Looking at changing my bike wagon and a Seat Exeo caught my eye (with the 2.0 petrol TSi engine – 200 bhp :-)) I know it’s the old Audi A4 underneath but has anyone got/had one and if so – what were your impressions? – good and bad. Anything in particular I should look out for when buying second-hand? Any responses appreciated!

I’ve got the diesel 143 saloon version which I like very much ; can’t give you any advise on the petrol version but you will find some info on the following site http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/

Yeah. Check out my forum 🙂

I’d have had the car you described but I couldn’t find one at the time so have an Altea with the engine

It’s ok if it’s had oil and not been thrashed and the cam follower changed (easy fit)

Then remap it. In fact you’ve got my trawling autotrader now

Thanks Joe and m0rk! m0rk – is the cam follower change you mentioned a preventative maintenance item or a performance upgrade?

The face-lift ones (post 2012) are VAGs 4th stab at getting that model right and theres pretty much nothing model-specific they goes wrong with them. Diesels seem bombproof so far (common rail, not the PD ones the A4 got) I don’t know much about the petrol ones other than they’re fast – it’s the same engine VAG uses right across the range so faults should be well known.

As for the car itself, they’re great to drive – it’s got A6 dervived suspension so rides and handles better than when it was an A4, they generally get loads of kit, my diesel has got dual climate, leather, sat nav, Bose, reversing sensors etc etc.

Downsides, the boot isn’t massive for an estate, it’s smaller than the saloon boot for example, there’s not a huge amount of leg room in the back.

Oh and the depreciation, they’re not well known and people won’t pay a huge amount for them – we paid 12k for mine a few years ago – it was parked next to an older A4 estate, without half the toys, more miles and the PD engine, that way 14k.

Great news when you’re buying it, a bit of a pain when you’re ready to change, it can take months to sell them privately.

Mine did Calias to Morzine, 4 up with bikes on the roof in 1 tank, I suspect a turbo petrol won’t 😉

Oh, and the ‘interface’ on the sat-nav ones is just stupid, it’s unfathable, fiddly and not easy to read. Even after 18 months I’d never dare try to program it whilst driving, I’d just crash.

Thanks P-Jay! I’m looking at a ’10 plate, 59k, FSH and looks mint for £6k – sound about right or a little pricey?

Cam follower is preventative maintenance

I thought the later 2.0 TSI engines had cam chains so shouldn’t need cam follower doing. If it is a chain engine watch for very high oil use – Audi A4/A5s are bad for this and need new pistons to fix. And if convenience ECU is under passenger seat like an A4 make sure the locking/electric windows work as the ECU gets wet and dies.

I’ve got the 143 diesel and love it. Super comfy on long trips. Manchester – Nequay easy without a stop. As above zero legroom in the back if the driver is tall and the boot isn’t massive but I can still get two bikes (wheels off) in the back with loads of room to spare.

It handles well. I’ve had a bit of uneven tyre wear apparently due to the independent rear suspension. The last guy who fitted new tyres said just to make sure tyre pressure is exactly as stated and it should be fine.

Personally I’d make sure the stereo has the Mmi interface, and sat nav. It’s an expensive retrofit and whilst you can run music from a sub stick I’d prefer to have my old iPhone in there.

Other than that, they’re awesome and significantly cheaper than a much older Audi equivalent.

@essexbiker it’s a huge amount of car for 6k – I doubt you’d get a Leon or a Golf with that engine for that money.

It’s hard to say if it’s on par for price though, you’ll have to check out autotrader.

I wish I’d gone for a petrol, I was skint when I got it so MPG was everything, my diesel isn’t slow by any means, once you get used to the long gears and avoid the redline it flies, but the petrol of noticeably faster. 55mpg gives me more money for crumpets I guess ha ha.

Thanks all – I took the plunge and picked it up earlier this week. Managed to get for a lower price. So far, so good

Happy days !

windydave13 – Member

It handles well. I’ve had a bit of uneven tyre wear apparently due to the independent rear suspension. The last guy who fitted new tyres said just to make sure tyre pressure is exactly as stated and it should be fine.

Bit late to the party here, but this uneven tyre wear – is it a wavy wear pattern on the inside edge?
I get that with my Ibiza & my garage reckon it can be common on certain VAG group cars.
I only get it with Kumho tyres though, so don’t use them anymore and don’t have the problem. Worth trying a different brand of tyres and seeing if the problem goes away.
When I was using Kumho’s on mine, there was tons of tread left on the rears but I had to swap them as the uneven wear was causing a horrendous ‘bearing drone’ type rumble.

but this uneven tyre wear – is it a wavy wear pattern on the inside edge?
I get that with my Ibiza & my garage reckon it can be common on certain VAG group cars.

Its inside edge on the rear. Never looked to see if its wavy or not. I’ve tried Dunlops, Michelin and cheap none branded tyres and had the same problem.
I’ve been a bit more concious about tyre pressure this time round so hopefully they won’t wear too badly

sawtoothing? its a bit of a problem on some VAG cars, although usually the torsion beam setups, not so much on the multilink. chose tyres with out such defined snipes and blocks and it is less likely, or just rotate your tyres more regularly and it will even out the wear.

The same engine as the Leon 2.0TFSI?

If so it has a rabid oil thirst (but I think ^ is 170bhp

Watchdog are doing an item next week about the high oil usage on the TFSi Audi engines.

Vag engines do tend to burn oil but some of the recent tsi engines have been total screw ups. The CAVE 1.4 TSI. (Polo gti, fabia vrs, seat Ibiza cupra) had shocking issues on some…litres every 1000km. I was just reading they may finally have a fix that works….. Oil spray jets get changed to smaller ones so the pistons run hotter, expanding to fit the cylinders better.

Isn’t part of it because on the TFSI engines, the injectors need to be lubricated. As the petrol doesn’t do this, they burn a bit of oil??

My old Peugeot HDI used to go through phases of burnign oil. Some months it would drink a litre and then it would be fine for another 11months till the next service.

Bit late to the party here, but this uneven tyre wear – is it a wavy wear pattern on the inside edge?
I get that with my Ibiza & my garage reckon it can be common on certain VAG group cars.

I noticed this on my Passat when I put summers back on different corners. But I think this was mostly due to a broken spring which I think went at least one MOT without being picked up.

Isn’t part of it because on the TFSI engines, the injectors need to be lubricated. As the petrol doesn’t do this, they burn a bit of oil??

What are the service intervals across these engines? I doubt longterm heavy oil use would be good for any engine especially when its been through the hands of people that you don’t know how its been monitored – if at all and been run low. etc etc.

Hmmmmm this and the BXE engine codes issue. Makes you wonder about modern VAG engines.