Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the city car segment and utilize the same 5-door hatchback body style and the front wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Volkswagen-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 75hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 3-cylinder, 12-valves 69hp engine designed by Daihatsu.

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the city car segment, which is generally not a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Toyota does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Seat with an average rating of 4.4, and models under the Toyota badge with 4.6 out of 5. The same official information place Ibiza as average reliability-wise, and Yaris is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as the Spanish car rank it on average as 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Seat is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.6 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 167 kilometers per hour, 12km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Japanese car, averaging around 4.3 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (66 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 14% difference compared to the Spanish car.

Toyota appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the Japanese car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Seat offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's not difficult to say then that if I'd need to make a choice, it would definitely be the Toyota. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.