Seat Leon - To Buy or Not To Buy!

mags16 · 23-09-2007 8:36pm #1

I might be getting a Seat Leon '02 for €6750. Price includes trade in for my old banger. Low mileage. 3 month warranty. Is that a good deal? What are Seat like? Or should I go Japanese?

HungryJoey · 23-09-2007 8:43pm

Have a seat Leon A year and a half now ( 1.4 Spirit ) Not one problem with it. Its based on the MK4 golf and shares the same dash as the old A3 so reliability isn't too much of an issue. Never one issue with it. Power wise its fairly average, nothing to exciting as its a 74BHP 1.4L engine. If possible I would try stretch to one of the 1.9 TDI engines. For a 5-6 Year old car, it still looks pretty good IMO and I do and will always prefer the MK1 Leon. I don't like the new Leons for some reason.

What car are you trading in your self? Sounds a tad' bit on the pricey side especially if its including a trade-in.

Hj

mags16 · 23-09-2007 8:51pm

My own car is a 91D mazda 323. Not the prettiest but goes like a dream. Mileage is around the 150k mark. So if the trader is happy to give me a few quid for it, I'm happy. By the way, this Leon is 1.4l.

HungryJoey · 23-09-2007 8:53pm

My own guess is you're not going to find this the quickest. Coming from the 323 that is probably a little lighter. Other then that, it's a nice upgrade. They're quite comfy, feel solid on the road and combined with that, Few reliability issues.

Hj

colm_mcm · 23-09-2007 9:08pm

HungryJoey wrote:

Its based on the MK4 golf and shares the same dash as the old A3 so reliability isn't too much of an issue.
Hj

The Mk4 Golf isn't exactly renowned for reliability, and while the dash looks like the one in the old A3, it's made of harder, cheaper plastics.

Still the Leon is my favourite of the Octavia/Golf/Leon trio.

HungryJoey · 23-09-2007 9:10pm

colm_mcm wrote:

The Mk4 Golf isn't exactly renowned for reliability, and while the dash looks like the one in the old A3, it's made of harder, cheaper plastics.

Still the Leon is my favourite of the Octavia/Golf/Leon trio.

Hence why I said, isn't too much of an issue

Hj

colm_mcm · 23-09-2007 9:17pm

compared to a 323 though....

bazz26 · 23-09-2007 10:43pm

I would see if I could sell the 1991 323 privately and then haggle a bigger straight deal (no trade-in) discount off the Leon. The dealer is most probably adding the price he is giving you for your old car into the price of the Leon which means he isn't really doing you any favours. Ask him what the cash price of the Leon is?

gyppo · 24-09-2007 9:41am

bazz26 wrote:

I would see if I could sell the 1991 323 privately and then haggle a bigger straight deal (no trade-in) discount off the Leon. The dealer is most probably adding the price he is giving you for your old car into the price of the Leon which means he isn't really doing you any favours. Ask him what the cash price of the Leon is?

Seconded. You might actually be better off giving the mazda away to someone, and buying the Leon at a cash price.

mags16 · 24-09-2007 11:47am

gyppo wrote:

Seconded. You might actually be better off giving the mazda away to someone, and buying the Leon at a cash price.

I suggested a cash price and he wasn't really going for it. Maybe this dealer is being audited by revenue!! Looking at carzone, all the seat leon's of that vintage are well over €7k. I rang one private seller who advertised his at €7.25k but he said the price was now €8K. No thank you!

Anan1 · 24-09-2007 12:01pm

Cash price means the price without a trade-in. It has nothing to do with actual cash.:)

Tabnabs · 24-09-2007 12:10pm

What kind of millage is on the Leon?

bazz26 · 24-09-2007 12:25pm

mags16 wrote:

I rang one private seller who advertised his at €7.25k but he said the price was now €8K. No thank you!

Don't bother with this type of idot, they soon come to their senses when the car is still sitting on their drive a few months down the road. Some people think they can ask the same money for their car privately as a garage forgetting that a garage has to give a warranty with it too.

"Cash" price in car terms means the discount for buying without a trade-in. Nothing illegal about that, the dealer should have known what you meant so my guess is that he is trying to squeeze more money out of you by giving you the impression he is doing you a favor with taking the old car off your hands.

Sounds like he is in fact giving you nothing for your old car, just adding it on to the price of the new one and a bit extra. He probably thinks your a bit green around the ears. If he won't budge then walk away, plenty of others out there who will.

geuro · 24-09-2007 12:29pm

I bought a Leon 1.6 Signo, 01-D, 52,000 miles for €5200 back in June. Reckon you can do a bit better on price op!

mags16 · 24-09-2007 1:14pm

Anan1 wrote:

Cash price means the price without a trade-in. It has nothing to do with actual cash.:)

I misunderstood you. The cash price is advertised at €7.5k. So if I got him down to €6.75, he is giving me €750 for my car.

mags16 · 24-09-2007 1:18pm

Geuro, that sounds like a great deal. Was there a warranty?

I'll have to look around more to get a better deal.

Are we all agreed that the leon is a decent car?

gyppo · 24-09-2007 4:08pm

mags16 wrote:

I misunderstood you. The cash price is advertised at €7.5k. So if I got him down to €6.75, he is giving me €750 for my car.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but in reality he is giving you nothing for your car. The price he is advertising at probably has at least 10% of a negotiating margin. A buyer with no trade-in could probably haggle down the seller to €6.5k.

Seat Leon - To Buy or Not To Buy!

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