Advice on looking at a Toledo

[Rawsharc]

Hi Guys and Girls,

I currently own a mk4 Ibiza 1.2 but have been recently looking for a bigger car with which i can tow a boat. A Toledo is up for sale near me and looks quite attractive, but i was hoping some of the past and present owners of Tollys could give me some pointers/advice.

The car is a 51 plate 1.9TDI SE version with 106k on the clock. I have yet to see her in the flesh (metal) but if anyone has any advice about problems or things to look out for in a car/engine of this mileage it would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Alex

 

[kewe]

Hi Alex, your best bet would be a search on this forum and you'll find a few threads done to death on this subject

Looking at most of the posts on here lately would kind of put me off buying one if I was being truthful as they always seem to be about problems with the car. Have to say though I have had mine 18 month now and have loved every minute of ownership. Just get clued up on the common problems and you should be able to avoid a lemon.

 

[1.9...stefan]

leaks, damp footwells, no wierd turbo noises like a siren etc... u might have vag com with having a mk4 try that and check for fault codes... windows all go down, climate control thing is expensive, doors lock etc etc, as said a good search will showw up faults

 

[tolly_tdi]

Hi Alex

I've got the same car so can comment! mechanically they are sound if well maintained are fantastic cars and great mpg much more reliable than PD also and should tow a boat no probs (as long as its not a boat and not a ship!) though I would advise looking for the following known faults

when test driving...

make sure you can test it on a long strip and can give it a boot to take in up to 4k nearly into red in 3rd/4th - if it seems to suddenly go sluggish and not accelerate as fast its gone into limp mode and may indicate a problem with the intake/turbo system can range from easy to fix to problematic- but really make sure you test this

temp gauge wandering/not working - does not affect engine cooling usually but will need replacing costs circa £26

inspecting
Check out the carpet in front and back of car for dampness smell or even being wet/sodden- very important - early toledos are prone to leaking internally through door cards - checking this now will save a lot of agro later - read this guide to check for it

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=44216

will try to think of more

 

[Rawsharc]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies, im gradually making my way through the forum posts and getting an idea of whats what with the Toledo!

Tolly_tdi thanks for the suggestions, i will give that a go if/when i can give her a test and yes a boat is a dinghy (all up + trailer probably 350kgish). what mileage are you on if you dont mind me asking. Obviously the one im looking at is quite a high mileage car for its age and is really due another cambelt change i would have thought.
How long would things like the shocks be good for?

Cheers

 

[tolly_tdi]

mines dones 113k and touch wood will have no probs. got FSH - main dealer up till last year and I look after it but none the less it will has same engine that is in a Golf/Bora TDI for that year and they will easily do 300k+ if maintained so don't worry about 106k or whatever just look at history and as long as thats ok you'll be fine.
as for cambelt should be due every 60k or 4 years whatever sooner, yes mine is due soon!
done properly including metal impeller waterpump change and alternator belt (ribbed v-belt) will cost around £350-370 ain't cheap

shocks should be ok mine are but around that mileage i'll have a closer look!

 

[Rawsharc]

Thanks Tolly thats the sort of recommendation that makes me think it could be the one to go for! Im hoping to try and get them to agree to doing the cambelt before i'd buy it if a test drive doesnt throw up any (major) problems. Apart from that they say it has FSH and has pretty much always been serviced by them-they know the car and the owner as they sold it to him originally!

The only thing that really worries me really is the turbo-they always seem to go bang and be very expensive to fix, although it could just be theres never any "my turbos fine no problems" threads!

 

[tolly_tdi]

cool well good luck trying to convince them to get a cambelt change! look at receipts to see what has actually been done and if right oil has been used should be fully synthetic 5w40 VW spec 505.00 though this is not as vital as the PD engine and is just important that there is regular service intervals the rest is just standard car stuff
turbos hold up pretty well on this model actually from what I understand they just have issues with sticking vanes which causes the problems I mentioned earlier- just need a good boot every now and then (when the engine is nice and warm as nothing knackers a turbo quicker than a cold engine)

 

[Rawsharc]

Cheers for the advice and suggestions, suppose it will really rest on a test drive! then il have to see where I want to stand and see how much leeway they're willing to give!

On a side note does anyone know the cost of fitting a towbar and electrics to a toledo? not worried about it being a SEAT one but if anyones had it done and could give an idea i'd appreciate it!

cheers

 

[seantdi]

i fitted a two bar on my old bora!! easy enough to do! back bumper needs to come off. the one i got was bosel (i think thats the name) got it for 100 euro about 2 years ago! you could try a brakers yard. ones off a golf, bora, leon and skoda octavia will all fit!

