Awaiting Delivery of 2011MY Leon FR CR TDI

[The Privateer]

Hi,

5 weeks ago I ordered an 2011MY Leon FR CR TDI, this is my first Seat (my first VAG since a Golf & Polo in late 90's!). I've had technology pack on it too, so Sat Nav, Bluetooth and Xenon headlights, Wifey will be driving it in the week so wanted to make sure she had all the essentials.
I've been reading the forums about problems and threads of differing nature regarding the FR CR TDI and was just curious on the following questions:

1. Is there anything that I need to be wary of when I first get it?
2. Have there been any common problems that have caused people to get them back into the dealer quickly?
3. Is the DPF still a big problem on the 2011 CR engine? I currently run my diesels on Shell V-Power diesel if that makes any difference.
4. Is the MPG crap until the engine loosens up? Will be doing 300 miles on M42 per week.
5. Are there any essential accessories that I should get put on it straight away, I've ordered mud flaps and the pedal set.

Thanks in advance and also thanks for a great forum, as a usual "lurker" it is a good source of info to read around on various topics.

Thanks,

Jon

 

[jezyg]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum your FL FR TDi is a cracking car and you will love it I am sure.

1. Just be gentle untill everything beds in.

2. Not really a few had issues with the CUP system and poor sound quality with iPod's but resolved on later versions and 1 person did have a new engine at 79 miles but is very rare.

3. DPF can still have sensor issues but is rare. The CR engine burns cleaner so less issues from the DPF sooting up. Just drive above 40mph for 10 mins a week to burn access soot off.

4. I had 54mpg on the motorway home after picking her up. Average seems to be 45mpg in the winter and 48mpg in the summer. But mpg does improve with miles as it loosens up.

5. Not really unless you use an iPod then you will need an iPod lead. BMW lead is recommended as is 100% compatible and cheaper than the SEAT lead.

 

[Myshra]

Only thing you'll need is a decent sized USB stick / ipod to put some music/audiobooks on. I have virtually exactly the same car / milage you do and have never seen the DPF light, I don't think it will be an issue for your driving (but just incase I like to give it a thrashing once a week to keep it all in good working order ). At 10 months/22k I get ~48mpg according to the onboard cruising between 70-80 currently.

 

[sportbilly]

I thought the new CR engine didnt have the DPF issues as it didnt have one..?

Got I dont know weather to go for Petrol or Diesel FR - we dont to the mileage but then mpg is still better but the car costs more... choices eh.

Great choice for you and the Tech pack seems like the best add-on.

 

[jezyg]

I thought the new CR engine didnt have the DPF issues as it didnt have one..?

Got I dont know weather to go for Petrol or Diesel FR - we dont to the mileage but then mpg is still better but the car costs more... choices eh.

Great choice for you and the Tech pack seems like the best add-on.

All dervs have a DPF now to meet Euro V emissions from September 2009 and came into force Jan 2011.

 

[sportbilly]

so they just cured the problem on the CR version then...

 

[jezyg]

so they just cured the problem on the CR version then...

Yes as the issue was the amount of Soot a PD unit produced, CR systems have 5 fuel squrits two before a main one and then another two to improve emissions by making sure as much fuel as possible is burnt off reducing soot and thus load on the DPF.

 

[GainfulShrimp]

My mpg figures (on a 1.6CR) are still improving after 16k miles, so it takes quite some time to reach their peak. (To be fair, I found the same with my FR TFSI, so petrols also take some time...)

 

[gorebrush]

CR engines + DPF's are fine - no problem.

I've had my vRS for a year (Although she is going today) and done 13K, never once seen the DPF light.

Just remember not to baby the car about, get out there and get driving the bugger.

 

[The Privateer]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum your FL FR TDi is a cracking car and you will love it I am sure.

1. Just be gentle untill everything beds in.

2. Not really a few had issues with the CUP system and poor sound quality with iPod's but resolved on later versions and 1 person did have a new engine at 79 miles but is very rare.

3. DPF can still have sensor issues but is rare. The CR engine burns cleaner so less issues from the DPF sooting up. Just drive above 40mph for 10 mins a week to burn access soot off.

4. I had 54mpg on the motorway home after picking her up. Average seems to be 45mpg in the winter and 48mpg in the summer. But mpg does improve with miles as it loosens up.

5. Not really unless you use an iPod then you will need an iPod lead. BMW lead is recommended as is 100% compatible and cheaper than the SEAT lead.

Thanks for the responses.

Do you have a link for the BMW iPod lead please? What is special about the Seat / BMW Pod lead from the standard Apple lead? I can only think that it must integrate the 3.5mm jack (audio) and the 30 pin dock connector to USB (Power) into one lead rather than two separate ones?

I've read some comments on this forum that the armrest is an "essential" accessory, any opinions?

Thanks

 

[Hugo Nebula]

I've had mine for nearly a month now, and it's just starting to bed in. I've baby'ed it for its first 1,000 miles, so I went for a good blast today (through the Clocaenog forest - one of the best driving roads in Britain) to really give it a good workout.

Diesels take about 10,000 miles to really loosen up and reach their peak efficiency.

Whether super-duper diesel is worth bothering with in terms of performance is up to you. Personally, I don't think the extra cost is justified in terms of MPG. I note that in the handbook, the petrol engines can use 'ordinary' unleaded, "with a slight power loss". There's no such caveat for the diesel engines.

