VW I think are on extended... perhaps it's Audi but if they are worked on by a VW garage in Germany they only stock the higher spec stuff.

It probably warns 1,000 miles before the 10,000 is up mind you.

Arm rest is fine by me.

Correct the servicing is every 10K on either petrol or diesel. Having chaged from Skoda myself I have no regrets buying an Altea as I think it's far superior on build and refinement.

The wife did enjoy driving the Skoda but hey.........bugger her I did most of the driving

 

[banditdog]

My service indicator has come on the first time at about 7,800 miles and counted down to 9,000 for the first service and then at about 17,300 and counted down to about 18,400 miles for the second.

Are they supposed to be just fixed every 10k?

Yes, the Skoda did have the mega-bucks oil in it. Also it used about 5 litres in the first 12k - 15k miles !!!!!! I was told this was normal - then it never used much really the whole time I had the car. It had a special orange warning lamp on the dash that told you to fill the oil just like a petrol reminder. And before anyone asks - that is in addition to the red oil pressure warning lamp.

I have never had to add oil to the Seat ?