SEAT Toledo (2013 - 2019) 1.2 TSI (110bhp) Style Advanced 5d Owner Review

First off, I'm not a greatly knowledgeable car person, and have little to no experience of "modern" cars as the car this replaced was 55 plate Nissan Almera. Looking for a larger family car, I considered several makes/models: Ford Focus Estate, Skoda Octavia, Seat Leon Estate, and finally the Toledo. In the used car market, for similar specs across those lines, similar miles and age, the Toledo was coming in £2k, or more, cheaper than all the others. So that was a big attraction to the car. £8.7k for a 65 plate with 21k miles, and the top trim level. I got the Style Advanced, which coming from an old Nissan Almera, seemed like the space age had hit me. Keyless operation, built in sat nav, front and rear parking sensors, media system, voice control, buttons and displays galore. The geek gadget side of me was impressed. A few teething problems getting the media to recognise the ID3 tags on my usb load mp3s aside, it all seems to be working well. The Sat-Nav isn't the most intuitive in operation, but it does the trick once you get through the more cumbersome than it needs to be interface. I've spent a while going through the manual and every set up option for each section to set the car up how I want it, and I'm quite happy with how it works. Driving is very smooth compared to what I was used to, with a light steering wheel and gear change. A lot quieter than my old 1.5 Almera. I can certainly feel a lot more power in the acceleration from this 1.2 TSI petrol engine, and the gear change indicators have me changing gears at different places than I would have otherwise, as with my old car the obvious power was in the 3k revs region, whereas here there seems to be plenty of oomph and drive in the 1-2k region too. So all in, I'm very pleased with the car, however there are some things that I don't like and would change if I could. Firstly, and the main one, is that everything in the centre column from the hand break up to the main display, is about 3 inches or so further down/back than it should be. The display is lower than ideal for quick glances when driving, likewise the air control buttons and knobs. But my main issue is that with the middle arm rest down, it actually blocks comfortable use of the hand brake. I have found myself having to lean forward a little, or at least move my shoulder and arm forward to grab the handbrake ok, with the arm rest down. So I've taken to driving with it up all the time now, to avoid it getting in the way. If it was 3 inches further forward, it would be fine, as with the armrest down, the position that feels like it would be the ideal place to have the handbrake handle gripping portion is exactly in the blank space between the handbrake and the gear stick. It just doesn't feel like this part of the design was thought about that well, and could easily have been improved. The other issue is that the lighter power socket is permanently on, even with the engine off. As I have a dashcam plugged in to it, it records all the time, so I have to remember to unplug it every time, which is frustrating, so I'm considering finding out about hard wiring it into the car's electrics on a part that will only come on when the engine is on. Anyway, my real world mpg seems to be averaging around the 44-46 region, which is a large step up from my old Almera's 32-34 region (and it had official figures of 42mpg), so I'm pleased with the fuel efficiency gain. The car doesn't have a premium internal feel, the plastics in the similarly specced Leon's for instance are softer and more premium in feel and look, but for a budget family car, with high spec, I can't complain too much. I've been happy with the purchase so far, and hopefully it'll do me for many years to come.