Disappointing state of Cupra Leon ehybrid sportstourer I've bought

.Griff.

Active Member
Jun 26, 2021
87
42
I've got my part ex back and have left the car there. Rejected successfully :)

Nice, shame you had the inconvenience and disappointment along the way but I guess you're somewhat relieved at the same time.
 

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
Thanks chaps, I'll let you know how it went in a bit. I'm just on hold to Seat finance. The dealer said he was on the phone to tell them to clear the £3k so I want to ask them and make sure it's sorted.
They wanted to fix it and I said no.
 

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
Yesterday, they said that I’d be having a meeting with the business manager and the general manager. I got there and went to reception and the business manager came out and said hello etc, how was I. I’m the sort of person where my face doesn’t lie, if I’m happy, you’ll see but if I’m not, you’ll also see. I can’t hide it so I think he saw my face showing I wasn’t impressed.

He said, we are just waiting for Andy the salesman and then we are going over to the other showroom for an office. I said, god, how many of you are there? He said only 2, the general manager isn’t coming.

So the salesman starts apologizing saying it’s never happened before blah blah blah and let us fix it and he’s let himself down. Yeah right. He said we will replace the wheel and tyre and even give you a full tank of petrol. My reply to that was, my trade in had a full tank of petrol so I’m not up on the deal there am I?

Then he said let us sort the scratches and any other issues. I said what about the coolant issue and future engine problems I could have with it? He said, oh it will go through our workshop and get a 137 point check. I nearly said, oh that’s novel but didn’t.

I said I could have bought one at Stockport and had none of this but came local as you would have been servicing it but won’t be now even when I do get one. He didn’t answer. He said it will be fine when we’ve done it. You go home in a courtesy car today and we ring you when it’s done. I nearly said, when in about half an hour?

I said but that still won’t alter the fact how the car has been abused and driven will it and it doesn’t even look like they’ve valeted it. He said oh they have. I said well they’ve missed some parking tickets from February that were in the car then. It looks like they are as thorough on the inside as they were on the outside.

I said and that salesman who said he’d been driving it and there was nothing wrong with it wound me up. They said yes we know he wound you up. He said why are you returning it when I rang and spoke to him on Sunday, I’ve been driving it and only gone to the golf club and back. I was dying to say well I hope you drive a ball straighter than you drive a car. This is when I told him there were 6 mobile phones paired up to the car that they hadn't bothered to clear off.

The salesman then said you can have your car back if there’s no chance of us making this right like I said on Saturday. I said, you never told me that I could have my car back and this is the first time you’ve mentioned my part ex. So he was saying that in front of his boss but that was the first time he had offered my car back.

I said what about the year’s tax on the cupra that I’ve paid but you haven’t sent off the v5 yet. He said oh we would pay you that if we really can’t fix it but we’d like to fix it. He said you’ve got your 2 services as well that won’t be on another car (i had to take the £3k hp to get those, he didn't throw them in).

I said, yes I expected that to be 2 years servicing but as the Cupra needs a service in 50 days, it’s 1 year and 50 days servicing.
They didn’t expect me to check anything but I checked the service screen this morning

At this point, I think they knew what was going to happen. The business manager never spoke, I don’t know why he was there unless it was just to check what was said or if I took a man with me who got angry, not sure.

I said I’d like to leave the cupra and take the Kia home.

At that point, they both stood up. They weren’t happy.

I said what about the finance. He said the business manager was on the phone to them so I’m hoping that’s sorted. The lady at the finance company yesterday said that I would get an email if it got sorted. I've just spoken to them and they have it in an email from the dealer that it's cancelled so I should get something by the end of the week.

He wouldn’t give me my v5 back as he said he had changed it to a trade car so he said he would write to the dvla and tell them it’s back with me. I hope that doesn’t take ages as I can’t do anything now without the V5.
 

Fishbowlhead

Mk3 CupraST 280
Nov 20, 2020
146
80
Well thats good news at least. It’s hard to know when they are genuine issues as the car has only just come in (as in my case) or in your case its just appears to be neglect and abuse. Well done, hopefully you can move on now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarah

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
Yes thanks. I just have to wait for my v5 to come back as he'd already changed it to trade so now he has to write and tell them what's happened. The online changes are quick at dvla but I don't think the letters are being dealt with quick so could take ages. Hopefully not.
At least I've got rid of that one. It did look nice...............from a distance lol and I really liked the blind spot assistance that lit up in the doors when I drove it back to them this morning. I will find another. I've asked a dealer about a petrol rather than hybrid but he said that they are only just arriving in the country so no discounts. I don't want to pay over £30k for one so it'll have to be an ehybrid 245 estate
 

Pords

Active Member
Apr 23, 2021
113
102
Well done for standing your ground and getting your car back. Bet whoever was driving this car, will be getting his butt chewed out by his boss, and won’t be getting a company car again anytime soon. A sale loss is not very good, and does their reputation no good. Bunch of cowboys by the sounds of it and worth steering clear off.
 