 

[Rawsharc]

cool cheers for that...was afraid of them being quite hard to source and therefore costly, but if theres so much overlap between the models thats great!

 

[car_guy143]

The door seals are a pretty easy fix. It took me 2 hours and a silicone sealant gun to do all 4 doors (i don't think all four were leaking but decided to re seal them anyway just to be safe).

If the electric windows work on the drivers switches, but not the individual doors themselves, this could either be dirty contacts in the switches which is easy to fix using some spray and a screwdriver to scrape clean, or just the switches themselves.

I would also check the speed of the wipers. You should have automatic(some newer cars) or user programmable(using a switch to adjust the interval between wipes), intermittent, continuous, and fast continuous. If the wipers seem to stick or seem slow even on the fastest setting then this means your wiper linkage could be stiff and this will eventually cause the wiper motor to fail which happened to me a month after buying my Toledo.

Obviously being a diesel engine it might be slightly smokey, but use common sense to judge if it's too smokey. If it's smokey on startup(whitey grey), this could be the glowplugs are on their way out, but the smoke should clear after a few seconds at the most. Blue smoke is bad, and so is white smoke once the car is warmed up.

Turbos shouldn't be too much of a problem on a diesel, just don't rag the engine when the oil is still cold as this can damage the seals of the turbo.

The rest is general car stuff, check for bodywork damage, check the brakes, steering, check for knocks over bumps, or pulling to one side under acceleration or braking.

My Toledo has had some problems in the few months i've had it, but they've been simple things like the door seal leaks, needing a good service etc. They are a good car and seem pretty well built too. I have more confidence working on the Toledo now than what i ever did working on my 3 old Peugeots.

 

[seantdi]

cool cheers for that...was afraid of them being quite hard to source and therefore costly, but if theres so much overlap between the models thats great!

yup! they are often on ebay aswell.

 

[Rawsharc]

Cheers for all the hints guys im starting to feel a bit more confident looking at a car of this mileage!

car guy i would never have thought of the windscreen wipers so thanks!!

 

[car_guy143]

Cheers for all the hints guys im starting to feel a bit more confident looking at a car of this mileage!

car guy i would never have thought of the windscreen wipers so thanks!!

Neither did i as they normally just work on cars lol.

My wipers seemed ok, but i had ended up buying the first Toledo i saw due to literally only having one day to buy a car. My wipers stopped working whilst doing 70 in heavy rain on the motorway, weren't a nice experience but i were lucky not to crash.

Original thread when my wipers went http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=199546&highlight=wipers+died

 

[1.9...stefan]

listen out for clicking indicators

 

[Rawsharc]

My wipers seemed ok, but i had ended up buying the first Toledo i saw due to literally only having one day to buy a car. My wipers stopped working whilst doing 70 in heavy rain on the motorway, weren't a nice experience but i were lucky not to crash.

hmm that doesnt sound fun!!

tolly_tdi what mpg are you getting at the moment from your engine? im interested to see how much the number goes down over the miles!

 

[tolly_tdi]

well I do a lot of miles but at present I get about 320-350miles per 30 litres (half tank) which on uk gallon (4.55L) is about 48-53 mpg if you want to be precise. This is a combination of motorway and a roads averaging 50-70mph and the oocassional italian tune up in between. once done a long run on 50mph cruise control and got over 63mpg but can't be asked going that slow again. Gets good results at 70mph so save money just by sticking to speed limits!

Its a good car but make sure you check everything everybody has mentioned-there are plenty about!

 

[cypher007]

hello

are you buying it from a Seat dealer? if not then get the belt done at Seat. i bought a Toledo from a couple last year, and they told me the belt had been done, and so did the garage which did it, but i wasnt given the receipt and garage had a family connection with the owner. so anyway i recently checked the belt by having a look under the belt cover, as im getting some vibration and noise ocassionally, and it is slightly shiny and the top idler has black patches on it. so i can only deduce from this that although the garage said they fitted a kit, maybe they did maybe they didnt, im now looking at getting the belt re-done at Seat after only 10K since the last belt change, just to be on the safe side. incedentaly ive managed to get a price of £250 fitted, which i thought was quite good, though im wondering whether or not to get the water pump replaced as well, the trouble is ive just changed the coolant so dont really want them dumping the whole lot again, plus i shouldnt think they would use de-ionised water like i have.

 

[tolly_tdi]

if you're going to have a change its worth doing properly. always get a receipt and warranty with it (usually up to 1 year or 10k) as for the cambelt its worth getting everything done including alternator belt and water pump for metal impeller (which will include coolant change) as plastic ones have been known to fail though not so much on the diesel ones though