Just purchased Altea FR!

[bakedanenome]

Cheers CB

Must admit I prefer the look of the Mk2 leon (in FR and Cupra guises anyway) but family/dog/kit needs must and I have now grown to be a fan of the Altea's appearance. If the Altea came in Cupra form I wouldn't have been able to resist

Stuff all these reviews about "how pointless" a hot mini-MPV is- it was exactly what I was looking for!

Don't want to give you the fear but I didn't find the idle on the test car too bad at all. I was expecting a real clatter but was pleasantly surprised, it was certainly quieter than a friend's 2 year old 2.0TDCI Zetec Mondeo. For what its worth my test car had done 4000 miles- not sure if they get better or worse with miles??

 

[ClosetBarry]

Thanks for the reply, mine is like a london taxi when it's cold. After a good run it's a bit quieter but there is no mistaking that it is a diesel even from a distance.

-CB

 

[Jacey Boy]

They arent the quietest of diesel engines, we had an Accord 2.2 I-CTDI and that was so quite like a petrol

 

[PhilOfCas]

low speed, when cold, pretty tractor like, i just think it's a combination of the PD type of fuel injection which has a distinct hard edge sound to it, coast down a hill at slow speed and put throttle on and off, you can clearly hear the fuel actuators kick in quite loud, that combined with a a slight lack of sound insulation gives more noise to the interior than perhaps it should/could.

Also, i think i can detect a certain gruffness from the air intake/exhaust that can either iritate you or when you're in the mood can be quite nice !

When engine warmed through and you get over 20mph ish it's more than acceptable.

 

[Jacey Boy]

Also what probably comes down to it as well is sound proofing, as Seat's are a cheaper car they may not use as much or good quality as VW/Audi

 

[bakedanenome]

Might be a pretty dumb set of questions but:

a)Can anyone recommend good quality aftermarket soundproofing?
b)Where would you put it?
c)Is it easy enough to do e.g. will I have to tear apart my lovely new car?

Thanks

 

[bal]

Haven't been this excited since I got my hands on a 1990 Cindy Crawford calendar from Woolworths at 13 years old (oops giving away my age a bit)

Anyways:
Altea FR TDI
Black Magic
18" alloys
Winter pack
Bluetooth
Electric sunroof

The purchase was in no small part due to SCN and all the great info on it. Thanks to this site and its excellent posters I go into the deal fully aware of potential DPF probs, the lack of tuning potential for the 170TDI and why I might get rumbling noise from the tyres after a few thousand miles! I am prepared!!!

Thanks to one and all- keep posting and happy motoring!

Hi bakedanenome,

I took your advice in your post and also made enquiries through www.thedealnegotiator.co.uk, who put me through to SEAT Sidlow in Horsham.

My requirements were as follows:

Altea FR DSG,
Black Magic paintwork,
full colour satellite navigation,
18 inch alloys upgrade from the 17 inches alloys.
iPOD connection.

They got back to me with the following quotes -

1. SEAT Altea FR 2.0 T FSI (200) DSG (automatic) with colour satellite
navigation, 18” alloys and iPod connection £16,997

2. SEAT Altea FR 2.0 T FSI (200) DSG (automatic) with TOM TOM colour
navigation, 18” alloys and iPod connection £16,310

I've been speaking to Matthew Woods, who seems to be the point of contact for www.thedealnegotiator.co.uk in the Horsham office(contact details given at the end of the message)

The quote is approximately £2500 cheaper than list, which is amazing. I do have one unanswered query, and that is of the 18 inch alloys upgrade. Matthew has responded with the following message:

The wheels are the 18” factory fit ones which cost £350 as an upgrade from the 17” – model number 1P0601025D1BC

I've checked the SEAT UK site and I cannot find a picture of them anywhere! Does anyone have a picture of what these alloys look like?

Anyway, here are some details as promised earlier:

Dealership Address in Horsham:
Sidlow SEAT
Reigate Road
Hookwood
Horley
Surrey
RH6 0HB

Matthew Woods
The Deal Negotiator
Sidlow Group
01403 242444
07798 914403
e-mail:[email protected]

Cheers,
Bal

 

[Jacey Boy]

Might be a pretty dumb set of questions but:

a)Can anyone recommend good quality aftermarket soundproofing?
b)Where would you put it?
c)Is it easy enough to do e.g. will I have to tear apart my lovely new car?

