We are here considering two somewhat similar cars, but we can't deny some of the obvious differences. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the Seat being a small family car and the Audi representing large family car vehicle class. Both the engines are Audi-engineered . The first one has a 4-cylinder, 20-valves 180hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 20-valves 150hp one.

The fact that the Audi got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, isn't really an advantage, taken the poor 3-star rating it received. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. The second vehicle is a large family car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the small family car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, the Spanish car offers a marginal difference of 6% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Seat does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of Seat with an average rating of 4.5, and models under the Audi badge with 4.2 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Toledo as average reliability-wise, and A4 15% below the first one. That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Spanish car rank it on average as 4.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.5 out of 5.

Seat is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.3 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 229 kilometers per hour, 8km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 8.2 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (34 mpg), in combined cycle.

Seat 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 German car offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. From there things take a different direction, with Seat being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say Audi. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.