Ibiza FR/Cupra Dilema

[AndyC85]

I've been looking at getting an Ibiza Cupra TDi recently.

The garage local to me can get me one in black for £15535 and a part exchange price for my car of £8250. As my car is only worth £6800 and I have £7000 outstanding thats a pretty good price I would say.

The other day I noticed, however, that the target price for a Cupra in What Car? magazine is £14535 so I went back to my dealer to see if he could match this price. His response was that since I'm getting an extra £1250 for the value of my car he can't drop the price of the Cupra because technically I'm getting it for less than 14535 if you take the equity from my current car off of the list price of the Cupra. I tried and tried to push him but he wouldn't budge.

I decided to try another SEAT garage today to see what price I could get from a different dealer. Same story unfortunately. He will give me £7300 for my car and discount the Cupra by £1000, so it works out the same as the other garage.

He does however have a pre-registered Ibiza FR TDi which he is selling for £11988. It looks almost identical to the Cupra except for the different badging and interior trim etc. 07 plate, no mileage, silver. Very nice.

My problem is that I could go for the FR and save a fair chunk of cash on the price of the car as well as insurance but sacrifice the performance of the Cupra; Although I'm sure with a remap it could still be very quick?
I couldn't get a test drive in the FR but am planning on going back during the week for one.

I don't know what to do!

Any thoughts?

Andy

 

[Octane2097]

well u could get the fr and spend an extra say £400 on a remap to 160bhp or more

 

[Aimez]

have a very good think, i wanted a cupra but had to be sensible and thought about my mileagel to work and the insurance, make sure you do a quote for both INCLUDING remap or other mods to see whats cheaper.
I still don't regret getting the diesel mainly because of my mileage but now im thinking of spending money on cupra bumpers and a remap in the future!

 

[Yella Beeza]

Personally I think my TDi FR is fast enough. Also it's in insurance Gp 8, the Cupra is in 15. Plus as has been mentioned there's price gap of around £2500.

I couldn't justify paying the extra. With Green filter, decent fuel and Cupra air intake you won't be far off the standard Cupra supposed 160 power output anyway.

 

[chillcupra]

Think of it this way. You will always regret not getting the cupra if you get the fr. Imagine your at the lights in your fr and a cupra pulls up. You see the better alloys and HUGE calipers and that fact thats its a cupra and you think you shu have got the cupra.

 

[spyke85]

Think of it this way. You will always regret not getting the cupra if you get the fr. Imagine your at the lights in your fr and a cupra pulls up. You see the better alloys and HUGE calipers and that fact thats its a cupra and you think you shu have got the cupra.

Unless of course it is the facelift FR and in which case it still has awesome alloys and bumpers!

 

[Yella Beeza]

Unless of course it is the facelift FR and in which case it still has awesome alloys and bumpers!

Buy one new and it will be the facelift FR. And if you know you've just spent a few hundred getting it remapped, then you can put the frighteners up the Cupra (assuming it's standard) .

And still have two grand in your pocket!

 

[spyke85]

Buy one new and it will be the facelift FR. And if you know you've just spent a few hundred getting it remapped, then you can put the frighteners up the Cupra (assuming it's standard) .

And still have two grand in your pocket!

And save money every year when it comes insurance time. FR all the way I say

 

[mrcoyote]

I'm currently in almost the same situation, but I've decided I want the Cupra as having had an early TDI Sport I then proceeded to mod it until it was pretty much up to Cupra spec anyway. This time I'd prefer to have a car which stopped and went well out of the box.

 

[badleeroy]

been in the same situation myself,i went for the cupra and paid £14,295 for it in december and still got a fair price for my old car in part exchange. I test drove a FR and they are still very quick but not as rapid as the cupra and you get fmic,big brakes.. etc plus fr's seem to be alot more common(without wanting to sound like a car snob) if you can afford it why not just go for the cupra you only live once

 

[chillcupra]

cupra wins everytime!

 

[AndyC85]

been in the same situation myself,i went for the cupra and paid £14,295 for it in december and still got a fair price for my old car in part exchange. I test drove a FR and they are still very quick but not as rapid as the cupra and you get fmic,big brakes.. etc plus fr's seem to be alot more common(without wanting to sound like a car snob) if you can afford it why not just go for the cupra you only live once

I know what you mean, it might sound a bit materialistic but I'd love the extra 'kudos' associated with owning a Cupra plus I think it will be lots more fun to drive than the FR. The FR is a nice car don't get me wrong It just doesn't excite me the way the Cupra does.

