Forum menu
As per the title, realistically the Mazda is more in my price range but I read a new Leon is being released so the old one might drop. How much will they likely drop? Grand.
I’ve currently got a fiesta titanium, which bar a few things is everything I’d want in terms of interior and features. My only gripe is it’s a bit gutless. Is the 1.5 Fr engine up to much or is the 1.8 a better choice.
Where I live is flat I’m interested if people drive these in the hills for when I go cycling. At the moment my friends do the driving as my fiestas not going to like snowdonia national park.
I’ll cycle to work when the office reopens.
Anything else considered, I’m not really a car man.
Also reliability is a must, which makes me think Mazda.
Somebody posted up a link this week to a Leon FR 150 estate for I think £18k, brand new...
Was just about to mention that Leon deal...
Here, assuming it's still going:
I've got a 2009 Mazda 3, 1.6 petrol engine. It's a great little thing, comfortable enough, never really goes wrong.
Only thing I'd change is I wish it was a bit more powerful. But I'm expecting plenty more years out of it, and I'm not really a Car Person so I can live with it it being a bit gutless.
Are you looking new or used?
I'm going to view an 18 plate FR estate tomorrow but looking at the 150 diesel rather than petrol.
If you are also considering the Mazda 3, I guess you are looking at hatchbacks rather than estates?
I was also looking at the new Civic and Mazda 3 before ruling out hatchbacks and concentrating on estates.
I'm not sure about the boot in the Mazda, but in the Leon hatchback there was an annoyingly deep lip - one of the things that put me off it.
The new Mazda 3 looks great (as does the previous generation) although I've never been in one.
I had a poke around the new Honda Civic which was very nice in the latest SR spec, but again got ruled out as there's no estate version.
A colleague I lift share with (well until lockdown) has a Seat Ateca with the 1.5 petrol engine. It's perfectly fine, but I think the Ateca is quite heavy so it feels a bit blunt. I don't know, but suspect in the Leon it should be a bit more suited.
ditto @Doris5000. Was a bit noisy when I first got it but put some Cross Climates on and was much better. Great little motor. Can only think the latest version would be even better but keeping my old one as I like the quirky look of it.
I have a 2007 Mazda 3 Sport (2.0l petrol) owned from new. It has been pretty reliable, apart from a known issue with the DSC (Google it, it is a very common fault of Mazda 3s and 6s of that age) which I had a battle with Mazda about as ours failed about 3 months out of warranty and they didn't want to know (eventually got them to contribute 50% of the £1,200 bill).
It's nearing the end of its life now (getting a bit rotten underneath apparently) but its never had anything more than expected bills (brake pads, suspension bits n bobs, batteries etc).
We had a 2007 Mazda3 1.6 for 7 years. The only issue was alloy wheels that were made of cheese and they were replaced under warranty with no questions as it was such known problem. Not stunning performance, but did motorway commutes with ease- I guess there's less chance of getting points. Based in the SE it didn't encounter much in the way of hills.Only reason I sold the car was due to a company car.
One thing to check is insurance - for a relatively tame car it was quite high. When I queried it the response was that it was based on the cost of spares and lead time getting them. A comparative spec Focus would have been much cheaper. This was a while back tho'.
How often do you go to the hills for cycling? I'd base your purchase on what you need it to do 90% of the time rather than for the odd jolly where something bigger etc would be nice.
17 plate Leon FR Tech here with the 150 bhp 1.4 petrol turbo engine. Plenty of oomph in my opinion but most of the miles that I do in it are for work so its just me and its not loaded up with kit.
Nice to drive and is basically an Audi A3 / Golf underneath but with a different finishing kt.
Being the FR Tech it came with a lot of stuff as standard which needed to be added into the Golf and A3 from memory to achieve a similar spec. It's a company car - when the lease arrangement ends I'll look at getting the newer version if it's available through the scheme.
We’ve got a 2014 Mazda 3, so first of the more recent shape, from new. 2 litre 120bhp ‘Sport Nav’ petrol version. It’s a really nice car, all the toys you’d need, heated leather seats etc, but weirdly no DAB radio. They’re since started fitting them.
Can’t see us changing it until it’s at least 10 years old. It’s never had anything go wrong with it, sips petrol, and costs 30 quid a year to tax.
'18 Leon FR ST 1.4 petrol here. I love it. Solid, comfortable, nice infotainment with android auto etc. Not a rocketship but enough punch to have fun. Also (and this is a bit sad) the LED headlights are brilliant.
