Seat Leon FR TDI? Opinions?

[Shorty]

What is your opinion on this car..?

I test drove two of these on Saturday. Both 56 plate mk2 Leon FR with the piezo injection VW 2.0l TDI engine. Lovely and quick, have to be honest I loved it

.. but seeing as my last car purchase has turned into a nightmare (Mk2 Focus that has now been in the garage 9 times in 4 months!).... if anyone has any experience with Seat reliability and TDI stuff, it would be helpful

I will say the FR looks the business in dark metallic grey. The one I have provisionally picked is fully loaded as well with 3000 miles on the clock, I just want to avoid buying another turkey like my Focus

[Nemeliza]

They look very nice, and 0-60 in 8.3s and 47mpg (combined) sounds like witch craft.

Did you test drive the standard 140bhp diesel?

What's been going wrong with the focus, niggles or serious failures?

IIRC doll has a Leon FR TDI, might be worth asking him what he thinks.

[davidstone28]

You'll definitely have an improvement over 9 times in 4 months....

I had a Golf V 2.0 TDI (140bhp?) and thought that the engine was excellent (if you can live with the non-linear power delivery of the diesel.) Bit clackety at idle, but it really can shift in the mid range. Ride quality was pretty poor though and you feel every bump, ridge and pothole in the road.

That Leon is going to even more barnstorming - 170bhp is certainly going to get you around, particularly with the mid-range thrust you'll get from that turbo. I'd be wary about that sports pack though - ride quality could be very tiring over 100s of miles. How much is a 56 plate going to cost you? £17,000?

Another alternative is to consider going for the non-FR TDi with the DSG box. Would make for an intriguing combination even if it doesn't have the flappy paddles.

On '56 plate, nothing really should be going wrong in first few years.

[Shorty]

Problems with the Focus:

3 x sets of replacement track rods due to constant creaks

1 x replacement steering rack due to terrible pulling to the left and very tough steering. Motorway journeys were terrifying.

2 x appointments for tracking following track rod replacements

4 x replacement "quick clear" windscreens (thanks to the dealer breaking the original one that worked and the others only clearing passenger side)

1 x front suspension mounts

1 x appointment for alarm going off every 20 minutes

.... 3-4 days at a time for most problems. Out of 124 days of ownership.. I have been carless for 21 days. Only once got a courtesy car which I had to return early because it was booked for someone else and they (I quote!) "hadn't had time" to look at my car!!!!

Do I think all Focus are like this.. ? No. I have two friends who haven't had a single problem with theirs. I just got a serious Friday afternoon built car. No faith left in them for me. Costing me a fortune as well

I did try the standard 140bhp with DSG. That gearbox is utter magic. Loved it but the FR was insanely good fun and the manual 6 is very slick. The Seat dealer was happy to let me take it for a two hour test drive and didn't find it tiring at all. Hit the M6, cruise control on. Fantastic and not as harsh a ride as I expected. That's another factor. None of this "10 minutes round the block with the salesman by your side". The dealer gave me the keys and said "bring it back in a couple of hours". Totally different experience!

I got a 56 FR with 3000 miles:

Zenith Metallic Grey
IPOD connection
Climate Control
ABS/ESP/Traction Control .. usual driver aids
Bluetooth / MP3 stereo (8 speakers)
Sports seats
Auto headlights/wipers/dimming rear view mirror
All the usual touches
Rear parking sensors

For £16000

It's the right price and it's immaculate. I just wanted to be sure that no one had heard any horrendous horror stories. All my google searches rave about the car with no real problems (including on the main Seat user forum).

Fingers crossed and roll on Thursday!

... and yes. It pulls like a train and once it's in 2nd.. my god... the grin is HUGE!

[Russ]

daft question, but.. has it got to be a diesel?

[davidstone28]

Have a look at this thread as well. Doubt that it's likely to apply to you unless you're planning to keep the car forever and plan to run it to an intergalactic mileage.

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.p...ghlight=diesel

[Shorty]

Russ.. my average mileage has gone from about 10,000 miles a year to about 25,000 a year. This is because my new job/promotion means lots more site to site travel. Plus the insurance group is lower for the fast diesel than the fast petrol

David.. thanks for that information. I choose to stay away from the common rail injection because I have heard they aren't the most reliable units. I am led to believe that the piezo injectors in the VAG units are more reliable

[chrestomanci]

I have a Seat Toledo TDi, and have had it for the past 2 years or so. It has been reliable and I have not had any major problems, though it did need the turbo replaced under waranty. (I did not notice, it was only picked up at a routine service)

I should emphasise that this is not a hot hatch, it is a large family car, and I have not been thrashing it.