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
Thanks. I accidentally spoke to the salesman who had been driving it on Sunday when I rang to see if the 2 men I had been dealing with were in. He asked if he could help me (as they do) and I said that I'd collected a car on Friday and want to reject it due to issues. He asked what issues did i have with it and I started to reel off everything I've stated above and it was only then that he said that he was the one driving it and there was nothing wrong with it.
I wondered if they would say anything to him about it but they seemed to be sticking up for him. They must all stick together. They should start charging them for the damage they do and then they might respect the cars a bit more. They all seemed to know I was visiting. I got stared at when I pulled up in the carpark by the service lads in the carpark then there was an office full including general manager who were looking. It will eat into their profit having to fix it all but I suppose they will just put the price up. There seems to be a lot of the ehybrid sportstourer model around for sale on autotrader etc and the other one I'm looking at isn't on autotrader so there are a few around for sale.#
I looked at it this morning as I was getting in to take it back and thought what a shame.
 

Seriously?

Active Member
Apr 20, 2018
1,249
838
I wonder if the sales guy will lose his nice commission cheque for the finance he sold you.... that'd be a shame 😜🤥
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarah

pinky1959

Active Member
Jun 28, 2020
62
37
Well done on getting it returned , Can you contact the other garage and see if they would bring the grey car you were thinking of buying to your house ?
Explain you have the car at home and want to deal as long as the car is right and they could deliver it and collect the trade in just in case it takes a while to get sorted .
Could they not do the change of owner etc again on line instead of writing to dvla?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarah

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
I wonder if the sales guy will lose his nice commission cheque for the finance he sold you.... that'd be a shame 😜🤥
I think he will as the finance was cancelled today. It's a shame because the car looked lovely in black...............from a distance :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: martin j.

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
Well done on getting it returned , Can you contact the other garage and see if they would bring the grey car you were thinking of buying to your house ?
Explain you have the car at home and want to deal as long as the car is right and they could deliver it and collect the trade in just in case it takes a while to get sorted .
Could they not do the change of owner etc again on line instead of writing to dvla?
Hi, I've been in touch with the other dealer (graphene grey one) and I'm going to see it. The v5 is sorted. The new dealer said tell the old dealer you want the v5 so I got in touch and I'm collecting the v5 tomorrow. The new dealer said it doesn't matter as the car has 'gone into the trade' so that's all ok. The lady I'm dealing with at the new dealer is busy with deliveries until Sunday so it will be next week. I said I'd fit in with them, no rush so it's going to be a graphene grey one. It's the one I paid a deposit on and then saw one closer to home in black and went for that. They've been very patient at the 2nd dealer to say I've been somewhere else
 
  • Like
Reactions: pinky1959

mcspook

Active Member
Feb 11, 2020
79
28
Unfortunately, an abused car do not show from one or two scratches, my mother's car is full of them, she never floor it or abuse it. The rims are her fault but most scratches are from supermarket and parking touches from others. When I had the car, it always was in perfect condition, if a scratch appeared i fix it. I remapped it and I was flooring it all day long, I didn't had an oil temp gauge so probably wasn't always hot oil too (I was 20). 13 years later the car runs perfect with 0 problems.
So the abusive driving can only be suspected. The bad thing is that once it's in your head, that's it. You can search from the mpg the car had to see how it was driven. But even then, if the car is at working temps, there is no problem.
If you buy the car at a good price knowing it was a demo car it's still ok, you can ask for an extended warranty. These cars are made to endure aggressive driving, no wonder they can be tuned so much. You just have to wait for the car to warm up before giving it the beens. (And use good fuel quality.)
 

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
You are right. If they had fixed everything before I saw it, I would have loved the car and not been any wiser but unfortunately, I would have always been wondering how it had been treated. It didn't help when the salesman who had been driving it spoke to me like I was a piece of poop. I expected the paint not to be 100% with it being black and I'm not expecting perfection with a demo but the things I kept finding just turned me off it.
I'm getting the other one at the same price, which is a very good price. Lower than any online :)
 

martin j.

