
Care and maintenance
Products for vehicle maintenance
Car-care products are available in your Tech-
nical Services. Keep the product instructions
until you have used them up. WARNING
● Car-care products can be toxic. Because of
this, they must always be kept closed in their
original container. Keep them out of the reach
of children. Failure to comply could result in
poisoning.
● Always read and observe the instructions
and warnings on the package before using
car-care products. Improper use could cause
health problems or damage the vehicle. The
use of certain products may produce noxious
vapours; they should be used in well ventila-
ted areas.
● Never use fuel, turpentine, engine oil, nail
varnish remover or other volatile fluids.
These are toxic and highly flammable. Risk of
fire and explosion.
● Before washing your vehicle, or carrying
out any maintenance, switch the engine off,
apply the handbrake firmly and remove the
key from the ignition. CAUTION
Never attempt to remove dirt, mud or dust if
the surface of the vehicle is dry. Never use a
dry cloth or sponge for cleaning purposes.
This could damage the paintwork or the win-
dows of your vehicle. Soak dirt, mud or dust
with plenty of water. For the sake of the environment
● When purchasing products for your vehicle
maintenance, select the ones which are not
harmful to the environment.
● The waste from car-care products should
not be disposed of with ordinary household
waste. Observe the disposal information on
the package. Care of the vehicle exterior
Automatic car washing tunnel The vehicle paintwork is so durable that the
vehicle can normally be washed without
problems in an automatic car wash tunnel.
However, the paintwork wear depends to a
large extent on the kind of the car wash tun-
nel, the brushes used, its water filtering and
the type of cleaning and preservative prod-
ucts.
Before going through a car wash, be sure to
take the usual precautions such as closing
the windows and sunroof. There is nothing to
note apart from that.
If the vehicle has special accessories such as
spoilers or a roof rack or two-way radio aerial,
etc., it is advisable to consult the car wash
tunnel operator first.After washing, the brakes could take some
time to respond as the brake discs and pads
could be wet, or even frozen in winter. “Dry”
the brakes by braking several times. WARNING
Water, ice and salt on the brake system can
reduce braking effectiveness. Risk of acci-
dent. CAUTION
Before putting the vehicle through the car
wash, do not tighten the aerial if it is folded
because it can be damaged. Washing by hand
Vehicle washing
– First soften the dirt and rinse it off with wa-
ter.
– Clean your vehicle from top to bottom with
a soft sponge, a glove or a brush. Use very
light pressure.
– Rinse the sponge or glove often with clean
water.
– Special car shampoo should only be used
for very stubborn dirt.
– Leave the wheels, sill panels etc. until last,
using a different sponge or glove.
»
157Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety
The essentials

Care and maintenance
Alloy wheels require regular attention to pre-
serve their appearance. If road salt and brake
dust are not often removed, the aluminium
finish will be impaired.
Always use an acid-free detergent for alloy
wheel rims.
Car polish or other abrasive agents should
not be used for maintaining the rims. If the
protective coating is damaged, e.g. by flying
stones, the damaged area should be re-
paired immediately. WARNING
Observe the safety warnings ››› in Steel
wheel rims on page 160. Underbody protection
The vehicle underbody is coated to protect it
from chemical and mechanical damage.
The protective coating can be damaged when
driving. We recommend that you check the
protective coating under the body and on the
running gear, and retouch it if necessary, be-
fore and after the winter season.
We recommend that you go to your Technical
Service to carry out repair work and addition-
al anti-corrosion work. WARNING
Do not apply underseal or anti-corrosion
coatings to the exhaust pipes, catalytic con-
verter or the heat shields on the exhaust sys-
tem. The heat of the exhaust system or the
engine could cause them to ignite. Risk of
fire. Cleaning the engine compartment
Take special care when cleaning the engine
compartment.
Anti-corrosion treatment
The engine compartment and the surface of
the power unit are given anti-corrosion treat-
ment at the factory.
Good corrosion protection is particularly im-
portant in winter when the vehicle is fre-
quently driven on salted roads. To prevent
the salt corroding the vehicle, the entire en-
gine compartment should be thoroughly
cleaned before and after winter.
