Well it's goodbye to Seat

[mrowell]

After 12 years of Seats (Ibiza 20VT, Leon CR170 and currently Leon 184) I am going to VW. I wanted to replace my current Leon as I am now retired and my annual mileage wouldn't be good for a diesel. I was looking to buy a new Cupra 300 but I really don't want 19" wheels. My wife purchased a new Golf 1.4TSi and I have to say that the quality is far superior to the Leon. I looked at the facelift Golf GTI Performance Pack and with the options I wanted the price was similar to the Cupra but if you added the options to the Cupra that come as standard on the Golf the Cupra is approx. £500 pounds more. I could get £7500 off list for the Cupra online as opposed to £4500 for the Golf but, as I have just found out, the depreciation on the Leon is absolutely horrendous. I prefer the look of the Leon but as my local dealer matched the online price for the Golf the Golf it is.
P.S. this forum is far better than the 'other one' so I shall still be hanging around!

 

[salsajoe]

Hope you enjoy the GTI. We have had one for 7 years and really enjoy it. Noticed you are not keen on the 19" wheels on the Cupra. Worth specifying the adaptive suspension on the Golf so you get the best of both sport suspension setting and comfort when you want.

 

[mrowell]

Yes I specced the adaptive suspension and the heated windscreen - bliss!

 

[WhenImAlone]

My friend has the GTI and it's a lovely car, really nice inside and nice to drive. But nice to drive is the best compliment I can give it; it gets you from A to B with no issues and a nice smooth drive. Maybe it's just me but I didn't buy a Cupra for just a smooth drive but the performance that comes with it -- it's a completely different beast to the GTI.

The GTI has more inside it and is better quality but the Cupra's inside is brilliant for what you get in performance; it's a trade-off of sorts since you aren't paying £35K+ for brand new examples of Cupras like you are with Golf Rs and the like.

 

[mrowell]

With the DCC set to sport it drives very well and £500 will give you over 300bhp. After the warranty runs out of course!

 

[JACUPRA280]

When I buy a car, I like it to be the halo model or the top-of-the-range trim in a model range.

The GTI is neither.

The Cupra is.

For me, irrespective of badge or interior quality, it would be the Cupra every time.

Otherwise, I'd be driving around in a GTI that's neither a Clubsport, Clubsport S or R. At least in the Cupra, you have an aura of exclusivity.

 

[WhenImAlone]

With the DCC set to sport it drives very well and £500 will give you over 300bhp. After the warranty runs out of course!

When I buy a car, I like it to be the halo model or the top-of-the-range trim in a model range.

The GTI is neither.

The Cupra is.

For me, irrespective of badge or interior quality, it would be the Cupra every time.

Otherwise, I'd be driving around in a GTI that's neither a Clubsport, Clubsport S or R. At least in the Cupra, you have an aura of exclusivity.

I think JACUPRA280 hits the nail on the head. Regardless of whether people assume one brand is premium and the other not, a Cupra is more in-line with a Golf R than a standard, or even Clubsport, GTI. Cupra is top of the line for the Leon model, and R is top of the line for the Golf model. As I said, a GTI -- especially Clubsport -- is a very nice car but there is more exclusivity of brand in the Cupra.

I'm not trying to disparage OP or anyone who has a GTI by the way, hope it's what you like and you enjoy it!

 

[mrowell]

I agree with the above. I agonised for a long time over which car to buy but in the end I needed a car that my wife could drive to work and that would survive the roads round here and would be easy to live with on a day to day basis. So the Golf it was.

 

[dieselface]

Totally understand the sentiments of the comments above. Had the pleasure of a 7.5 GTI drive. Nice car and comes well specced as standard (something not historically strong with the VW marquee) including winter pack. The facelift 8" STD Nav is miles ahead of the Leon. I'd pick 90% tints too for less than 100 quid! Enjoy the ride.

 

[seatgraham]

Totally understand the sentiments of the comments above. Had the pleasure of a 7.5 GTI drive. Nice car and comes well specced as standard (something not historically strong with the VW marquee) including winter pack. The facelift 8" STD Nav is miles ahead of the Leon. I'd pick 90% tints too for less than 100 quid! Enjoy the ride.

Is the 8" nav much better than the 8" nav in the Cupra?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dieselface]

Is the 8" nav much better than the 8" nav in the Cupra?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Functionally yes as it still has the quick link buttons down either side as it has space to put them whereas the Leon has run out of space as the screen size has increased since the mk3 launch. On the software side the VW seems to have a much quicker response time and is a little more pleasing to the eye.