Thanks

I wouldnt recommend doing that, how about buying a VW/Audi instead

 

[bal]

Hi bakedanenome,

I took your advice in your post and also made enquiries through www.thedealnegotiator.co.uk, who put me through to SEAT Sidlow in Horsham.

My requirements were as follows:

Altea FR DSG,
Black Magic paintwork,
full colour satellite navigation,
18 inch alloys upgrade from the 17 inches alloys.
iPOD connection.

They got back to me with the following quotes -

1. SEAT Altea FR 2.0 T FSI (200) DSG (automatic) with colour satellite
navigation, 18” alloys and iPod connection £16,997

2. SEAT Altea FR 2.0 T FSI (200) DSG (automatic) with TOM TOM colour
navigation, 18” alloys and iPod connection £16,310

I've been speaking to Matthew Woods, who seems to be the point of contact for www.thedealnegotiator.co.uk in the Horsham office(contact details given at the end of the message)

The quote is approximately £2500 cheaper than list, which is amazing. I do have one unanswered query, and that is of the 18 inch alloys upgrade. Matthew has responded with the following message:

The wheels are the 18” factory fit ones which cost £350 as an upgrade from the 17” – model number 1P0601025D1BC

I've checked the SEAT UK site and I cannot find a picture of them anywhere! Does anyone have a picture of what these alloys look like?

Anyway, here are some details as promised earlier:

Dealership Address in Horsham:
Sidlow SEAT
Reigate Road
Hookwood
Horley
Surrey
RH6 0HB

Matthew Woods
The Deal Negotiator
Sidlow Group
01403 242444
07798 914403
e-mail:[email protected]

Cheers,
Bal

Here I go again, answering my own thread. I managed to find the 18 inch alloy wheels through SEAT's 'Spec My SEAT' option on their website, by not chosing the DSG FR engine option. Matthew from SEAT Sidlow confirmed these are the correct alloys.

 

[bakedanenome]

Hey Bal

Sounds like a good couple of deals you've found there!

Had good experience with Sidlow so far (even tho they just rung me to say Bluetooth is no longer an option )

Had a look for those 18" alloys you mentioned but couldn't find them- fortunately you sorted it out yourself! Just checked the Seat configurator- reckon they would look damn sweet!

Keep us posted on your deal hunting!

 

[bakedanenome]

nice one Jacey.

Personally I enjoy a bit of DIY. Reckon I saved myself enough by buying a Seat instead of a VW/Audi that I can affordto splash out a bit and buy some crushed up egg boxes to stuff inside the doors etc

 

[bal]

Hey Bal

Sounds like a good couple of deals you've found there!

Had good experience with Sidlow so far (even tho they just rung me to say Bluetooth is no longer an option )

Had a look for those 18" alloys you mentioned but couldn't find them- fortunately you sorted it out yourself! Just checked the Seat configurator- reckon they would look damn sweet!

Keep us posted on your deal hunting!

Thanks bakedanenome,

I still need to test drive the Altea, and being based out in Brussels doesn't help as the dealers here don't have anything suitable for me to try. If I do go ahead with the deal, it will only be after I've taken the Altea out for spin and see if its a car I can live with. I'm in the Horsham area in August, so I will have to wait until then .

Matthew from SEAT Sidlow has been in contact again mentioning that SEAT will increase their prices next week in the range of £100-£375 depending on the model and wanted to know whether I was ready to order. I'm wondering if this is just a salesman's tactic to get me to put down my deposit

Bal

 

[bakedanenome]

Hi Bal!

Yep definitely need a test drive- hope it meets your expectations, I really enjoyed mine! Be keen to hear what you think of the petrol FR- I was only ever looking at the diesel and never test drove the petrol, hope I made the right choice

As for the price increase- I heard the same thing; apparantly its because Seat are changing the current 2007 spec to the new 2008 one. I'm not sure what impact this actually has on the spec- all I know is that now I can't the bluetooth option! Don't think Matthew from Seat Sidlow is trying to pull the wool over your eyes, guess its one of those annual value engineering projects that car firms do- giving you kit with one hand and taking other stuff away (and bumping prices up!)

 

[bal]

Hi Bal!

Yep definitely need a test drive- hope it meets your expectations, I really enjoyed mine! Be keen to hear what you think of the petrol FR- I was only ever looking at the diesel and never test drove the petrol, hope I made the right choice

As for the price increase- I heard the same thing; apparantly its because Seat are changing the current 2007 spec to the new 2008 one. I'm not sure what impact this actually has on the spec- all I know is that now I can't the bluetooth option! Don't think Matthew from Seat Sidlow is trying to pull the wool over your eyes, guess its one of those annual value engineering projects that car firms do- giving you kit with one hand and taking other stuff away (and bumping prices up!)

