Volkswagen Polo vs Seat Ibiza vs Skoda Fabia

It's fairly common knowledge that Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda all belong to the same company. It should come as no surprise, then, that each of these firm's supermini offerings - the Polo, Ibiza and Fabia, respectively - use most of the same bits and pieces underneath. As we'll find out, however, despite using exactly the same platform, engines and mechanical parts, each company has managed to give its car its own individual character. The question is, which is best?

In this CarGurus UK triple test video, Rebecca Jackson looks at where these cars - each of which has been recently updated - are similar, where they're different, and which of them will suit you best.

Let CarGurus help you find your next car:

▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
00:00 – Introduction
00:24 – The contenders
01:35 – The boot space
02:42 – The interiors
04:55 – What are they like to drive
08:35 – Final thoughts
09:00 – Let us know what you think

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#seatibiza #skodafabia #vwpolo

[danmccarthy]

I'd go with the Skoda... they seem to have this magical ability to somehow build reliable vehicles with VW components.

[DavidMorley]

Best new car purchase I've ever made. The 2020 Ibiza. In 15 months it's done nearly 50, 000km flawlessly. Plus, I think it looks great.

[fatihaslan]

I own an Ibiza, the first car I bought. I just love the engine sound. It has a great sporty design and really smooth ride.

[smoothmicra]

I'm a big Skoda Fabia fan, though I wouldn't contemplate an auto box (in fairness I've not much interest in any automatic transmission car). Terrific value for money, highly durable, good in the city, comfortable on the long motorway journeys. The current model looks good as well. Skoda all day for me.

[clint]

I am hiring a Seat Ibiza Xcellent. I am very impressed ( not easily impressed- my car is a Porsche Cayman GTS 4.0). The Seat is comfortable, quiet, nice interior, reasonably quick and brilliant handling. The steering is really direct and go cart like).

[sanchaynarain]

My pick will always be the Skoda Fabia, the most practical car of the bunch.

[reececollison]

I have a 2016 Polo with 6 manual gears and a 115hp engine, having that there’s no way I’d downgrade to 5 gears/95hp engine in the new polo, and pay the huge premium for it. I’d be the Seat for me, to me it looks even better too.

[victorlicht]

Imma just take the Ibiza, more fun in the daily life, take my money.

[SteveM-lyoy]

Fact-check time. There was a lot in the video that is not true. Firstly, you can easily add the adjustable boot floor in all 3 cars, so the Skoda Fabia can have that. Secondly, I advise you to watch some POV drives of these cars. As far as the Fabia is concerned, when you are driving at 85 mph, the revs are exactly the same. So, when you drive the 5-speed 95bhp model, or the 6-speed 110bhp model, or the 7-speed DSG automatic 110bhp model, at 85 mph the revs are 3000rpm for all the engine/gearbox combinations. So why is this? Well, the 5-speed has a very long 4th and 5th gear. 1st, 2nd and 3rd are quite peppy and the car is quick enough. The turbo and peak torque is available between 1600 and 3500 rpm. I had a look at the VW Polo on Youtube on a POV drive and the 5-speed was the same as the Fabia at 85 mph. So this seems to be a standard on all three cars.

However, when I saw the 6-speed Audi A1 110bhp, the engine did seem to be a little less busy at 85mph. But of course it is an Audi, so horrendously expensive and not any more reliable than the VW. And not too well-equipped either.

For the VW Polo, Seat Ibiza and Skoda Fabia, The 110bhp 6-speed manual has its torque from 2000-3000 rpm, a much narrower band. So the 6-speed has 6 shorter gear ratios. Obviously, the DSG 7-speed has something similar, but as far as motorway cruising are concerned, then the engine is doing the same number of revs. Worth bearing in mind is that the 95 TSI has 175nm torque and the 110bhp has 200nm, not a huge difference.

But the biggest difference is price. the 95tsi costs less than the 110bhp 6-speed, and a lot less than the DSG. There are long waiting lists now for the DSG due to semiconductor chips. But if you want a manual it should only be 2 to 3 months if you order the car.

To sum up, the 95 tsi is the cheapest and the most economical. For most people, it will be enough. I drive a 59bhp Skoda Citigo, so for sure the 60% increase in torque is enough.

I would buy a Skoda. I have had 2, no problems. They are cheaper, well built and somehow more reliable than Audi, Seat or VW. Don't know what they are doing in the factory in Mlada Boleslav, perhaps just screwing them more tightly together:) yes, I know that's not true but anyway...

[kablg]

As for the VW Group I always found the brands to be like this:

Skoda: Practical.
Seat: Sporty.
Audi: Luxury.
Volkswagen: Mixture of Sporty, Practical and Luxury.

[alexis]

Skoda Fabia is by far the best looking so that gets my vote seeing as it's the most spacious, practical and quietest of the three

[JeffersMcJ]

Would love to see this on the Golf, Leon and Scala. More videos like this please.

[houssambkr]

I own an Ibiza, the 1.6L 4 cylinder engine it has a great engine sound and a good acceleration, i love it

[oliverstemp]

The Polo has the most equipment, and if you spec the others to that level they actually get more expensive than the Polo. I like the way the Polo looks, so that’s the one I’d pick

[MrYugoWRC]

Skoda Fabia would be my choice. A have owned mk1 and mk3, they are the most practical cars I have ever driven.

[andrewheyes]

Obviously you’re not too bothered about true facts. The Fabia Colour Edition comes with reversing sensors as standard but not keyless entry, which is an option. It does have keyless start though.
The best looking is by far the Skoda. It looks so classy. So it’s obviously a massive upgrade over the last Fabia. Easily my choice.

[siegfriedz]

Tbh the Polo would be my last pick.

I strongly disagree with your 2 main argues in its favor which are quality inside and feeling of a big car.

I have been in the 3 of them and both the Ibiza and the Fabia looks bigger from the outside and give more space while inside.

About the quality, imo the Polo have some premium parts and some very cheap. It did not gave me a higher quality feeling than the others 2.

Where the Polo takes it is with more equipments on the car without options.

But no, this not justify the price difference.. you can have the same equipements in the Skoda for arround 1k€ of options while the prices between a Fabia and a Polo is 5k€ cheaper.

To me if you want confort and space you go for the Fabia, if you want a dynamic small car for the Ibiza.

You only go for the Polo if your ego push you to waste some money.

[santigil]

The Fabia looks the winner for me. Great price/quality.

[malcolmc]

Did we ever get told the price of each model/range? On a small budget car price is important.

[TheEmperorOfTheWorld]

The Fabia is the obvious winner here. Cheapest, best looking inside and out, most spacious, most comfortable drive, plus Škoda always outranks both Seat and VW in terms of reliability. Škoda has become the best European car brand nowadays