SEAT Alhambra 1.9 diesel 2005 - owner reports

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Sun 30 Jan 2011 10:16
SEAT Alhambra 1.9 diesel 2005 - owner reports - thereyougo

Have been looking to buy this model, mostly with 80,000 mls (to bring into my price bracket) and would appreciate feedback from previous/existing owners. Thanks.

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Sun 30 Jan 2011 10:57
SEAT Alhambra 1.9 diesel 2005 - owner reports - fredthefifth

I had a 2002 Alambra SE. SE is a nice spec, firmer ride, many consider better value than the comparable Galaxy/Sharan.

Used to get 38 mpg around town, mid to low 40's on a run at 80 ish. On one long run in heavy but slower moving traffic I got 50 mpg.

Mine was 115 bhp and performance was fine.

Load space was brilliant, got a 3 seater settee in the back with all the seats removed. Drivers seat was a bit squashed but got it in and the back door shut.

Storage space with the two rear seats out is very good. Can get 5 adults in comfortably and massive ammount of luggae.

Main isses are air con which is prone to leaks that can be expensive to locate and fix. Also the diesel has a secondary heater by the near side rear wheel. The glow plug is prone to failure but reasonablt easy to diy. Very rarely the whole unit is replaced but suspect that in many cases it didn't need to be!

have a look at fordgalaxy.org it covers the what they call the Shalaxy family. Bear in mind though that it is mainly used by people with problems.

All in all I was very pleased with mine. An excllent all round vehicle.

Forgot to mention that I found the drive to be nice too. The higher level was nice and driving was not hard work.

Hope this helps.

FTF

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Sun 30 Jan 2011 17:05
SEAT Alhambra 1.9 diesel 2005 - owner reports - thereyougo

Thanks FTF for you help. Am nearly convinced to have a go. Theryougo.

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Sun 30 Jan 2011 21:39
SEAT Alhambra 1.9 diesel 2005 - owner reports - oldtoffee

I had one 1997/8 diesel but with just 90 bhp - low to mid 40's on the mpg but too slow, overtaking was exciting. The 115 or 130 bhp ones will be fine and probably as economical or better. So much space and quite a good drive too. Plenty of them in use as taxis where I live and I've been in several with 200k+ miles on them and rattles apart seemed to drive well. Removable seats a big plus but they are very heavy.

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Sun 30 Jan 2011 21:55
SEAT Alhambra 1.9 diesel 2005 - owner reports - Nain

As above , check that the air con works and that the timing belt has been changed in the last couple of years.

We had a big bill with a replacement clutch and dual mass flywheel but i guess this is an issue with most modern diesels.

Fordgalaxy.org is the place to go for problems - it saved me a lot of money last year when I found out that replacing a confusingly labeled 10a fuse can fix non functioning wipers.

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Tue 1 Feb 2011 12:26
SEAT Alhambra 1.9 diesel 2005 - owner reports - amarsys

We have 130bhp TDI - 2005 model. It is an excellent car, very reliable (but see below), quite cheap to run, readily does 500+ miles on a tank. Interior creaks a bit now, but otherwise very hard-wearing. Very comfortable for driver and passenger on long journeys (e.g. Calais to south of France etc). The back seats are heavy to remove, but once out you have an excellent van with loads of space.

BUT ... I would be *very* careful about the aircon. Ours basically stopped working 2 years ago and has never really been fixed. This is our second Alhambra, the previous one (which was a 2001 I think) was also very good but again the aircon gave up after a few years and the dealer never managed to fix it. You might not think you need aircon - but on a car like this with so much glass area you are basically in a mobile greenhouse and I wouldn't regard it as an optional extra.

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Tue 1 Feb 2011 13:23
SEAT Alhambra 1.9 diesel 2005 - owner reports - fredthefifth

Agree entirely about the aircon. In fact it was the main driver for me getting rid. Had one leak that was very difficult to locate but turned out to be the thing behind the grill (condensor??). Including the fix and the various regasses, investigation work etc, I reckon I spent over £800 fixing a £200 part.

The evaporator is the real worry because that is a dash out job and at garage rates takes two days to replace a part of a few hundred.

(In the above I might be getting my parts mixed up - just can't recall for sure, but the location I mention are right)

Mine started to pack in on a run. An expert of the galaxy site said that it was something like " ...... the internal pipework corroding and the particles building up on some jet or something and blocking it. When I stopped and turned off for a few hours it resolved itself until the next run. Trouble is that one day it won't fix itself.

Shame really, it was the one blight on what was for me a brilliant car. Try and get some assurances on the aircon if its important to you. Some just give up beacuse it gets too expensive eben trying to locate problem!

FTF

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