I've bought a 16GB SD card and saved ALL my music on it. No more CDs rattling around; no iPod to hide away or steal. It's playing music I'd forgotten!

 

[sportbilly]

on the SD card thing, can you sort them into folders etc and view from the stereo?

 

[GainfulShrimp]

Diesels take about 10,000 miles to really loosen up and reach their peak efficiency.

Whether super-duper diesel is worth bothering with in terms of performance is up to you. Personally, I don't think the extra cost is justified in terms of MPG. I note that in the handbook, the petrol engines can use 'ordinary' unleaded, "with a slight power loss". There's no such caveat for the diesel engines.

I've bought a 16GB SD card and saved ALL my music on it. No more CDs rattling around; no iPod to hide away or steal. It's playing music I'd forgotten!

I totally agree re: SD cards - I use a 32GB one for my music and a 16GB USB for my spoken word/comedy... so I can shuffle either without mixing comedy with music if I don't want to.

You're spot on re: V-Power Diesel not being worthwhile too. Now that Shell's standard diesel contains advanced cleaning additives ('FuelSaver'), the only real difference between FuelSaver and V-Power diesels are that V-Power Diesel is made at "specially selected refineries" using gas-to-liquid (GTL) processing - which means it looks nicer and smells nicer. I'm not bothered about those 'benefits' for the cost premium.
Also, there was a thread somewhere where the guy emailed Shell about the cetane rating and biofuel content of both fuels, and the response was that FuelSaver actually has a slightly *higher* cetane rating. So V-Power Diesel will give marginal benefits over their standard derv, if anything, and will more likely actually harm mpg slightly.

I should state that while I don't think V-Power Diesel is worth bothering with, I still think V-Power unleaded is well worth the extra cost for cars that can take advantage of it (like VAG TFSIs). I noticed a considerable difference in idling smoothness and a slight increase in mpg when using it in my petrol FR - the extra mpg pretty much cancelled out the extra cost so the smoother running was a bonus.

I reckon many engines take more than 10k miles to fully loosen up. I'm still seeing improvements in mpg with my Ecomotive after 16k miles and my FR TFSI's mpg figures jumped considerably after about 20k miles.

 

[jezyg]

Thanks for the responses.

Do you have a link for the BMW iPod lead please? What is special about the Seat / BMW Pod lead from the standard Apple lead? I can only think that it must integrate the 3.5mm jack (audio) and the 30 pin dock connector to USB (Power) into one lead rather than two separate ones?

I've read some comments on this forum that the armrest is an "essential" accessory, any opinions?

Thanks

The standard Apple lead will not work as you need a special interface lead to work with the stereo.

The BMW and SEAT lead are exactly the same just the SEAT lead is more expensive????

Here is a link with the part number from realoem:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=UD72&mospid=50142&btnr=65_1796&hg=65&fg=95

Part number: 61120440812

 

[The Privateer]

Thanks for the link for the BMW lead, I'll get that ordered. Thanks Jon

 

[Hugo Nebula]

on the SD card thing, can you sort them into folders etc and view from the stereo?

You can. It will only play folders in order, so you can't select a parent folder. I.e., I have mine organised by artist, then each album as a separate folder within that folder; so it won't play all the folders by one artist, only one album at a time.

Two ways around this; 1) have all songs by one artist in one big folder, or 2) create playlists for each artist.

 

[pookas]

Hi Jon,

when is your estimated delivery date I ordered my 1.4 TSI middle of Jan with expected delivery end of March.

Andy

 

[GainfulShrimp]

You can. It will only play folders in order, so you can't select a parent folder. I.e., I have mine organised by artist, then each album as a separate folder within that folder; so it won't play all the folders by one artist, only one album at a time.

Two ways around this; 1) have all songs by one artist in one big folder, or 2) create playlists for each artist.

I'm pretty sure mine just goes to the next folder. Perhaps it's a setting somewhere?

 

[sportbilly]

I'll probably keep it simple and have just folders as albums listed - thanks for that.

 

[The Privateer]

Hi Jon,

when is your estimated delivery date I ordered my 1.4 TSI middle of Jan with expected delivery end of March.

Andy

Hi Andy (Pookas),

I ordered my FR from Central Seat in the first week in Feb, I was told I'd be contacted with a week to confirm a delivery date. I was told a initial 13 weeks almost as a "placeholder" date until they could confirm one. I called in a week after, nothing. Called in two weeks after ordering, nothing. Both times I was greeted with blank faces as if I'd asked them "Guess what I am having for my tea on Friday night?". I was told that due to the rush for 1st March deliveries, it is hard to give an accurate date. When I was trying to get a deal out of Derby Seat, they had said that the factory had gone on stop and they had a load of 60 plate generic FR's in stock otherwise they couldn't get any for three months.
Whilst I want it now, I have a private registration on the wife's car that will need transferring, so I could do with finding out, probably give them a call tomorrow now. Also it was only our intention to buy a nearly new, the offer of 10% vat & 0% finance made us go for new. I am finishing paying for my little run round(Corsa EcoFlex) in July and was our intention to buy once other car was paid for, so the longer it stretches out the longer it suits. Also we've agreed a part Ex for our car so it's in their interests to hurry it up! Hope yours turns up soon. Cheers Jon