Used SEAT Altea Freetrack 4 review and buying guide (2007 to 2009): which one to buy and what to check

Which used SEAT Altea Freetrack 4 should you buy?

Buy one only if your driving suits the 2.0 TDI 170, because it was sold only between 2007 and 2009 and there's no year that's clearly better than another. It handles well on tarmac and off it, but the diesel's particulate filter soots up unless it's regularly taken above 3,000rpm, so it's the wrong car if most of your miles are short trips around town.

Pick the individual car on the state of its four-wheel-drive hardware rather than its age. Three owners have reported failures of the Haldex system or rear differential, two of them at 42,000 and 49,000 miles, so the one to buy is quiet and smooth from the back and comes with paperwork for any work done there.

Favour a car that's had the steel sump guard fitted. It was an optional extra, and going without one on a car that's been used off road is a costly gamble, so a Freetrack without the guard needs a careful look underneath before you agree a price.

Which Altea Freetrack 4 engines and gearboxes are the safe choices?

The 2.0 TDI 170 diesel isn't a sound choice unless you drive it hard enough to keep its particulate filter clean. It needs frequent spells above 3,000rpm, which makes it unsuitable for city centre driving, and one owner whose car did lots of short journeys from a cold start had DPF trouble again and again.

The parts that matter most behind the engine are the Haldex coupling and rear differential. One owner's Haldex controller failed at 49,000 miles on a 2009 car, another's rear diff went after a routine Haldex oil change, and a third lost both the rear diff and the Haldex clutch at 42,000 miles. That owner faced a £3,693 repair bill, and SEAT offered only part of it as goodwill.

On high-mileage cars, the turbo's worth listening to. One owner's began to fail at 165,000 miles, and the oil feed pipe was replaced along with the turbo itself. A UK recall replaced the Siemens piezo injectors on 2.0 TDI engines coded BMN built from 2006 to 2009, so check whether this car has that engine.

What should you check when viewing a used Altea Freetrack 4?

Look underneath before anything else: see whether the steel sump guard's there, and if it isn't, check the sump for dents and scrapes from off-road use. Then drive it far enough to warm the drivetrain through, listening and feeling for any noise or judder from the back, since the rear diff and Haldex clutch are the parts on test.

Ask how the car's been used day to day, since one that's lived on short trips from cold is the one to worry about. Get it onto a faster road and make sure no warning lights come on. One owner needed a new ABS module at just over three years old; the bill was £1,649, though SEAT covered most of it, so don't shrug off a lit ABS light.

Ask for receipts for any Haldex controller, Haldex clutch or rear diff work, and for proof the injector recall was done if the engine's a BMN. On a car with a big mileage, ask whether the turbo's been replaced and, if it has, whether the oil feed pipe was renewed at the same time.

Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.

What does a used SEAT Altea Freetrack 4 cost to run?