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SEAT Arona


Fishycat
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Hi, Troy. I think most of us deserted this forum when mycarforum threw out our comments to all their subscribers, it used to be confined to only the specific topic - also it coincided with some changes to the format. It invited all kinds of stupid comments unfortunately, as many people did not bother to understand previous discussions and context of our comments.

I think a Facebook account for Arona owners was created so you can go and check that out - I’m not on that group, so I don’t have the details.

Since I’m replying here, let me give you an update of my experience - total miles just past 20k in 2.25 years, just sent it for third service where Vertex recommended a change of the battery. The car still feels solid, not a single creak or rattle (pretty sure it’s not my hearing), engine is as good as new especially after the change in battery (better consistent voltage?). I’m still pretty much in love with the concept of this car being so suitable for Singapore conditions (and intermittent forays up north) and being so cheap to run (fuel consumption, road tax, insurance). Roadholding still astounds me for something with a torsion beam rear suspension, handling, well its neutral so I guess that’s good enough! Got to keep the tyres inflated which seems to help the ride quality. Auto braking still works well, blind spot monitor is great, loving the Apple CarPlay interface, seat fabric still looks new, paintwork ok, adaptive cruise control still working fine. 
 

oh I think the only thing of note is that the lug nuts on the wheels have some sort of plastic cover over them - you got to push them back in once in a while, because they work loose. Each replacement is $4 I think, so maybe just check each time you reflate your tyres.

i just went shopping with a friend for old E classes and I’m reminded of just how well a premium German car can last. I don’t expect the Arona to survive as well, but so far, I’m pretty happy - way better than my friend’s Vezel which he got rid of within 2 years!

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On 10/11/2020 at 11:13 AM, TroyLeow said:


 

Hi how’s everyone’s arona coming along? Looking to get one soon and looking for updated thoughts! Thanks! 

Seat cars are so far reliable and drive smoothly. They are economical to run for maintenance, fuel and annual road tax. I drive a Seat Ateca Excellence as it has more torque and power, and I prefer the comfortability of a bigger car on the Malaysia highway. If your budget can afford, you may search for 2nd hand Seat Ateca.

Please visit www.seat.com to find out more about their cars. You can also join the Seat Owners FB page to discover more.

Hope you make the right choice based on your lifestyle. 

 

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Hi, folks. I decided to keep the fabric upholstery and change to leather only when the fabric showed a bit more wear. I don’t drive my Arona daily so the seats and the interior are in good condition, which means I might not even ever need to change to leather. I love the factory fitted leather wrapped steering wheel, it just feels right and taut, not spongy like in some applications, not too smooth. The red stitching and such on the fabric seats are also quite attractive, one of the reasons I decided against changing to leather.

i was contemplating an Ateca and thot I’d still get 4WD (my last 2 cars had that). But my motoring needs in Sgp are now way more modest, and when I go to Malaysia, the Arona just blends into the sea of Perodua Myvis and Proton Sagas - allows me to park at odd places and go and eat at some sarabat stall without fearing for the safety of my car! 

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Neutral Newbie

Hi Keepmoving, I agree with your honest feedback, I am having similar experience so far as Arona owner. You are welcome to join FB page. 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/371237060361068/?ref=share

 

 

 

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Hi all,

Am currently a Kia K3 driver, and am considering to change to the Arona.

Have already test drove the car and I like the drive as a driver... just consideration is a more "cramp" feel as compared to my current ride for passengers (usually drive 3). 

Would like to know if -

1. Anyone tried the leather seats offered by SEAT

2. How cool the rear seat area is with only aircon from the front dashboard?

3. Does the aircon have a tendency to easily smell of mould? (it's a recurring issue for the K3)

4. Any headlight condensation issue?

5. any issues faced with the DSG gearbox so far?

@KeepmovingI can see you love the Arona a lot! It's rubbed off on me... no issues faced even with the aircon, engine and gearbox?

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Hi, Ongys80. Thanks for your feedback. Well the car has done only 20k km, so I think you wouldn’t expect any issues - no engine hesitation, no funny noises, car still pulls strongly (just remember that when you lift off your brakes to drive off, let the clutch engage first; not a problem to get use to), no problems with the DSG, shifts smoothly and always in the right gear, it’s a great combination with the engine.
 

Having said that, I don’t muck around when I drive, I’ve driven it up to Genting 6 times (again no mucking around, I really step on it!) and the car is still fine. And in the last two years, I’ve left the car untouched for up to 2 months at a stretch - always started at the first jab of the starter button. Best consumption was 4.8litres/100km, in sgp use I usually get 6, worst maybe 7.5litres. I’ve had the car serviced 3 times, no noticeable loss of oil, nothing untoward to fix, totally uneventful maintenance-wise.