Technical Services
have the proper products
for cleaning and preservation as well as the
necessary workshop equipment. For this rea-
son, we recommend having this work per-
formed by them.
The anti-corrosion protection is usually re-
moved if the engine compartment is cleaned
with grease removing solutions, or if you have the engine cleaned. On commissioning
this work, ensure that all surfaces, seams,
joints and components in the engine com-
partment are given anti-corrosion treatment.
WARNING
● When working in the engine compartment,
always observe the safety warnings
››› page 166.
● Bef
ore opening the bonnet, switch the en-
gine off, apply the handbrake firmly and al-
ways remove the key from the ignition.
● Allow the engine to cool before you clean
the engine compartment.
● Do not clean, for example, the vehicle un-
derbody, wheel arches or wheel trims without
protecting your hands and arms. You may cut
yourself on sharp-edged metal parts. Failure
to comply could result in injury.
● Moisture, ice and salt on the brake system
may affect braking effectiveness. Risk of acci-
dent. Directly after washing, avoid sudden
and sharp braking.
● Never touch the radiator fan. It is tempera-
ture-controlled and could start automatically,
even when the key is removed from the igni-
tion! For the sake of the environment
Fuel, grease and oil deposits can be removed
when the engine is washed. The polluted wa-
ter must be cleaned in an oil separator. For
this reason, engine washing should be » 161
Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety
The essentials

Advice
Filter pre-heater
Your vehicle is fitted with a fuel filter glow
plug system, making it well equipped for op-
eration in winter. This ensures that the fuel
system remains operational to approx. -24 °C
(-11 ºF), provided you use winter-grade die-
sel which is safe to -15 °C (+5 °F).
However, if the fuel has waxed to such an ex-
tent that the engine will not start at tempera-
tures of under -24 °C (-11 °F), simply place
the vehicle in a warm place for a while. CAUTION
Do not mix fuel additives, the so-called “thin-
ners”, or similar additives with diesel fuel. Working in the engine
compartment
Safety instructions on working in the
engine compartment Before starting any work on the engine or in
the engine compartment:
1. Switch off the engine and remove the key
from the ignition.
2. Apply the handbrake.
3. Move the gear lever to neutral or the selec- tor lever to position P. 4. Wait for the engine to cool down.
5. Keep children away from the vehicle.
6. Raise the bonnet
››› page 167.
You should not do any work in the engine
compartment unless you know exactly how to
carry out the jobs and have the correct tools!
Have the work carried out by a specialised
workshop if you are uncertain.
All service fluids and consumables, e.g. cool-
ant, engine oil, spark plugs and batteries,
are under constant development. SEAT pro-
vides a constant flow of information to Tech-
nical Services concerning modifications. For
this reason, we recommend you have service
fluids and consumables replaced by a Techni-
cal Service. Please observe the relevant in-
structions ››› page 155 . The engine compart-
ment of
the vehicle is a hazardous area ››› .
WARNING
All work on the engine or in the engine com-
partment, e.g. checking and refilling fluids,
involves the danger of injury and burns, acci-
dents and even fire.
● Never open the bonnet if you see steam,
smoke or coolant escaping from the engine
compartment. Otherwise, there is a risk of
sustaining burns. Wait until no more steam or
coolant is emitted, then allow the engine to
cool before carefully opening the bonnet. ●
Switch off the engine and remove the key
from the ignition.
● Apply the handbrake and move the gear
lever to neutral or selector lever to position P.
● Keep children away from the vehicle.
● Never touch hot engine parts. There is a
risk of burns.
● Never spill liquids on a hot engine or on a
hot exhaust gas system. This is a fire hazard.
● Avoid causing short-circuits in the electri-
cal system, particularly at the points where
the jump leads are attached ››› page 188. The
battery could explode.
● Never touch the radiator fan. It is tempera-
ture controlled and could start automatically,
even when the engine has been switched off
and the key removed from the ignition!
● Never cover the engine with additional in-
sulating materials such as a blanket. Risk of
fire!
● Do not unscrew the cap on the coolant ex-
pansion tank when the engine is hot. If the
coolant is hot, the cooling system will be
pressurised!
