Seat Leon

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ribena

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I test-drove a Seat Leon yesterday and loved it. Has anyone any experiences with Seat, the Leon in particular? I was looking at the 1.6 S model. There's a 1.4 due out in May but I don't think I want to wait until May. I have a 1.4 Golf at the moment.
 
Had an ibiza, very badly built compared to Polo . Dodgy electics , pedal mounting buckled behind the clutch because of build and bad welds , banjaxed clutch too, loads of grief geting them fixed under warranty . Radio banjaxed , same grief .

Thought dealers for seat were weak and under resourced compared to VW for servicing , small garages, bad parts stock , lots of 'have to get that in ' excuses during services .

Got golf instead of leon when I upgraded , very happy with it. Will not go back to Seat for crappier build quality even though they handle well on the road.
 
I haven't driven the new Seat Leon but I am currently driving a 3 year old 1.4 Leon and I really like it. Good handling and nice style. I have it almost 2 years and the only thing I have replaced was a rear calliper - but this was under the garages warranty.
Like the previous poster I have heard alot of bad reports about older Ibiza's. Having said that a friend of mine bought the newer model last year and is very pleased with it. I believe their reliability is much improved.
 
Don't do it. You will regret it, especially when it comes to time to change.
 
I would not recommend one based on my own experience.
I bought a 2001 Leon in 2002. At 46000 miles the gearbox and clutched had to be replaced. There had been numerous electrical faults previously which had been sorted under warranty. When gearbox failed the car was 4 months out of warrranty and had been serviced correctly. I thought that such a serious failure would generate some sort of goodwill gesture from the dealer or importer but they didn't want to know. Had no interest whatsoever of keeping my custom. End result was bill of €2500.

Now for resale value, I got a company Ford Focus and decided to sell the Leon. That took 7 months of advertising and droppong prices to €7200 for a 2001 1.4 Stella with 57000 miles and full service history(Plus new clutch and gearbox) No joy. Eventually was sick looking at the thing and sold it at auction for €6000 in Feb 05.

Oh yeah, it leaked also. Some sort of seals on the front doors were faulty and water would build up after rain and leak into the footwells. This wasn't really an issue till near the end of my time with it but apparently it's a common fault with them.

I'll never buy a Seat again. Overall I liked the car and if they had made some effort with the gearbox situation I wouldn't be so negative
 
Thanks guys, especially Baz05. I really wanted to hear from someone who had a Leon. Pity, it's a lovely looking car.
 
ribena said:
Thanks guys, especially Baz05. I really wanted to hear from someone who had a Leon. Pity, it's a lovely looking car.
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Hey ribena,

I picked up the new Leon there last week, so far so good. 1.6 engine is very nice, it is a very revy engine, even at low speeds but I think thats the way its tuned, sounds great though.

I too was not sure whether to wait for the 1.4 or not, but I found an ex-demo 05 for sale so went for it. I previously had a 2000 Ibiza and it never gave me any trouble!

If there is anything else you want to know just ask.

Cheers,
Finn
 
I got the R, the demo model had Seat alloys and metallic paint so the only thing I don't have that the S has is AC and fog lamps, I think.
For €3000 extra for the S, I'm not sure its worth it. I've never had AC so can live without it.


ribena said:
Thanks Finn, did you get the R or S model?
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