buying a Leon TDI - advice needed

[bojo_ri]

Good evening to all,

I have recently I found a Leon in very good condition.
It is a 2005 Leon FR, 110kW TDI.
It has plenty of extras and is in very good condition, no rust, scratches, dents, I have also looked at id from underneath in detail and cannot find a fault, too good to be true. The engine revs normally, doesn't hesitate or stall, the clutch is nice and consistent and so forth, no sounds in the suspension while driving over potholes.
The owner (2nd) says that the car has been driven on the motorway 80% of the time, hence the mileage.

On the minus side, it has 117000 miles on the clock (188000 km).
I have heard that those engines are basically bulletproof and the only reason that I'm hesitant of buying it, is the the mileage.

So my question would be, if I were to buy it, what sorts of servicing would I be looking at?
All I know is that the timing belt has been changed under 5000 miles ago, the second time, offcourse.
What are the clutches like, how long do they (usually) last (normal operating conditions), turbo, unit injectors failure? anything in particular?

Thank you for reading and sorry for such a long post.

 

[GTJEDI]

I have a leon fr+ 150, it has done 114,000 and it still pulls like a train so don't let that mileage put you off, as for clutch etc you just have to get on with it. Things like that can chuck it at any time.

AL

 

[gaz1211]

What he said^^^

 

[teeburn12]

its a 10 year old car. the mileage isn't that high. its about 12000 miles a year which is standard. check against old MOTs to how the miles have been done ie equal over the years or high recently.

 

[Alexis27]

The 110 diesel is very good. 120k isn't much for a diesel. It's better than one on 50k at that age really - proves it hasn't been on short journeys

 

[bojo_ri]

OK, thank you all for the reassuring comments. I'm more at ease now, but to be honest, all the cars from that era/age are bound to have those kinds of mileages so it's a must.
And yeah, sounds better to have a car with higher mileage which has 'lived' on the highway than a city car.

Just to confirm, visually speaking, a real FR TDI will have a Cupra front bumper and those straight spoke rims? 5 'main' spokes each split into two smaller spokes?
I'm not allowed to post a link (under 15 posts) so can't really explain any better.


Cheers

 

[GTJEDI]

No that's the FR+ your thinking of, thats what I have. It has cupra r bodykit and a 17 inch version of the cupra r wheels.I think also my FR badge is all red whereas the normal FR has black and red.

AL

 

[bojo_ri]

Yes, that's it. I thought that maybe the owner installed the body kit and rims after but seems it rella is the trim level you're talking about.

Well this one is the same, only difference is that the FR badge is in black and red, the 'F' being black and 'R' in red.
Maybe there was an option where yo can choose or something.

So what about the suspension?
Do all sport, FR and such Leons have the same suspension or are there several stages to suspension packages?
I know that thy can't be like the stock Leon, that's for sure.

 

[GTJEDI]

Are the wheels 17"?

Every fr+ I've seen has all red badge, maybe the badges had been changed dunno.

AL

 

[bojo_ri]

Yes they are.
Well maybe since I'm from Croatia they had a different badge or something...
Could be anything really.
Maybe there's a way to find out what it really is through SEAT servicing network in EU by VIN number.

 

[Paul1974]

Agree with what's been said previously, in regards the mileage. However I would point out that, although it's low miles on the engine it's the components that also take a beating. I bought mine on 77k, and have had to replace the alternator, gearbox bearings, and countless suspension parts over the last two years of ownership. So just be mindful that not only miles wear things out, but age aswell.

 

[bojo_ri]

OK, I'll take that into consideration.
Well the best sale worthy candidate will have full service history and one, two tops, previous owners.
And not only that, but major malfunctions/repairs may not be logged in for resale value.

I've seen my share of Leons and where I'm from, the standard of living isn't all that great so people tend not to service their cars in the dealership they bought them in, except during the warranty period.

All in all, I appreciate all the helpful answers and hopefully a good steal will come along, I'm in no particular hurry to buy a car anyways.

 

[Alexis27]

The FR+ was a run out model. Think they only made it for 3 months to use up spare Cupra R body kits

 

[bojo_ri]

Hey, one final question.
I've just read that the ARL (110kW) engine likes to eat camshafts for breakfast...
Myth or fact?
Also read people saying that with regular servicing it won't occur, but then again some say that it happened to their car even with regular and correct servicing.