Active Member
Feb 11, 2007
1,996
891
Fife
When I worked in sales if I’d created hassle for the dealership like this I’d have been out, I treated customers the same way I’d expect myself, seems the business is poor from the top down, I often heard salesmen getting it in the neck from management when customer satisfaction scores weren’t as expected. Good job Sarah, enjoy the new car.
Please thoroughly examine the grey one before you leave when you collect, anything can happen between purchase and collection, you don’t need any more hassle.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarah

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
Cheers Martin. I've just told a Kia forum that i won't be back. I said that i was part exing my 21 reg Proceed gt shooting brake because I can't get on with it after a month but i was staying around on the forum as I'm interested in cars and they seemed a friendly bunch. God they soon changed. They've gone on and on saying there's nothing wrong with the cars and it's my driving and I don't know how to drive a dct gearbox. Old men trying to lecture me on how to drive. I've owned and driven several brands of autos over the years and it's like nothing ive had before. I just don't like it. The engine revs it's nuts off when it's gearing down (not paddles, doing it itself) and it's embarrassing. Three dealers I have spoken to over the past month or so have agreed that they are like that. It's a 1.6 and ok it's 201 bhp, not 80 bhp but jesus, it's awful. I've owned what i would call sporty cars S3, C43, Cla45 but the kia is trying to be something it's not. They really don't like someone saying anything against the brand they seem to love. I bought it quickly after selling me merc cla45 to a dealer when he offered me good money for it and i didn't think i would keep the Kia long but I thought it would be longer than this.
Told them what I was buying and unfortunately had to return it yesterday and they are going on now saying if i'm so interested in cars, how come I didn't see under the tyre gunge and see the tyre damage before I took it home etc. Perhaps because I expect to be treated like I would treat people and not be conned. Awful people. Definitely won't be going back onto that forum
 
  • Like
Reactions: jcbmally

martin j.

Active Member
Feb 11, 2007
1,996
891
Fife
My last job was as Kia parts, I thought about one but herself declined to give any money to my ex bosses, we would have been doing manual though, so she’ll keep her Leon and me, I’m not parting with my rev happy Honda.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarah

jcbmally

Started with nowt and still have most of it left.
Staff member
Moderator
Dec 26, 2013
1,272
549
Cybertron
Cheers Martin. I've just told a Kia forum that i won't be back. I said that i was part exing my 21 reg Proceed gt shooting brake because I can't get on with it after a month but i was staying around on the forum as I'm interested in cars and they seemed a friendly bunch. God they soon changed. They've gone on and on saying there's nothing wrong with the cars and it's my driving and I don't know how to drive a dct gearbox. Old men trying to lecture me on how to drive. I've owned and driven several brands of autos over the years and it's like nothing ive had before. I just don't like it. The engine revs it's nuts off when it's gearing down (not paddles, doing it itself) and it's embarrassing. Three dealers I have spoken to over the past month or so have agreed that they are like that. It's a 1.6 and ok it's 201 bhp, not 80 bhp but jesus, it's awful. I've owned what i would call sporty cars S3, C43, Cla45 but the kia is trying to be something it's not. They really don't like someone saying anything against the brand they seem to love. I bought it quickly after selling me merc cla45 to a dealer when he offered me good money for it and i didn't think i would keep the Kia long but I thought it would be longer than this.
Told them what I was buying and unfortunately had to return it yesterday and they are going on now saying if i'm so interested in cars, how come I didn't see under the tyre gunge and see the tyre damage before I took it home etc. Perhaps because I expect to be treated like I would treat people and not be conned. Awful people. Definitely won't be going back onto that forum
Good news Sarah on you result and I think the Graphene grey is a great colour, the new Leon interior is a good step up in quality. As for naysayers on forums, ignore them. Real petrol heads respect others personal preferences, that's what makes us all different.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarah

Sarah

Active Member
Jan 18, 2021
170
114
Good news Sarah on you result and I think the Graphene grey is a great colour, the new Leon interior is a good step up in quality. As for naysayers on forums, ignore them. Real petrol heads respect others personal preferences, that's what makes us all different.
Thanks, if we all liked the same car, there wouldn't be enough to go around would there :)

I did ring the lovely Daniel at B&H when I first started looking but unfortunately he didn't have anything and another dealer said the petrol versions were only just arriving so no discounts. I'm getting a good discount on the ehybrid. The grey will be easier to keep looking nice than black I'm sure. I only drove the black one from the garage home and then from home to leave it at the garage but I enjoyed the interior. I really liked the blind spot assist light in the door panel and I was getting used to the screen and changing the settings etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jcbmally

jcbmally

Started with nowt and still have most of it left.
Staff member
Moderator
Dec 26, 2013
1,272
549
Cybertron
Thanks, if we all liked the same car, there wouldn't be enough to go around would there :)

I did ring the lovely Daniel at B&H when I first started looking but unfortunately he didn't have anything and another dealer said the petrol versions were only just arriving so no discounts. I'm getting a good discount on the ehybrid. The grey will be easier to keep looking nice than black I'm sure. I only drove the black one from the garage home and then from home to leave it at the garage but I enjoyed the interior. I really liked the blind spot assist light in the door panel and I was getting used to the screen and changing the settings etc.
Yup its a nice touch the blind spot detection. With batteries charged you get the extra shove as well so will spot on.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarah

Ollie

Active Member
Jul 26, 2019
42
19
Sorry to read all this Sarah and the horrific experience you had! Well done for holding your ground... Graphene grey is a nicer colour anyway ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sarah