Hi again,

I've been in touch with Matthew from Sidlow SEAT as he sent me another mail stating that satellite navigation is being dropped from the options list. To be honest I'm not too bothered as I have a TomTom enabled PDA/phone that does the business Its my wife who has problems taking instuctions from a machine when driving So I'm now looking at a new quote of circa £17,000, which isn't too bad, however I'm missing out on a £400 reduction which is being offered on all cars ordered until the end of June.

I would have gone for the diesel version if they did it with DSG. Strangely enough, VW have the option of a DSG gearbox on some of their cars with the 170 TDi engine. I presume this is a way of balancing what's offered within the VW/Audi/SEAT/Skoda group

As for the test drive, it has been suggested that I try the Leon FR with DSG to get a feel for the auto box, and take out an Altea for the practicality aspect and extra room offered. Secretly, I've always wanted a Golf GTI with DSG, but having spent some time this weekend in a 1.6 S 115BHP Golf, its just too small for all out baby paraphaenalia, plus the fact it's £4000 when bought new with similar spec to the SEAT. I found the 1.6 engine a little underpowered, but can imagine that with the 2.0 T, it would be great fun to drive, at the cost of MPG though.

I'm hoping that the wife like's the car when we're over next in August, otherwise the only other cars on my list are:

Audi A4 Avant 2.0 T or 3.0TDI Quattro S-line (Like to have, but very expensive for what it is)

Another Renault Scenic

Vauxhall Zafira (My wife saw one of these this weekend and took a liking to it)

Anyways, got to go!

Cheers,
Bal

 

[bal]

Hi again,

I've been in touch with Matthew from Sidlow SEAT as he sent me another mail stating that satellite navigation is being dropped from the options list. To be honest I'm not too bothered as I have a TomTom enabled PDA/phone that does the business Its my wife who has problems taking instuctions from a machine when driving So I'm now looking at a new quote of circa £17,000, which isn't too bad, however I'm missing out on a £400 reduction which is being offered on all cars ordered until the end of June.

I would have gone for the diesel version if they did it with DSG. Strangely enough, VW have the option of a DSG gearbox on some of their cars with the 170 TDi engine. I presume this is a way of balancing what's offered within the VW/Audi/SEAT/Skoda group

As for the test drive, it has been suggested that I try the Leon FR with DSG to get a feel for the auto box, and take out an Altea for the practicality aspect and extra room offered. Secretly, I've always wanted a Golf GTI with DSG, but having spent some time this weekend in a 1.6 S 115BHP Golf, its just too small for all out baby paraphaenalia, plus the fact it's £4000 when bought new with similar spec to the SEAT. I found the 1.6 engine a little underpowered, but can imagine that with the 2.0 T, it would be great fun to drive, at the cost of MPG though.

I'm hoping that the wife like's the car when we're over next in August, otherwise the only other cars on my list are:

Audi A4 Avant 2.0 T or 3.0TDI Quattro S-line (Like to have, but very expensive for what it is)

Another Renault Scenic

Vauxhall Zafira (My wife saw one of these this weekend and took a liking to it)

Anyways, got to go!

Cheers,
Bal

Help me, please help me

I'm at the end of my tether at the moment I've taken my wife to see a Altea 2.0TDI DSG to see how she feels, but she can't find a comfortable seating position being 5'2" tall and finds the heavily bolstered seats a pain to get in an out of and complains that she can't see over the dash when the seat is fully up. My opinion is that she's been spoilt by the raised position acheived in our Scenic and the fact the dash instrumentation in Scenic is positioned in the centre.

I've reached the conculsion that we'll be sticking with Scenic until we return to the UK and I'll get a car of my own choice. I don't see any other way at the moment especially as I think the Altea is a good replacement for the Scenic.

Cheers,
Bal

 

[Jacey Boy]

Personal taste im afraid, one car cant please everyone, stick with what you have

 

[bal]

Personal taste im afraid, one car cant please everyone, stick with what you have

Cheers Jacey Boy, looks like its going that way I suppose the main consellation is that I can look for a car as opposed to an MPV

 

[intruder]

5p8071490

@bakedanenome:

could you post pixs of your Altea with the 18"?
Are the rims darkened between the spokes as well?
Cheers,
Marc