 

[Sonofzelda]

Totally understand the sentiments of the comments above. Had the pleasure of a 7.5 GTI drive. Nice car and comes well specced as standard (something not historically strong with the VW marquee) including winter pack. The facelift 8" STD Nav is miles ahead of the Leon. I'd pick 90% tints too for less than 100 quid! Enjoy the ride.

The "VW marquee" - great in the wet!

 

[jpor]

After 12 years of Seats (Ibiza 20VT, Leon CR170 and currently Leon 184) I am going to VW. I wanted to replace my current Leon as I am now retired and my annual mileage wouldn't be good for a diesel. I was looking to buy a new Cupra 300 but I really don't want 19" wheels. My wife purchased a new Golf 1.4TSi and I have to say that the quality is far superior to the Leon. I looked at the facelift Golf GTI Performance Pack and with the options I wanted the price was similar to the Cupra but if you added the options to the Cupra that come as standard on the Golf the Cupra is approx. £500 pounds more. I could get £7500 off list for the Cupra online as opposed to £4500 for the Golf but, as I have just found out, the depreciation on the Leon is absolutely horrendous. I prefer the look of the Leon but as my local dealer matched the online price for the Golf the Golf it is.
P.S. this forum is far better than the 'other one' so I shall still be hanging around!

Yep did the same. Have gone to the dark side. Like you looked and thought about swapping from my then 184 dSG TDI to a Cupra 300. Then did a bit of research with you tube reviews etc.. have now got a more 7.5 Golf R with virtually all the options except keyless and reverse camera which I'm getting retro fitted. Not worked out how the infra red head front screen works yet the one I got was for sale next door to the SEAT garage and no waiting times. It's in the new turmeric yellow colour. And so far so good. Even left a Cupra 280 driver standing the other day

 

[Ashworth]

After 12 years of Seats (Ibiza 20VT, Leon CR170 and currently Leon 184) I am going to VW. I wanted to replace my current Leon as I am now retired and my annual mileage wouldn't be good for a diesel. I was looking to buy a new Cupra 300 but I really don't want 19" wheels. My wife purchased a new Golf 1.4TSi and I have to say that the quality is far superior to the Leon. I looked at the facelift Golf GTI Performance Pack and with the options I wanted the price was similar to the Cupra but if you added the options to the Cupra that come as standard on the Golf the Cupra is approx. £500 pounds more. I could get £7500 off list for the Cupra online as opposed to £4500 for the Golf but, as I have just found out, the depreciation on the Leon is absolutely horrendous. I prefer the look of the Leon but as my local dealer matched the online price for the Golf the Golf it is.
P.S. this forum is far better than the 'other one' so I shall still be hanging around!

Also after almost 12 years of owning Seats (Leon FR's - 2 diesels and finally 1.8Tsi) I've also changed to a VW Golf but only the 1.4tsi GT Edition. I was a bit unsure at first but after just 3 months of driving the VW Golf I have no regrets.

I really liked my the last Leon FR a 1.8tsi with manual gearbox and was very seriously thinking before Christmas of changing to a new similar car but this time with DSG. However, with the facelift due in February I found that 1.8's (especially DSG) were getting very difficult obtain and Seat then did not include them on the configurator in the UK for the facelift model. In fact Seat actually informed dealers that they were not going to be available in the UK after my local dealer tried to order one for me. Strange that 3 months later Seat suddenly began to make them available but by then they had lost a sale.

I had looked at the 1.4tsi and considered getting one of those with DSG. Then I read about the VW Golf GT Edition which although still the same 1.4 engine as the Seat came with the independent rear suspension that I'd had with my 1.8 Leon. In the months leading up to their facelift model VW started selling cars off at a big discount of up to £3,000 off and I found that I could get this far better equipped 1.4 Golf GT for less than a 1.4 Leon FR. In addition to the independent rear suspension it also came with 18 inch wheels, sunroof, adaptive cruise control all at no extra cost. The only thing I perhaps will miss this winter when the dark nights come are the LED lights. The Golf certainly feels a much more quality vehicle inside, its a much quieter and softer ride on the 18 inch wheels, I cant tell a huge difference between the 1.8 and the 1.4 except I'm now getting up to 10mpg more in the Golf. The depreciation on the 1.8 Leon was appalling and so hopefully the Golf will be worth far more in 3-4 years time when I next change car,

 

[MattW35]

I have Leon's for 11-12 year, and genuinely happy with them. Just chopped my FR184 for a 10 month old Golf GTD DSG.

I guess it's not a fair comparison, because I didn't have a good look at a 16 184, but I will say that the Golf feels like a nicer place to be. Not a single rattle, and the interior feels generally a bit more solid. No music cause vibrations from door cards etc.

Keyless entry / start is pretty cool I have to say, don't know if it's made it onto the Leon's or not.