I am a bit slow on the uptake. When I walked up to the Exeo, I didn’t recognise it. The key fob made me suspicious. But it was only when I looked at the steering wheel that I got it. Then all the observations came flooding in; the exterior styling across the rear of the car, the stereo and speedo binnacle. To be fair I am not completely thick, the overall dashboard style, the seats, the external front end styling are all unique. If they had re-designed the steering wheel it may well have taken me a lot longer to realise that far from driving a new Seat I am actually driving a re-styled Audi.
I often see people –whether they can afford one or not - drooling over Audi s. Seat of course doesn’t suffer the stigma of other value brands like Skoda. So, surely those that can’t afford the Audi will be tempted by the Seat. If they are, will they end up beaming or grimacing?
Looks-wise, its beaming smiles all round. A modern, stylish design that benefits from the Audi heritage but is genuinely unique. Space and equipment inside can’t be faulted. The boot is bigger than my Mum’s larder and there is good leg, head and shoulder room all round. The front seats provide comfort and support over long journeys.
Dive off the main road and the handling proves itself to be balanced and responsive. It felt slightly heavier to me than most Audis, which while not to everyone’s tastes, makes positioning the car correctly for fast corners easier. That slight weight is not something that will put town drivers off, the power steering is as light as marshmallows when it comes to spinning the wheels left or right to park.
But, at nearly 5m long, its footprint might put some off. I squeezed it into a standard parallel parking space on Marylebone High Street in London, but I needed the help of an entire support crew on the pavement and had less than 15cm either end of the car at the end of my 6-point manoeuvre. But its size is not really a car fault so much as a car choice.
The only real fault is that for a car priced at £17,800-£21,000 when new it is nowhere near quiet enough at high motorway speeds. The powerful Seat diesel engine, while sound in economic terms (up to 51 mpg) and solid in grunt terms (0-62 in 9.2 secs) is just plain noisy at what I am going to call Motorway overtaking speeds. Which is a real shame, because otherwise its hard to fault in engineering terms.
Who is buying them?
Older buyers and young families. A bit like Hondas, these cars have a modern image but it’s mainly the older buyer that can really afford them until they are due for their first M.O.T. Younger families like the space and perception of an Audi at a budget price.
What’s the market like?
There are a tiny number of these on the used market and it is likely to stay that way. It sells in relatively small numbers to private owners who keep them for many years. This is mixed news if you want to buy nearly new and only own the car for 1-2 years. Your depreciation will be small, but when you come to sell, demand may not be huge either. Not a problem if you want to part exchange, but something to be nervous about if you like to sell privately in order to get maximum value back. But rather than gazing into the crystal ball, start gazing in the major classified websites because the few nearly new examples are a brilliant £2,000 less than the new price.
What else can this budget buy?
A budget of £16,000 - £20,000 for a nearly new or very nearly new car means you could buy a slightly older Audi A4, which is what it’s based on, but not quite as good as. You could also buy a Vauxhall Vectra, Insignia or a Ford Mondeo. All of which will be better for crunching long miles in, but much more common.
Summary
More desirable than a Skoda, less desirable than an Audi. A competent saloon that looks good, has masses of space, solid build, is highly specified and handles beautifully. Not refined enough if you plan on doing a lot of high speed motorway work.
By: Matthew Tumbridge