Air-con - never had to set it higher than 3rd speed, in fact I don’t even know how many fan speeds there is! It’s a small car, so it cools down quite quickly. I seldom have rear passengers so I don’t know whether it’s uncomfortable for them - I’d be surprised if they thot it wasn’t cool enough tho. Well on the longer drives to malaysia with passengers, they didn’t complain lah.

I had the info screen freeze a couple of times when on Apple CarPlay, but it could be rebooted by switching off the engine - don’t see that as much of a problem, and the screen works quickly and easily, I can’t detect any lag.

i suspect it will continue to be reliable until 5th year or when you hit 80-100k km. Let’s see!

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6 minutes ago, Keepmoving said:

Hi, Ongys80. Thanks for your feedback. Well the car has done only 20k km, so I think you wouldn’t expect any issues - no engine hesitation, no funny noises, car still pulls strongly (just remember that when you lift off your brakes to drive off, let the clutch engage first; not a problem to get use to), no problems with the DSG, shifts smoothly and always in the right gear, it’s a great combination with the engine.
 

Having said that, I don’t muck around when I drive, I’ve driven it up to Genting 6 times (again no mucking around, I really step on it!) and the car is still fine. And in the last two years, I’ve left the car untouched for up to 2 months at a stretch - always started at the first jab of the starter button. Best consumption was 4.8litres/100km, in sgp use I usually get 6, worst maybe 7.5litres. I’ve had the car serviced 3 times, no noticeable loss of oil, nothing untoward to fix, totally uneventful maintenance-wise.

Air-con - never had to set it higher than 3rd speed, in fact I don’t even know how many fan speeds there is! It’s a small car, so it cools down quite quickly. I seldom have rear passengers so I don’t know whether it’s uncomfortable for them - I’d be surprised if they thot it wasn’t cool enough tho. Well on the longer drives to malaysia with passengers, they didn’t complain lah.

I had the info screen freeze a couple of times when on Apple CarPlay, but it could be rebooted by switching off the engine - don’t see that as much of a problem, and the screen works quickly and easily, I can’t detect any lag.

i suspect it will continue to be reliable until 5th year or when you hit 80-100k km. Let’s see!

great feedback. 

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Oh Ongys80, I forgot to share about the air con smell. I think a lot of cars have this problem as they usually have some sort of filter which may be accumulating stuff on it that causes the smell - my friend  bought some sort of spray (sprayed into the air con vents) which really removes the smell in his car. Gotta keep spraying it once in a while tho.
 

My car is usually parked in the sun which may help with killing off germs, tho I think a couple of times I did smell something fishy, so I’ve got one of those Yankee Candle scent hanging from my rear view mirror. So yeah no strange smell. And I shower everyday.

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Ongys80, no I haven’t done anything to the ventilation system, still original filter. I only added that Yankee Candle scent! 

Also the lights are all sealed well, no condensation. The Arona has LED lights front and back and I think they look great - I also don’t expect to have to change them as they should last the lifetime of the car. Do note that the rear seat has no lamp, no centre armrest and no seat pockets (!), but there are LED light accents on the front doors which is nice. Can only choose from 2 colors tho!
 

Vertex’s free service package is quite comprehensive, they even rotate the tyres, so my tyres have quite a bit of tread wear still (Pirelli P Zero), very good grip from them even in the wet. The car is always thoroughly cleaned in and out when I collect it. I’m sure they top up the washer fluid too, as I’ve never had to top it up myself in these 2 years. So thumbs up for their service! 

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On 10/20/2020 at 11:18 PM, Keepmoving said:

Oh Ongys80, I forgot to share about the air con smell. I think a lot of cars have this problem as they usually have some sort of filter which may be accumulating stuff on it that causes the smell - my friend  bought some sort of spray (sprayed into the air con vents) which really removes the smell in his car. Gotta keep spraying it once in a while tho.
 

My car is usually parked in the sun which may help with killing off germs, tho I think a couple of times I did smell something fishy, so I’ve got one of those Yankee Candle scent hanging from my rear view mirror. So yeah no strange smell. And I shower everyday.

My SEAT Ateca has the stale air con smell as well. I bought a cabin filter to replace the existing one. No more smell after that.

 

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Happy new year everyone!

I thot I would share some of my thots on motoring in Singapore, particularly from the point of an Arona owner.

it rained heavily for most of today as you all know, and I’m sure we’re all in the same boat on this - thank goodness I have a car to get me around. During the CB, my car also accorded me the freedom, and some safety, to get out and buy food and other essentials. Without a doubt the functionality of the car is head and shoulders above public transportation (incl taxis, private hire cars etc). Of course it comes at a hefty price. 

