[Closed] Seat Leon ???

Got an 08 FR TDI. Love it, plenty of oomph for a bit of fun, nicer (i think) inside than the VW, less black/function over form but still well put together. Got 80K on the clock and never missed a beat, DPF isnt a problem as long as you do some motorway mileage once a week. Boot is a decent size and with the seats down can get two/three bikes in with the wheels off. FR ride is a bit harsh, esp with 18" alloys, but regular models far less so. Basically its a golf with a nice hat on. 😀

Wrong forum but...

Probably about right re your assumptions. Made the same choice a few years ago and bought an 08 2.0tdi. Had it nearly 4 years. Apart from a pump for the traction control giving up it has been a good car.

Little basic inside but I figure i should be looking at the road when driving so not an issue. I find it comfortable and it drives well and pretty economical.

I've got a 60 plate petrol FR. They facelifted the model in 09 so its got a slightly better interior, better suspension and a more powerful engine than the older FRs

Its got 207 HP and goes like stink. Its a MkVI Golf GTI in a different body.

I bought it with 11k miles on the clock 6 months ago for £11k, equivalent GTIs were 17K plus!

Interior is fine, seats are great, dual zone climate, parking sensors, fancy xenons that point round corners, bluetooth, USB media.

Mind you it doesn't have a flocked glove box or a centre armrest so I've nowhere to keep all the money I saved over buying a Golf!

2.0 TDI can be troublesome/expensive

Mine was. The DPF was involved but not what I believe was the root cause. Ran out of money before I could find out what that was.

When it went it was a v. nice, fun car though but unless you do mega motorway miles a petrol is probably a better bet

A friend had an '07 FR diesel which was fun to drive. He had problems with the tracking though - the rear was out. Apparently it was a production glitch, but worth knowing about.

The obvious other alternative to a Golf is an Octavia, which has a bigger boot than both the Golf and the Leon.

I have had a 56 plate 1.6 petrol for the last 2 / 3 years.

Nice dependable car, the engine's not particularly efficient and AFAIK its just a slightly larger version of the engine that was in my '96 Ibiza.

I got the one thats just up from base spec but seems to have quite a few upgrades out of the catalogue - trying to determine which one it is on Parker's is difficult.

I like it, it looks different (less so now) and has most of the stuff you'd want, however the boot door shape is awkward and there's a lot of plastic in the dashboard, which is OK but the main section between steering wheel and windscreen is quite shiny so reflects off the inside of the screen in very bright weather. Polarising sunglasses gets rid of this though.

2011 1.2tsi Leon here, by far the best car ive ever had!
Bluetooth, cruise control, DAB radio, sat nav, auto start/stop, a/c, 6 speed and loads more lovely stuff. I thought a 1.2 would be to small an engine for the size of car but its turbocharged and supercharged and has kenetic energy recovery to help boost power too, never felt under power

2.0 tdi sport 58 plate and 65k here, nice and nippy. We've had it a year and no major problems yet. The 'sport' means larger alloys and overly firm suspension. I miss the centre arm rest for motorway cruising.

Approx low 40's mpg but have had over 50 on a motorway run.

I spent a long time looking at them, but ended up with an 07 civic instead. Maybe consider that as an option? Mine has cruise, leather heated seats, full length sunroof etc, and was £5.5k with 30k miles on it. 1.8i, gets about 40 mpg.

I work for VAG so get the luxury of a new car every 6 months. I have had 2 of the older shape Leon fr's (normal fr and fr+) and also currently got a new shape fr. The old shape Leon is a good car. Get loads of kit on the fr, chassis is great, handling is great and performance really good too, only had the 170 diesel engines and it is really punchy, will spin the wheels easy through 1st, 2nd, 3rd... Only real criticism is the pre face lift ones look a bit dated inside and don't use the best materials but the facelift ones are much improved. The ride is a bit crashy with the suspension setup on the car but you will soon get used to it. If you can stretch to the fr+ it comes with xenons, sat nav, parking sensors and bluetooth. If you do low mileage you may get problems with the dpf failing but other than that it's a great car.

I prefer them to Golfs. They look better and are less common. Golfs are boring IMO.

Only issue we had was electrical, could have happened to any car and the specific issue we had rarely happens to Leons.

I have the new MK3 Leon FR and it's good.

Coming from a BMW E91 330d it's a good car and not too much of a trade down.

Mine is punchy and handles very well for FWD and is good for space.

MPG is averaging 48mpg mainly around town.

Interior is good and I would say nearly as good as my BMW and the new MK7 Golf BUT below eye line materials change in quality going from soft touch to scratchy plastic but how often do I touch the plastic whilst driving????

Spec is excellent and about £4000 cheaper than equivalent Golf or 1 Series.

Mine has:

LED Lights
Sat Nav - SD Card, touchscreen
DAB
Bluetooth music and phone
Fr and Rr parking sensors with pilot guide
Climate
Start stop
USB
Auto lights and wipers
150bhp diesel 6spd
Sports Seats
Driver Profile
£20 per year tax

Good car overall.

Had a Mk1 Leon from new (bought 2002).

Been a great car, still got it although it's somewhat tired now!

I do around 15 - 20,000 rural miles a year with the odd trip and weekend runs, most trips sub 20 miles though.

What engine would you recommend in Leon, bearing in mind it's pretty hilly where I live?

Good cars, noticeably cheaper interiors than other VAG cars but usually not as dull either. "A" posts on the Leon create a big blind spots which you get used to and start to look around when pulling out of junctions.

Replaced a camshaft and a set of followers on one, bad batch of hardening on camshafts. Some are also prone to injector faults, thankfully most of these have been sorted, and the price of injectors for affected models is now a lot lower.

59 plate Altea 2.0tdi 140. Nippy engine, no problems here although only on 50k.

Had a new 1.6 diesel as a courtesy car for a couple of weeks. All mod cons were great and economy was fantastic but bloody boring to drive. I like a car to be slightly more urgent and as I only do about 8k a year I'm not too fussed about economy.

2010 SEAT Leon Ecomotive 1.6 Diesel.

Owned from new, done 45,000 miles in it.

Never get less than 60mpg & between 800-900 miles to a tank.

Road noise is noticeable but not off putting.

Comfort is more reasonable than the sportier FR or Cupra models.

Been through one set of tyres so far (the P7's supplied from new aren't that great). I've not a set of goodyear efficient grip's which are a little bit quieter and just as economical.

As mentioned, the A pillar is a bit of a nause as its large, same as the rear window.

Bootspace is adequate enough I've found. With the rear seats down you can fit two bikes in (front wheel off on one).

Brothers other half had one since 2009 (07 plate I think). FR 2.0 TDI 170. Had issues with DPF due to mainly short journeys and a troublesome ECU.