Opinion on Seat Leon?

Lexie

Im changing my car and im looking at either a Seat Leon or a Ford Focus. 00 reg. What I want to know is, what is your opinion on a Seat Leon. Good/Bad Buy?

leonlafrite

I do not know about the Leon, but I would not buy a Seat again...

unkel

Good buy as it is pretty much the same car as a VW Golf. The Focus is a better drivers car though

Lexie

Why not Leonlafrite. Are they a troublesome car?

leonlafrite

Well, I might have been unlucky but I had a 92 Golf for 4 year, over 100K on the clock, I never had to bring it to a garage (beside service).

Got that 00 Cordoba, 10 months ago has 45 k on the clock, and I had to bring it to the garage I bouth it from 5-6 times, Whipper not working, Electronic fault light coming on all the time, some cooling componant of the engine had to be changed(could not drive the car more than 2 miles = overheating), the clutch has to already be changed, the belt rolling thingy is not working properly on 3 belts....overall the car is not nice to drive at all and consums lots & lots of fuel....for a 1.4. It is not a Leon but ...

Again, I might have been unlucky but those Seat may have some VW part but they are NOT made in Germany and (to me) should NOT be compared with any VW golf,Polo....

Canis Lupus

Heh heh.... well I advise to buy the Focus (I'm starting to sound like an echo on this issue) My brother has a seat ibiza and has had a few probs with it.... I've also driven it for a laugh and it has DIRE road holding, DIRE brakes, is uncomfortable, has a horrible gear change and looks awful. (I know its not a leon which is what u want but still its all the same).

So get a 1.6 Focus.

trotter_inc

Im going to change my car in a few months and am thinking about getting either of these cars - have test-driven both and the focus is by far the better drive and is much more confortable.

garhelen

My parents had a Seat Leon Tdi 90 bhp I think it drove better than the focus did close to 60 mpg and didn't see the inside of a garage unless it was due for an oil change oil something like that Plus it got unbelievable wearing out of the tyres I would have no bother buying one after seeing them close hand They bought a Seat Toledo Tdi after Heavoier on tyres though

Mutz

Ah now in fairness I drive a 98 1.4 cordoba and its great. Great drive (not much to compare it too though ), good fuel economy and reliable. As with any car you can be lucky and unlucky. €38 petrol = approx 400 miles

My advice is test drive both cars on the same trim levels and decide for yourself what feels right.

Mutz
xxx

Darwin

My brother has a 00 Seat Leon. Nice car, but he had to get a new clutch and gearbox with only 45K on the clock. Let's just say this job wasn't cheap! I have heard from someone who owns a gearbox servicing centre that this is a common problem with VW & VW derived brands of this era.
Get a Focus, better reliability and a much better car to drive.

Tommy Vercetti

where's that diesel Leon fella who posts here? He'll swear it'll beat an F1 car and still return 235mpg, bless him

RicardoSmith

I'd go with the Focus. Theres a new Focus model on the way soon.

Farls

Ya can order your new focus model now, their out in January AFAIK. Was in one the other day up in a dealers, lovely car inside and out.

I currently have a 01 1.6litre focus and it is a fantastic car, great handling, comfortable, fairly economical, powerful, looks good.

Touching wood here i've had it 6 months now and no problems to report.

The leon looks a beautiful car but like most people here i'm hearing a lot of bad stories about them.

btw if your gettin a focus get a 1.6, the 1.4 wouldn't pull the socks of ya, its only 74bhp whilst the 1.6 is 99bhp which is a big difference.

Farlz

RicardoSmith

The quality of VW's and Seats seems to have fallen a lot.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

Interceptor

Hmmm, tough call - its a bit like comparing peas in a pod. The 00 Focus and 00 Leon are very alike and saying that the Focus is a better-handling car is not fair on the Leon as it is a very tight and precise drive with a lower centre of gravity and better dashboard ergonomics. I don't favour either car and have driven several of both - I did drive a 01 Leon Cupra a while back and it was astounding - point the nose, squeeze the gas, grip the seat with your ass cheeks and hold on. However we are not here to discuss a cars ability to cross a roundabout at high speed so I need more info... What mileage do you do every year? Do you carry kids/adults regularly in your car? What are you currently driving?

Tommy Vercetti is right - I'm too lazy to look but isn't that Hashslinging he is referring to? He has fair praise for the Leon. For what its worth, the Leon is in a different class to the Cordoba/Ibiza as regards build quality from what I've seen.

'ceptr

RicardoSmith

Most modern cars have grip and power in excess. But in most cases that is to the detriment of the handling. I'd say handling is more about balance. Its pretty much unanimous that the Focus is a better handling car. It has been the best handling car of its class for a long time.

The leon is built on the Mrk IV Golf Chassis, same as the Golf, Leon, Octavia, A3 and Vento. Most of which are considered to have less than sparkling handling. In terms of handling the Astra comes next to the Focus, basically due to the work that Lotus did to the chassis, and steering. The new Golf platform is meant to be a lot better though.

That said most people won't notice the difference in handling and then you have to look at the other bits of the package. The interior, space, equipment, etc. For me the handling of a car is like chalk and cheese. But if you are only driving around the city, you'll never be able to feel it.

x in the city

two words.....

cupra r.

RicardoSmith

x in the city wrote:

two words.....

cupra r.

Is he looking for a hot hatch? Nice motor but whats the insurance like?

Interceptor

No, I think the shopping list was for the standard econo-box with wheel-trims and AM/FM raideeeoo.

Cupra = nice motor, no worse to insure than a Civic type R but there can't be more than four of them in the country

'c

RicardoSmith

Interceptor wrote:

No, I think the shopping list was for the standard econo-box with wheel-trims and AM/FM raideeeoo.

Cupra = nice motor, no worse to insure than a Civic type R but there can't be more than four of them in the country

'c

Why only two? I reckon I've seen a 2 or 3 anyway.

Interceptor

Naturally I was being sarcastic - I could contact the importers and ask for their figures but I rather guess a very low number for dramatic effect - you know what I mean.

Its a bit like 'When was the last time you saw Fiat Stilo Abarth?' The UK is covered in them but Fiat sold about six of them here. Or the Skoda Octavia RS - I'm still waiting to see one of those and I thought they would sell a shedload.

Sorry - threadjacking, I'll shut up now. Buy the Focus. No, the Leon. No, the Focus. Or do what that Frontera guy did and go off and buy a 3-series!

'ceptr

RicardoSmith

Ah I honestly thought you were serious. I've only seen Skoda 1 RS. No Stilo Abarth. How ugly would that be!

dcGT

Tommy Vercetti wrote:

where's that diesel Leon fella who posts here? He'll swear it'll beat an F1 car and still return 235mpg, bless him

LOL classic.....yeah I think that was HashSlinging

DC.