Both sound favourable, at least the 1.4 isn’t terrible. A friend has a 1.6 Volvo v40 which he says has no grunt although he was coming from a golf 2.0 tdi
I’ve not got £18k haha! Closer to half that depending how much I want to put on CC
I love driving my Leon Estate. It's 2.0 diesel 150 engine has loads of grunt and will go up some crazy inclines on tick over. Yet given plenty of stick still gives great fuel economy. I think my long term reading is 54mpg. 4 years of ownership and about to get the aircon topped up and that's all I have spent on it.
2 years old auction buy with 20k at less than 1/2 price.
There are two versions of the 1.5 (was 1.4 until about a year ago) engine. One has 125 or 130, the other has 150.
I test drove an estate with the 1.4 150hp and was really impressed with it. A friend has a hatch with the 125 version and seems happy with it. I've also just remembered I tried a 3 door hatch with the 125 engine and it felt a lot perkier than the 125hp 1.0 'ecoboost' ford alternative in a focus
Not sure what age your looking at but the ACT tech was pretty intresting when I looked at the Ibiza last year.
My mum has a 1.2 Ibiza Fr (year of use so far) and I've the 2l Leon ST (150), had it two and a half years and it's been solid bar two front shocks.
What’s ACT tech? Also do I want DSG or more to go wrong
Love my Leon FR. Got the 2 litre petrol 190 after having the 184 diesel last time.
Just does everything well. All the toys you could want. Pretty rapid when you need it to be.
I have the DSG but TBH I leave it in full auto all the time
I've got the new Mazda 3.
NIce car, got enough gadgets to keep you happy. 2 litre engine too so will shift (though its meant to be a low stress unit that doesn't have a turbo - I get a decent lmpg out of it).
Head up dispay is nice.
Downsides, well I came from a Quasqai (no laughing at the back there) so I think the rear and rear 3/4 visability is atrocious. Really have to rely n rear view camera and any bongs and beeps it makes when things are close. Daughter doesn't like sitting in the back as the windows are small and high up.
Would I buy again? tricky. I think its a really nice quality car, great to look at especialy in the Soul Red signature Mazda colour but next one will have to be a bit higher riding for me as my folks can't really get into the Mazda very well (its very low for them).
Main downside for me is the boot is very narrow width wise. I can't get my road bike in without front wheel and seatpost out (with seats folded).
Just sold my 2017 Leon ST FR. It's a great car and I used it to commute down the M8 everyday. But as I can't see me returning to the office any time soon and we have child number 2 imminently arriving, we're getting a Touran instead (same engine and spec pretty much).
DSG box is very smooth, but occasionally crunched changing down into 3rd gear (might have just been my particular car). It wasn't very good in snow either. But the power delivery the auto box gave, made it feel like an electric car.
Technology pack on the FR is brilliant.
Cant help with the Mazda/Seat discussion but I do have a Golf with DSG. Strictly speaking it's not an automatic but more like a pre selector in operation. It "predicts" the next gear you require and selects it before you need it - it can do this because in effect it's two gearboxes side by side with two clutches. End result is that its capable of changing gear in 1/100 of a second which is pretty impressive and the shifts are seamless. As there is no torque converter the fuel economy is very good, as good if not better than a manual.
Also it means you dont lift your foot off the throttle when accelerating hard 🙂
Given todays traffic I wouldn't go back to a manual.
I have a 2017 Mazda 3 SportNav with the 2.0 165ps petrol engine.
Have had it from new with the intention of running it for 7/8/9 years so depreciation isn't too much of a worry. This is till the plan.
I've done about 54k miles in it so far and definitely rate it.
Will quite happily sit on the motorway all day with 4 bikes on the roof and 4 adults plus luggage inside and still has plenty left to overtake. Handles very nicely on twisty roads.
XL Krampus will easily fit in the boot with front wheel off and seats down.
I find it comfy and quick enough without being ridiculous. Insurance is well under £350/year based on 20k miles. I like the uncluttered interior design and driving position.
Servicing is't eye watering at the main dealers, around the £150 mark on average.
The only real downsides are the electronic handbrake (just not a fan of them in general, nothing the matter with the Mazda one per-se) and that tyres are a bit pricey but I got 35k miles out of a pair of fronts so I'm not overly concerned.
Would happily have another one.
Another Mazda 3 owner here; 2017 2.0 SE Nav petrol. Got it pre-registered from Arnold Clark, one the largest Scottish dealers - the deal was a no-brainer.
A very relaxing drive and I do like Mazda's philosophy of putting the right engine in the car; bigger engine, non-turbo, for that size - so isn't at all frantic or stressed. Get 42mpg on average, and thats using my OCD spreadsheet not what the car thinks, including swapping over to steel rims and winter tyres from October to April.
I wholly second what @wombat says about the handling; reviews always said that it had great 'turn in'.