I just don't know if thats enough to justify spending an extra £3000 though!

badleeroy if you don't mind me asking did you make much money on your part exchange? £14295 seems a very good price for the Cupra, I cant get the dealer to budge on the price he's given me! Just wondering how you managed to get it so low.

Cheers,

Andy

 

[tom001]

I was also in same position with cupra or fr, but for the sake of 30bhp (which a remap can sort) then the facelift fr is very similar to the cupra, I bought the cupra wheels and in the end it worked out saving myself 2+k and if I ever do want the remap it still works out alot cheaper, I am happy at that. If your heart is set on the Cupra then go all out on that as you will never look at your FR and be 100% pleased

 

[MR T]

that sounds like a good price on the fr if they are going to give you the same deal as the cupra. but it comes down to wether you want to save the money or you really want a cupra only you know which it is. out of interest do they have this fr ready waiting because it is a cancelled order if so you could always try for a few extras such as mats and fuel because the dealer will want rid of it

 

[chris285]

I was also in same position with cupra or fr, but for the sake of 30bhp (which a remap can sort) then the facelift fr is very similar to the cupra, I bought the cupra wheels and in the end it worked out saving myself 2+k and if I ever do want the remap it still works out alot cheaper, I am happy at that. If your heart is set on the Cupra then go all out on that as you will never look at your FR and be 100% pleased

same here really, am looking at an fr tdi over the summer. cupra is just not worth the extra money imo, higher insurance for not a huge performance increase on performance well not worth it imo when you can remap an fr tdi to more power than a standard cupra

hey tom did you go through stow one morning last week just gone 8.30? think it was you as i saw a very nice looking what i thought was a cupra then

looking at getting the new aero kit on mine as well

 

[AndyC85]

that sounds like a good price on the fr if they are going to give you the same deal as the cupra. but it comes down to wether you want to save the money or you really want a cupra only you know which it is. out of interest do they have this fr ready waiting because it is a cancelled order if so you could always try for a few extras such as mats and fuel because the dealer will want rid of it

I'm not sure if it's a cancelled order or not. He just said it was pre-registered. But it is sitting there ready to go! If I agree to take it after the test drive I could pick it up the next day. I guess I could chance my luck to see what else I can get out of him. To be honest though I'm not that keen on it! I'll still take it for a spin but I've had my heart set on a Cupra for a while now so like other people have said, I know I wont be 100% happy with the FR. I guess to some people it's worth the extra money...

 

[chris285]

I'm not sure if it's a cancelled order or not. He just said it was pre-registered. But it is sitting there ready to go! If I agree to take it after the test drive I could pick it up the next day. I guess I could chance my luck to see what else I can get out of him. To be honest though I'm not that keen on it! I'll still take it for a spin but I've had my heart set on a Cupra for a while now so like other people have said, I know I wont be 100% happy with the FR. I guess to some people it's worth the extra money...

if you drive a 99 plate 1.4 mk2 ibiza like mine, an fr tdi will be heaven

 

[mattyfab]

I have been in someones standard TDi Cupra, and the only think I felt was better than my remapped FR is the brakes. So it would work out a lot cheaper to have and to run an FR, but in my opinion, the Cupra looks so much better and definatly stands out in a crowd whereas the FR is more a wolf in sheeps clothing. Depends what your after. If money is no option, id deffo go with the Cupra

 

[AndyC85]

I have been in someones standard TDi Cupra, and the only think I felt was better than my remapped FR is the brakes. So it would work out a lot cheaper to have and to run an FR, but in my opinion, the Cupra looks so much better and definatly stands out in a crowd whereas the FR is more a wolf in sheeps clothing. Depends what your after. If money is no option, id deffo go with the Cupra

Lol I wish money was no option!

From what I have budgeted myself, I know that I can afford the Cupra and the running costs etc; therefore I also know that I can afford the FR. The question I'm asking myself is whether or not the Cupra is worth the extra dosh!!

 

[mattyfab]

If it was me, id say yeah, just for the looks alone, but then again, mine is a pre-face lift FR so the facelift FR might make it look ok. If its performance you want, to get the FR upto Cupra speed, its gonna be £400+ for the remap, £100 for the intake and filter, not sure how much the cupra spec suspension is (assuming its different????)
But then again, your getting the FMIC, big brakes, big wheels etc etc.

Its swings and round-a-bouts matey. It really depends whether or not u wanna save money, or blow your budget on something you really want.