● Protect face, hands and arms by covering
the cap with a large, thick cloth to protect
against escaping coolant and steam.
● Always make sure you have not left any ob-
jects, such as cleaning cloths or tools, in the
engine compartment.
● If you have to work underneath the vehicle,
you must use suitable stands additionally to 166

Checking and refilling levels
support the vehicle, there is a risk of acci-
dent!. A hydraulic jack is insufficient for se-
curing the vehicle and there is a risk of injury.
●
If any work has to be performed when the
engine is started or with the engine running,
there is an additional, potentially fatal, safety
risk from the rotating parts, such as the drive
belts, alternator, radiator fan, etc., and from
the high-voltage ignition system. You should
also observe the following:
– Never touch the electrical wiring of the
ignition system.
– Ensure that jewellery, loose clothing and
long hair do not get trapped in rotating
engine parts. Danger of death. Before
starting any work remove jewellery, tie
back and cover hair, and wear tight-fit-
ting clothes.
– Never accelerate with a gear engaged
without taking the necessary precau-
tions. The vehicle could move, even if the
handbrake is applied. Danger of death.
● If work has to be carried out on the fuel
system or on electrical components, you
must observe the following safety notes in
addition to the above warnings:
– Always disconnect the battery from the
on-board network. The vehicle must be
unlocked when this is done, otherwise
the alarm will be triggered.
– Do not smoke.
– Never work near naked flames.
– Always have a fire extinguisher on hand. CAUTION
When topping up service fluids, make sure
not to mistake them. Using the wrong fluids
could cause serious malfunctions and engine
damage! For the sake of the environment
Service fluids leaks are harmful to the envi-
ronment. For this reason you should make
regular checks on the ground underneath
your vehicle. If you find spots of oil or other
fluids, have your vehicle inspected in a speci-
alised workshop. Opening the bonnet
Read the additional information carefully
››› page 10
The bonnet is released from inside the vehi-
cle.
Before opening the bonnet ensure that the
windscreen wipers are in rest position. WARNING
Hot coolant can scald!
● Never open the bonnet if you see steam,
smoke or coolant escaping from the engine
compartment. ●
Wait until no more steam, smoke or coolant
is emitted from the bonnet, then carefully
open the bonnet.
● When working in the engine compartment,
always observe the safety warnings
››› page 166. Closing the bonnet
–
Slightly lift the bonnet.
– Release the bonnet stay and replace it in its
support.
– At a height of approximately 30 cm let it fall
so it locks.
If the bonnet does not close, do not press
downwards. Open it again and let it fall as
mentioned above. WARNING
If the bonnet is not closed properly, it could
open while you are driving and completely
obscure your view of the road. Risk of acci-
dent.
● After closing the bonnet, always check that
it is properly secured. The bonnet must be
flush with the surrounding body panels.
● If you notice that the bonnet latch is not se-
cured when the vehicle is moving, stop the
vehicle immediately and close the bonnet
properly. Risk of accident. 167Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety
The essentials

Emergencies
Wheel change Preparation work –
If you have a flat tyre or puncture, park the
vehicle as far away from the flow of traffic
as possible. Choose a location that is as
level as possible.
– All vehicle occupants should leave the ve-
hicle. They should wait in a safe area (for
instance behind the roadside crash barri-
er).
– Switch the engine off. Switch the hazard
warning lights on and place the warning tri-
angles in position.
– Apply the handbrake
firmly.
– En g
age the first gear , or put
the selector
lever to position P for those vehicles with
an automatic gearbox.
– If you are towing a trailer, unhitch it from
your vehicle.
– Take the vehicle tools and the spare wheel
out of
the luggage compartment. WARNING
● Switch on the hazard warning lights and
place the warning triangles in position. This
is for your own safety and also warns other
road users. ●
If you change the wheel on a slope, block
the wheel on the opposite side of the car with
a stone or similar to prevent the vehicle from
moving. Changing a wheel
Change the wheel as described below:
– Remove the hub caps or the integral trim .
– Sl ac
ken the wheel bolts .
– Rai
se the vehicle with the jack at the corre-
s pondin
g area.
