SEAT Exeo

Our verdict

Just because Seat has borrowed this off Audi and re-badged it, don’t rule it out.

Comfort

The old A4 never rode all that well, but Seat has tweaked the suspension slightly so that it now works much better. Avoid the Sport as this ruins all that good work. Every engine comes with a six-speed gearbox so motorway work is seriously easy.  

Performance

You can only get 2.0-litre engines and they're all quick. The petrol is the same engine as you get in the VW Golf GTI so there aren't any problems there, and the two diesels are equally as good. The 170bhp one is good, but the 140bhp makes more financial sense.

Cool

Er, no. Seat isn't exactly the last word in cool anyway, and the Exeo is a family saloon for gawd's sake. Repmobile territory, we're afraid.

Quality

No one ever complains about Audi, so they shouldn't with the Exeo either. Lots of soft-touch surfaces and it all feels bullit proof.

Handling

Anyone expecting this to turn in with the same accuracy and precision as the Ford Mondeo will be sorely disappointed. It's on narrower tyres than the A4 was, which Seat claims should help the turn-in, but sadly we can't tell the difference. Perfectly acceptable, but not exciting.

Practicality

You'll get more out of your VW Passat or Ford Mondeo. The old A4 was never renowned for being vast inside and so the Exeo suffers from the same thing. Again, fine but no world-beater.

Running costs

All these should be on a par with rivals. The common-rail diesels will obviously give the best mpg and CO2 figures, but something to watch out for is how well the residual values do. This will be mostly bought by fleet people, which probably won't help.