2003 Leon Cupra Buying Advice

Rayg

Guest
I think you would have a smile on your face for the first week of owning that car then it would drop when things go wrong mate.

Sounds like a dodgy dealer and car to me, there are lots to choose from, shop around mate!
 

Deleted member 7729

Guest
Think I'd take an S3 over a Leon Cupra any day of the week, but Spanky is dead right, lots of better buys out there. I'd walk away from it, not worth the risk etc.
 

awelch

. . . . .
Mar 1, 2006
151
0
I totally agree with all of the above, dont let an offer on your current car and the excitement about getting a different car haze your judgement. I just bought an Black 04 LCR 225 with 11k and two services in that period for £13.1k at Trade. It took me a month to find the right car and I almost bought others for a higher price with higher milage.

dont do anything on impulse, take your time and you will get the right car.
 

Patcho

Guest
Rayg said:
I think you would have a smile on your face for the first week of owning that car then it would drop when things go wrong mate.

Sounds like a dodgy dealer and car to me, there are lots to choose from, shop around mate!

Well - the dealer is quite straight - they're just box shifters, 250 ex-lease (corporate, not hire) cars direct at any one time, that's what they do. And all high mileage.

I spoke with Seat UK. They say 2 services is not recommended (10000 oil change is recommended) but within the terms of their warranty. We had a long conversation about the content of this page and the warranty business:
http://seat-leon.sgpetch.co.uk/pages/warranty
Anyway, their guess was that this car will have been serviced, but by some separate arrangement in association with the main dealer, but not necessarily by them to ensure that warranty work was carried out. In fact the only thing claimed was a kinked windscreen washer hose. I'm going to try and check this tomorrow.

Resale is the thing I'm thinking about at the moment - it'd be a problem to say the least without this pesky service history. But I tend to keep cars 3 years at low (3000 pa) mileage.

I appreciate all your good advice, and I may well make a stupid mistake - but I could be lucky?! £7000 for the car (effectively 6000 if I discount my current car, long story), £500 for a major service. £7500 for a high mileage 3 year car isn't bad. Promise I won't moan or say I wasn't warned if this all goes weird :)

Rob
 

Tallpaul

Full Member
Jul 2, 2005
821
0
If the book is stamped twice, then it will only have had two oil changes - and you can only be sure it even went near a garage twice. any other servicing is pure speculation on the part of SEAT and the dealer, shocking that they'd even suggest to you that it 'probably' had been done.

again, it seems you are buying this car because you perceive that no other garage will give you as good a trade in price for your current car (by the sounds of it, it's a bit ropey :confused: ). well, from my experience you'd be suprised. i bought my old Leon Cupra from a SEAT main dealer, the salesman walked round my Civic once, asked me the mileage, made two phone calls then offered me £500 more than it was worth - all garages do is shift p/ex's on to whichever trader will give them the best price, they don't care what condition they are in!

Go look at one other Leon in your price range, get the dealer to look at the p/ex value of yours - if he laughs in your face, it's no harm done, but i think you'll be suprised.

For the last time, the Leon Cupra in question sounds like a complete lemon.
 

Patcho

Guest
Right, all done.

Phoned the garage where the 2 services had been done - no other history, and they were surprised, but could offer no explanation.

Went to the dealers this afternoon, and said I wasn't happy, and asked if there was any way we could work round it. They offered a warranty (RAC), but after reading the small print, claims wouldn't be honoured without 'recommended servicing'. 20 minutes discussing that, and I said I still wasn't happy, despite the manager giving me a '100% guarantee' that servicing had been carried out.

I went for a little walk while they tried to work it out.

Got back, and they had faxed the previous owner (Lloyds), who had fax-replied with a computer printout detailing all services, where and when they were done, at 10,000 miles, including the two in the book. Also had details of all repairs - windscreens, tyres, light bulbs. Nothing mechanical seems to have failed. This would be a pretty elaborate fraud to perpetrate in 10 minutes, so I believed them, and bought it.

On top of the original agreement I got the full history and 12 month warranty (which isn't too bad - includes climate control for example). I would say I effectively paid £6800. Not as good deal as a couple mentioned above, but not too bad.

Drives like a dream, absolutely immaculate, not a mark on it inside or out. Took it to 90, solid as a rock, stuck in traffic for an hour, not a murmur.

I realise this was still a risky buy, but I'd like to thank all of you that took the trouble to reply. It gave me a lot more confidence in a situation where I didn't know what I was doing, and I got a better deal because of it. More importantly - I'm a lot happier. I owe some people a drink - if you're in Sheffield, let me know :)

Cheers, Rob
 

CupraUK

Pushing on
Aug 15, 2005
1,350
0
Bedfordshire
I paid 8k for mine with 18,000 on the clock when it was 3 years old.

As everyone is saying, the dealer is totally taking you for a ride, no dealer would recommend 30k between services and would be the first person to invalidate the warranty because of it.
 

CupraUK

Pushing on
Aug 15, 2005
1,350
0
Bedfordshire
Sorry, only read the 1st few posts and replied. Glad you are happy with it.

I have RAC warranty. The way it works is that if you have an up to date full main dealer service history you are able to get it serviced at 10k intervals anywhere. If you have not then you have to get it serviced every 5k.
 
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Spanky

Banana Virgin..
Feb 5, 2005
584
0
Preston, Lancashire
Patcho said:
Right, all done.

Phoned the garage where the 2 services had been done - no other history, and they were surprised, but could offer no explanation.

Went to the dealers this afternoon, and said I wasn't happy, and asked if there was any way we could work round it. They offered a warranty (RAC), but after reading the small print, claims wouldn't be honoured without 'recommended servicing'. 20 minutes discussing that, and I said I still wasn't happy, despite the manager giving me a '100% guarantee' that servicing had been carried out.

I went for a little walk while they tried to work it out.

Got back, and they had faxed the previous owner (Lloyds), who had fax-replied with a computer printout detailing all services, where and when they were done, at 10,000 miles, including the two in the book. Also had details of all repairs - windscreens, tyres, light bulbs. Nothing mechanical seems to have failed. This would be a pretty elaborate fraud to perpetrate in 10 minutes, so I believed them, and bought it.

On top of the original agreement I got the full history and 12 month warranty (which isn't too bad - includes climate control for example). I would say I effectively paid £6800. Not as good deal as a couple mentioned above, but not too bad.

Drives like a dream, absolutely immaculate, not a mark on it inside or out. Took it to 90, solid as a rock, stuck in traffic for an hour, not a murmur.

I realise this was still a risky buy, but I'd like to thank all of you that took the trouble to reply. It gave me a lot more confidence in a situation where I didn't know what I was doing, and I got a better deal because of it. More importantly - I'm a lot happier. I owe some people a drink - if you're in Sheffield, let me know :)

Cheers, Rob

Don't forget to post up some pictures...... happy motoring :D
 

scoobysnax

Full Member
Apr 29, 2003
83
0
Macclesfield
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My 3 yr deal was for 25K/yr and at the end of the lease they wanted £5500 to keep it. Even with the proper 10K services, I reckoned that the engine would only be good until 110-120K so decided not to keep and start over with a 2.0TFSI
I really liked my Cupra but its a powerful, good looking beast, not a Volvo expected to do 150K motorway miles.
 
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