SEAT Arona SUV - Reliability & safety

SEAT has been on a bit of a roll of late, delivering excellent results in our annual Driver Power owner satisfaction survey. We have little reason to doubt that the Arona will maintain high standards, especially as the Arona finished 22nd out of 75 in the 2020 Driver Power survey.

Safety equipment is generous on all models, and the Arona performed very well when subjected to independent crash-testing.

SEAT Arona reliability

The Arona is based on some of the newest technology Volkswagen Group has in its arsenal, but most of its major components have been tried and tested by other models in recent years. SEAT has put in some thoroughly impressive showings in our annual Driver Power owner satisfaction survey recently, too. Although the brand came in a more middling 14th out of 30 manufacturers in our 2020 results, the Arona itself came in 22nd place out of 75 cars, showing how much owners liked the compact SUV.

SEAT owners praise their cars for the way they drive, with handling, ride and acceleration held in high regard. SEAT's infotainment technology is also widely liked, both in sophistication and ease of use.

Exterior style, fit and finish came in for less celebration, though, and owners weren't especially impressed with the running costs of their cars, either. Fuel consumption and servicing fees were rated as being rather more expensive than owners would like. Reliability is a particular concern of owners of older SEAT models – 17.4% of those who participated in our survey reported one or more faults in the first year of ownership.

37

Safety

The SEAT Arona put in a compelling crash-test performance at the hands of Euro NCAP, with high scores across the board. Its 95% in the adult occupant protection category is 10% higher than the Mazda CX-3 managed in 2015 and matches the SEAT Ibiza supermini. In other categories the Arona came out just ahead of the Ibiza it shares much of its technology with.

All models have autonomous emergency braking (SEAT calls this Front Assist) and driver tiredness recognition, while you can specify rear cross-traffic alerts and blind-spot monitoring. Hill-hold control makes pulling away easy on inclines, while curtain airbags supplement the usual front and side airbags.