Having just, last Saturday, actually seen and been driven in my daughter's Arona for the first time, I just wonder why SEAT chose to compromise the position of the handbrake handle so that the drinks storage is more useable. Also, as she said when they bought that car used, the handbrake action is horrible, though it does still work, it is like this despite SEAT having re-worked the handbrake area twice as they were the subject of some workshop attention.
Tyres, like many cars they are Hankook and the fronts have been replaced but the rears with lots of tread depth left, are the factory fitted ones and there are micro cracking going on only on the outer edges of the outer tread blocks, I'm guessing that MOT is quite okay with this, MOT next month will test that theory. Some silly person replaced the SR 89V Hankooks for ZR 93Y, which is fair enough but these ZR 93Y versions are "extra load" rated, so will add to the firmness of the ride - they as new drivers have not commented on the ride firmness yet. When I checked up online, that version of Hankook is what Audi S3 gets fitted with.
As on too many cars, there is a bit of paint missing where the bonnet has been opened with probably the wipers either in the service position or at least not in their parked position, a touch up job for the warm weather.
I did not manage to fully check the dampers to see if it has dynamic damping as that daughter's husband believes it has - I know that is an option but the build data sheets do not make that clear.
When I checked my VW Group parts listing, and looked for damper options, ie is dynamic available, I noticed that VW Group have gone back to the older design of front suspension top mounting, which is strange, probably for the same reason why in 2008 they suddenly changed the design of the lower arm rear mounting back to what existed before 2000 - ie both proven to be a bad move, a cheap move but not a smart move! I'd think that similar aged Polo/Ibiza/ Fabia/A1 are the same now.
I forgot to check the slam panel when I looked under the bonnet, but I'm guessing that if there is an "oil" label there, it will "say" 508.00, ie 0W-20 - my other daughter's May 2019 Leon Cupra has an "oil" label stuck in that area and it, I think, "says" 504.00 - I'll need to recheck that just in case I end up doing an oil service on that Cupra.
Other than that it seems to be a good clean car for its age and does what they need to have a car to do.
Tyres, like many cars they are Hankook and the fronts have been replaced but the rears with lots of tread depth left, are the factory fitted ones and there are micro cracking going on only on the outer edges of the outer tread blocks, I'm guessing that MOT is quite okay with this, MOT next month will test that theory. Some silly person replaced the SR 89V Hankooks for ZR 93Y, which is fair enough but these ZR 93Y versions are "extra load" rated, so will add to the firmness of the ride - they as new drivers have not commented on the ride firmness yet. When I checked up online, that version of Hankook is what Audi S3 gets fitted with.
As on too many cars, there is a bit of paint missing where the bonnet has been opened with probably the wipers either in the service position or at least not in their parked position, a touch up job for the warm weather.
I did not manage to fully check the dampers to see if it has dynamic damping as that daughter's husband believes it has - I know that is an option but the build data sheets do not make that clear.
When I checked my VW Group parts listing, and looked for damper options, ie is dynamic available, I noticed that VW Group have gone back to the older design of front suspension top mounting, which is strange, probably for the same reason why in 2008 they suddenly changed the design of the lower arm rear mounting back to what existed before 2000 - ie both proven to be a bad move, a cheap move but not a smart move! I'd think that similar aged Polo/Ibiza/ Fabia/A1 are the same now.
I forgot to check the slam panel when I looked under the bonnet, but I'm guessing that if there is an "oil" label there, it will "say" 508.00, ie 0W-20 - my other daughter's May 2019 Leon Cupra has an "oil" label stuck in that area and it, I think, "says" 504.00 - I'll need to recheck that just in case I end up doing an oil service on that Cupra.
Other than that it seems to be a good clean car for its age and does what they need to have a car to do.