– Remove the wheel and put on the spare
one.
– Lower the vehicle.
– Tighten the wheel
bolts firmly with the box
sp
anner.
– Replace the hub cap.
Aft
er changing a wheel –
Put the tools back in their storage location.
– Place the wheel with the defective tyre in
the luggage compartment and secure it.
– Check the tyre pressure of the newly fitted
tyre as soon as possible. –
Have the tightening torque of the wheel
bolts checked as soon as possible with a
torque wrench. The prescribed torque must
be 120 Nm. Note
● If you notice that the wheel bolts are corro-
ded and difficult to turn when changing a
wheel, they must be replaced before having
the wheel bolt tightening torque checked.
● For safety reasons, drive at moderate
speeds until the wheel bolt tightening torque
has been checked. Wheel covers*
Fig. 158
Remove the wheel cover. The wheel covers must be removed for access
to the wheel bolts.
»
183
Technical specifications
Advice
Operation
Safety
The essentials

Advice
Emergency locking and
unlocking Emergency opening of the rear lid Fig. 167
IBIZA/IBIZA SC: Unlocking the rear
lid manually. Fig. 168
IBIZA ST: Unlocking the rear lid man-
ually. This allows the vehicle to be opened if the
central locking does not work (for example, if
the battery is flat)
There is a groove in the luggage compart-
ment allowing access to the emergency
opening mechanism.
Opening the rear lid from inside the luggage
compartment
– Insert the key in the groove and unlock the
locking system, turning the key from right
to left, as shown by the arrow ››› Fig. 167 ,
› ›
› Fig. 168.
Manual release of the selector lever Fig. 169
Manual release of the selector lever. If there is a fault in the power system to the
electronic selector lever lock system (flat bat-
tery, blown fuse) or the system itself is faulty,
the selector lever cannot be moved from po-sition P in the normal manner, which pre-
vents the vehicle from being moved. The se-
lector lever must be unlocked using the man-
ual release.
– Apply the handbrake.
– Pull gently on both sides at the front of the
selector lever cover.
– Also loosen the cover at the rear.
– Press the yellow plastic part with your fin-
ger in the direction indicated by the arrow
››› Fig. 169 .
– Pr e
ss the interlock button on the selector
lever knob at the same time and move the
selector lever to position N (if the selector
l
ever is moved back to position P, it will
lock again).
192

Index
Front seat Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Front towline anchorage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Diesel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Petrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Fuel consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136, 209
Fuel level Indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Fuel tank Opening the fuel tank flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
see also Fuel reserve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
F uel
tank flap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Fuel: saving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25, 195 Fuse box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Identifying blown fuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Identifying by colours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Preparation before replacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
G Gear-change indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Gear lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Gear shift pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
General overview of the engine compartment . . 168
Glove compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Glove compartment light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Glow plug system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 control lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
H
Handbrake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 warning lamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Hazard warning lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 95
HBA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140 Head-on collisions and the laws of physics . . . . . 36
Headlight range control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Headlights
Driving abroad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
fog lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Headlight washer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Head restraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 adjusting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
angle adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
removing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Headrests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Head rests adjusting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
angle adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
removing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Heated exterior mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Heated front seats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Heated rear window heating element wires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Heating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 114
Heating system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
High pressure cleaners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Hill driving assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Horn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
How to jump start description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Hydraulic Brake Assist Automatic hazard warning lights activation . . 140
I
Identification plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Ignition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 123
Ignition key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Ignition lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 123
Importance of the correct adjustment of head re- straints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Instrument and switch lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Instrument lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Instrument panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Service interval display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Interior lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Interior rear vision mirror . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Interior view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
ISOFIX system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
J Jack Mounting points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Jump-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Jump leads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
K Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
L Leather cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Leaving Home Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Level control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Lifting the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Light Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 90 Automatic lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Load compartment in the luggage compartment see Loading the luggage compartment . . . . . 108
Lo
ading the luggage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Loading the vehicle luggage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Luggage compartment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 108 Fastening rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Luggage net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
see also Loading the luggage compartment . 108
L ug
gage compartment light . . . . . . . . . . . . 96, 207
232