Had a 130 brake TDi Sport.

Was one of the most fun cars I’ve ever driven. It had a huge, heavy, powerful lump of an engine up front that made the car twist and shake all over under acceleration. It wasn’t smooth.

I got used to the torque steer fairly quickly, and the slightly odd dynamics of handling so much weight up front.

I used to hang off the steering wheel sometimes.

It was a good cruiser though, and could sit at 70 on the motorway at low revs and give great economy.

With seats down there’s a fairly useful load area for bikes too, but you’ll almost certainly need to need to take a wheel off.

On the downside, build quality was not great. The bonnet release handle snapped off and both door windows fell off their winding mechanisms, which meant they just feel down inside the door, jammed part open. Not at the same time I should add.

Overall I look back on it fondly, but I’d not risk getting another TDi Sport, fun though it was. A lower power model would probably be less likely to have been ragged and less likely to have shaken itself apart.

Still got a 99 90bhp tdi with 253k on it. Stuff broke, then the essentials kept on working over the years showing no signs of failing. For 1k, I’d consider it. If it’s for getting about on short journeys I’m sure the engine will be sufficient. I’d guess that it would be a bit laboured after 60mph on longer drives.. raising the fuel consumption. My one still gives me around 60mpg.

I had a 2003 PD130 sport and it was brilliant. Was smooth as butter and I thought build quality was good, never any issues with electrics etc. Only issue was the very low sump.

Can get 2 bikes with camping gear in the boot too, or snowboards & gear 🙂

Be wary of timing chains on the 1.2 as they are prone to snapping/jumping teeth.

A general thing on Ibiza’s is suspension bushes but parts are quite cheap for them now.

I would definitely have another PD130 especially if commuting – one of the best engines ever made according to a mechanic I know and easily made 45mpg on a 40 mile run. Also very easy to make it go fast (mine ended up at 240bhp but thats another story 😀 )

A general thing on Ibiza’s is suspension bushes but parts are quite cheap for them now.

I would definitely have another PD130 especially if commuting – one of the best engines ever made according to a mechanic I know and easily made 45mpg on a 40 mile run

Mine’s only on it’s second set of suspension bushes – 2nd set went on at the last service (255k miles). Also had the trailing arm bushes done & went for the Cupra bushes this time which supposedly last better, but because they are solid they have made the ride even more crashy. If I had to change them again (unlikely) I’d got back to standard.

45mpg should be worst case scenario for a standard car I would think.
Mine does 55mpg driving normally and driving frugally I’ve had it up to 64mpg over a tank.
Worst I’ve ever seen was 46mpg over a tank but that was hoofing it down to Cornwall with a boot brimmed full of camping gear and 2 mtbs on the roof.

I have half considered replacing mine with another one, to be honest – although will probably replace with something a bit bigger.

I had a 57 plate FR PD130 but was running it about 195 bhp, the only problem was a leaky intercooler after 65,000 miles, it was easy enough to change out. I did a lot of long journeys in it and it was excellent on the motorway and absolutely bonkers when you floored it as the torque steer would pull you all over the place. Sold it when I emigrated to Australia, some days I really miss that car.

Wifey had a 1.9 TDI Sport. Great is you don’t go too far, the most uncomfortable thing ever for anything over an hour. Change the seats if you’re going to use it for long trips.

I used to do a 60 miles each way commute in mine, which took about 1hr 20 each way and now do 40 miles each way which takes anything from 50 mins to 1.5hrs depending on traffic. I’ve never found it uncomfortable….
We regularly drive to Bristol (3hrs)/London/Surrey in it and if it wasn’t for wee/coffee stops I wouldn’t feel the need to stop through discomfort. Even a late night drive up to Dalbeattie a few yrs ago only required 1 Burger King stop…. 😀

Admittedly, don’t buy one if you want cushiony soft ride comfort – the suspension is very crashy over pot holes & road imperfections – I am not sure if that’s just the ‘Sport’ ones or the entire range.

Are you looking at the facelifted model? If so my mate has one and we commute to work in it.

His is the 3cyl diesel and it’s a noisy thing but it’s comfortable enough and he’s not really had any problems with it.

I’ve got a 51 plate cupra with 90000 on the clock and 12 months mot that you can have for a grand!

His is a 58 reg but this design ran from 2002, hence the question

Ah, my apologies. Didn’t realise they did a 3 cylinder in that version of the Ibiza.
Thought it was only the 4-cylinder 1.4 & 1.9
58 must have been right near the end of the run before the new model was released.
Aaaah, perhaps his is an ecomotive?