Would happily stick with Mazda; I did in fact start considering the new one just before lockdown as they were again offering tempting deals but I think I'll keep this one for a few years now I've paid for it.
I have a 2017 Mazda 3 SportNav with the 2.0 165ps petrol engine.
I’ve done about 54k miles in it so far and definitely rate it.
:-O
Ours is a 2007 (owned from new) and we've only done 59k 😂
I've a 2016 Mazda3 2.0 Sport Nav, it's a pleasant enough place to sit with a fair few toys, and I like the styling. I'd prefer a smidge more oomph out of it but in all honesty it's nippy enough and at £30 annual tax it's hard to complain. With the seats folded I can get a bike in with only the front wheel removed.
The only issue I've had with it is the auto-stop-start doesn't seem to want to work this year, although that seems a fairly common issue and may be a sign that the battery isn't holding as much capacity as when new.
I have a 65 plate 1.4 litre Leon FR Tech. Lovely car to drive and more poke than you need. My biggest complaint is the interior finishing is a big cheap e.g tiny bits of the steering wheel covering have come off and the plastic side bolsters on the seats are very thin. The newer models may not have these issues.
I test drive both before I got a Golf GTD.
Mazda was nice enough and loaded with gadgets. Petrol needed some revs to perform. The Leon by contrast was a 1.4 turbo and had a lot more torque.
I liked them both but if I had to choose I’d probably go Leon partly because there were such good deals on them.
I now have a Mini Clubman Coooer SD.Drives well and a bit quirkier .
64 plate 150 tsi leon fr estate, lovely to drive, doesn't feel like a big car, handling better that the v70 and octavia estate that preceeded it. Managed 4 of us (kids 12 and 9) and four bikes hanging off the back to annecy last summer fine, I get between 50 to 58 mpg according to the car computer depending on speed of driving mainly. I enjoy driving it around the cumbrian roads, boot not huge but will swallow my road bike whole with seats down.
Neither Mazda 3 nor Leon, but a used Alfa Giulietta gets you a lot for your money in the same size bracket as those 2.
I've got a Leon 1.8 TFSI DSG
Lovely car to drive but I do find the drivers seat a bit unconformable on long journeys.
The DSG gearbox is great when moving but can be a bit jerky/laggy at slow speeds/setting off.
The performance from the engine is spot on though.
The DSG gearbox is great when moving but can be a bit jerky/laggy at slow speeds/setting off.
Yup - I have always disliked the DSG gearbox - I have never understood how anyone can like it.
Have 16 plate Leon fr bph diesel 2.0. More than enough poke for every day driving/traffic light wrong lane Grand Prix/over taking on country lanes. I have the three door which does make rear leg room tighter but I don’t tend to have others people with me. I like the dsg, it might be worth going into the car setting and playing around as mine have the sports steering but with some (but not all) eco modes selected and it seams to make it more smoother and better around town (no clutch kicking in and out as you coast).
Alfa is an interesting shout I’d save money on the initial purchase, tax is a bit more. I imagine they’ve improved a lot as they had/have a bad reputation.
1.5 seat is my favourite as cheapest after initial purchase. Though I could save thousands with the Alfa
Yeah on the Alfa I've done the standard STW thing of just recommending what I have - but I like it!
The 1.4 170hp one with 18 inch wheels just feels more like a sports car to drive than the Golf GTI, BMW 1 Series IMO. It makes some noise, the gearstick vibrates when the engine revs etc. It's fun. But stick it in normal mode and it's tame and easy to drive off the clutch in traffic.
It feels premium, but was actually cheaper than a used Polo of the same age/mileage would cost so I'm happy to fill it with bike/dog/sprog/combination thereof.
I bought my first Mazda 3 last year, its an 2011 model but it only had 24k on the clock as it was previously owned by an old lady who had it from new, immaculate condition.
I do like it, plenty of knobs and buttons to play with, the only thing I just wish it had a bit more power, its only a 1.6, still a nice car to drive though.
Forgot to say my 2.0 diesel is only £20 road tax a year.
Probably not much help, but I believe there’s a Mazda3 turbo being unleashed this year...
I’ve driven most Mazdas and Seats, but only for a few hours at a time, so I can’t comment on long-term liveability.
Yup – I have always disliked the DSG gearbox – I have never understood how anyone can like it.
Admittedly I haven’t driven many and I may have got used to it after a longer drive but the last Octavia hire car was awful. I found myself not knowing if I was about to pull away at a roundabout or not. My old school auto is much more pleasant and predictable.
I’d definitely recommend an extended test drive before deciding on DSG.
AS for the Leon, get the one with the 1.8 TFSI engine, the same as in our Polo GTI, it goes very well 😁