So how can we improve the ownership experience, you know, helping to justify the high costs? So firstly it’s to minimize the cost of buying and running a car. With the Arona as a reference point, yeah it seems that a sub $100k car nowadays can satisfy most motoring needs - 

1. Comfortable - yes, can carry 4 and luggage, not very quiet but I like to blast my music anyway!

2. Nippy and able to provide some driving fun - yup. In Sgp traffic, the Arona is more than able to keep up, don’t need a bigger engine or electric car (either for more power or a quiet ride). I helped with a distribution run to 10-15 destinations during the CB and the Arona just about was easy enough to drive and park to make that not too much of a chore - of course I would have preferred a comfy 5 series with a velvety and powerful 6 cylinder engine - but I really only did that one run. Nippy the Arona is, relaxed it is not, but I think it’s still a lot better than many under-engined cars. In my books, the Arona’s drive-ability puts it above run-of-the-mill non-turbo cars, I wouldn’t for example consider an Elantra 1.6 even at $10k less. Hyundai Kona 1 litre turbo maybe?

3. Can reliably get you from point to point - ah someone at dinner asked about my car. Says he’s heard continental cars are temperamental compared to Japanese or Korean cars. Hmm. I don’t expect an under-used car that’s only 2.5 years old to have any problems, and I think the Arona is going to hold up nicely till at least the 5th year. The body is still solid with no rattles so at least body work is not going to be an issue. But definitely I’ll keep it well maintained, not that an annual service is a big chore. More to the point, I told the chap I’d rather drive a fun car than one which had a reputation for reliability (not always borne out) but you know, with a tried and true 1.6 litre NA engine, like so many Asian cars, that wouldn’t be able to out-accelerate a fully laden bus. No thanks. Then again if I had a really fussy car which needed engine oil top-up every week, I could very quickly prioritize  reliability - fortunately I’ve never encountered such a fussy car before. 5-year warranty helps but apparently Mercedes now warrants their engines for 10! Hopefully it’s a matter of time before every brand offers it too! Maybe a GLA is in my future...

4. Cheap to run - road tax and insurance - yup 1 litre car couldn’t be cheaper, short of going to a Japanese Kei car with 660cc but I wouldn’t go there lah.

5. Cheap to fuel - ok this goes to the debate of whether I should get a hybrid or if the LTA carries out the threat, electric car. Yes a hybrid could save me maybe 30-40% but the downside is the higher purchase cost - at $50 per month in fuel, there’s no way that could cover the extra cost of the car within 10 years. Electric car? Don’t even need to put pen to paper to calculate the payback! If I drove more often, of course the equation would change, but I take public transport regularly enough to think that that is a better solution for beating peak traffic periods and jaunts to the city area.

6. Entertainment/gadgets - well the objectives of these is really to make driving the car safer and more convenient and perhaps more efficient. The Arona has a plethora of gadgets but I think we could have a few more. 

a. Some ways to help me get to my destination in the quickest, most efficient manner which will also save fuel. Waze goes some way to addressing this!

b. Some ways to help me find a parking lot at my destination that will be convenient and cheapest - surely this can be achieved easily since most car parks are automated and have data on available lots etc. probably will depend on CarPlay supporting some local app for this!

c. Wireless Apple CarPlay cos my 15-min drives in Sgp requires me to plug-in plug-out my mobile phone way too much! And with that, pls give me a wireless charge pad!

The Arona is still very rare on our roads and whenever I tell people what I drive, most of them don’t know what it is. That’s not good for resale values but it’s quite fun driving something so rare, I do enjoy the anonymity too. Would I still buy the Arona today? With no reservations, yes, I would - especially if they have wireless CarPlay!

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Has anyone had to change battery for the ARONA yet? Just over 2 years and the service center is telling me that my battery needs to be changed. Anyone here has recommendations on what brand/workshop would be good considering the start/stop nature of the car.

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Hi, Mynameisjon. I also had my battery changed at the 2nd year service - they did show me the charge was weak, and I thot well, 2 years is about time for these new-design cars which power so many things from the battery. Cost about $220 so I guessed just let Vertex do it, don’t think you’ll save much going outside (also Vertex gives a one-year warranty). When I picked up the car, it immediately felt peppier, I think the steady charge from the newer battery helps (voltage steady, higher wattage will help with the ignition, fuel injection etc I think).

actually this is the first time I’ve had to buy a new battery in almost 20 years - my 4 previous cars (which I kept for up to 5 years) had their batteries in the boot, and i think that helps with the longevity and they were absolutely huge batteries!

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