[schmunk]

Shorty - It sounds like your Focus was the archetypal 'Friday afternoon' car, and the dealer service sounds terrible.

It houldn't happen again in the SEAT, but if so you should look into your rights under the Sale of Goods Act (allows rejection of goods or compensation within 6 years of purchase if they are not 'as described, fit for purpose and of satisfactory quality'.

[doll]

IIRC doll has a Leon FR TDI, might be worth asking him what he thinks.

I have indeed!

I got a 56 FR with 3000 miles:

Zenith Metallic Grey
IPOD connection
Climate Control
ABS/ESP/Traction Control .. usual driver aids
Bluetooth / MP3 stereo (8 speakers)
Sports seats
Auto headlights/wipers/dimming rear view mirror
All the usual touches
Rear parking sensors

For £16000

Sounds like a good deal, you've got a grands worth of extras there to. Good colour as well



Mine has been good...I rolled over 8000 miles this morning and have had trouble free motoring so far! Everything is solid, there are no rattles or creaks yet. The DPF light came on a couple of weeks after I had it, took it down to the dealer and they ran it as per the manual (not a fan of reading those myself you see lol) and the light cleared and hasn't been on since.

Im really pleased with it and for a Derv it moves exceptionally well. I really like the style, but people have said to me that it is an ugly car. I actually prefer the 17's on the car as well, they are very unique and are also gun metal in colour. I like the rarity to...every other car is a focus, a corsa, a vectra etc, you don't see many Mk II Leon's! She's averaging around 42 mpg with my brisk style of driving lol!

Any questions, feel free to ask

[Shorty]

Doll...

Damnnnnnnnnnnn that looks so good. I want it now! Friday seems forever away... boooooo!

Well the comments all seem to be very positive to me, so here is hoping

[Lowe]

You'll love it.

I can't help but wanting to see Doll's decked though, that would make it perfect.

[dangel]

I'm not so keen on the new Leon's (i have the older model) - it's not that it's a bad car but it's annoying that they have 3 cars which basically look the same (Altea/toledo/leon) and the interior is a huge step downmarket for SEAT (the older one basically got an Audi A3-derived interior). The exterior hasn't entirely sold me either - although in no way is it ugly - but i do like the FR with the optional bodykit on it a bit more (it looks much more purposeful with it). SEAT have pretty much admitted they got things a bit wrong with rehashing the same design (all 3 cars are derived from the same concept car) and interesting Walter De Silva (head of design) has moved on (again - he was at alfa - hence the influences).

The FR makes a lot of sense tho (if you like 'em!) - the Cupra is silly money (20k) - and the TDI even more so (and they chip rather well so i'm told). I pretty much bought mine on the back of it being a better drive and cheaper money than the Golf - that isn't really true this time around.

No disrespect to the owner(s) of them - just my reasons for not upgrading to another SEAT this time around.

[Tumble]

Second gear huh? I had a similar experience in a TDi Passat estate... 1st is strong, but second snaps your neck if you're not careful!! My brother called it "nutter gear" loved it

I think the Leon looks quite tasty too - better than the old one and that was alright as it was

[Richdog]

I really don't like the new designs on the Leons... think they look horrible imo.

To me this is the ONLY SEAT Leon which will ever look decent...



I plan to buy a petrol Cupra very soon, in the next few months even. Can't wait.

[s_kinton]

I really like the new Leon styling, much more modern and sporty looking than the previous style. I didnt like the new style at first, but now I prefer it.

Ive recently (in the last 6 months) had an 04 plate Leon, 54 plate Civic Sport, 07 plate Focus and just now an 07 Golf - all company cars, as I recently hit my 60k limit on the Leon, got a Civic for 2 months and then changed jobs. Got the Focus as a temporary car for a month whilst my Golf was being sourced.

Anyway, all in all:

Leon, petrol: The interior was comfortable and had a good solid reliable feel, no real issues in the 18months I had it. I wouldnt have any hesitations on getting a Leon again.

Civic Sport, petrol: Very nippy and lots of fun to drive. However, the interior looked very cheap compared to the Leon, with lots of silver plastic, it also wasnt as smooth to drive as the Leon.

Focus TDCi: Very smooth and easy drive, as diesels are. Got a combined mpg of 44 according to the trip computer. I only got a basic model as it was a temp car, but the interior was not too bad considering. Didnt have it long enough to see any of the problems you listed above Shorty.

Golf 2.0 TDi: Great car, comes with an ipod dock, alloys, cruise control etc etc, obviously it depends on the model you choose. I picked black and it looks great. Again very smooth, but havent really had chance to go any great distance in it yet.


I think you've made the right choice. Post some pics and a mini review when you collect it on Friday.