Buying an FR

[HuckingFell]

Hi guys,

Been lurking round here for months as i've been waiting nearly 9 months for my company car opt out to come round. The times finally here and i've come to the decision that i want a Leon FR! A 2.0 tfsi to be exact, dsg if possible, but not massively bothered.

My first question is, not sure anyone will know but i'll ask anyway, how new a car can i realistically be looking at for around £13.5k. Obviously the new a lower mileage the better.

Second question is whats the best way to go about finding the right car, never bought a decent car before, so any advice is much appreciated.

I'm looking forward to getting the car as i'm currently driving a rubbish 1.3cdti astra.

Again, thanks for any help you can offer up!

 

[leon_lib]

Hi guys,

Been lurking round here for months as i've been waiting nearly 9 months for my company car opt out to come round. The times finally here and i've come to the decision that i want a Leon FR! A 2.0 tfsi to be exact, dsg if possible, but not massively bothered.

My first question is, not sure anyone will know but i'll ask anyway, how new a car can i realistically be looking at for around £13.5k. Obviously the new a lower mileage the better.

Second question is whats the best way to go about finding the right car, never bought a decent car before, so any advice is much appreciated.

I'm looking forward to getting the car as i'm currently driving a rubbish 1.3cdti astra.

Again, thanks for any help you can offer up!

Check for service history, paintwork, the options you get on it ect you get my drift,
then compare the cars your looking at and take the better one!!!

 

[Big_Mikey_G]

Hi there,

I would suggest taking a look on the auto trader website.

A quick 5 minute search turned up several of the car your looking for.

Narrowing the search to the Leon FR TFSI with DSG i can see 10 available at the moment between £10,500 and £13,500.

Many came with a host of optional extras including full BTCC/Aero body kits, bluetooth, bigger alloys etc etc if thats what your looking for.

Pretty much all of them come with full service history. For £13,500 i wouldnt be looking for anything below a 07 plate. However you may consider an 08 plate depending on whether you put a higher priority on optional extras or age and mileage.

Id say the biggest question you have to ask yourself is first what colour you want it in and secondly whether your looking for toys or hassle free motoring. If the answer is the latter, chances are youve come to the wrong place!

Mike.

 

[HuckingFell]

Cheers for the input guys, going to ring my local dealer and also Irfan @ M1 autos, he seems to have a very good reputation around these parts!

 

[GainfulShrimp]

A couple of months ago, I got my 09 plate Candy White FR TFSI DSG as an import (originally from Cyprus) from Motorpoint. You need to know that the resale value on imports is lower, but you save quite a bit. Mine came with Bluetooth, sunroof, etc and I basically paid £13k plus my somewhat clapped-out 51 plate Golf TDI (>150k miles!) - not at all bad for a new car. They drive on the left in Cyprus so the steering wheel is on the correct side etc. I was the first registered owner and my insurers didn't bat an eyelid at it being an import. The only hassle I had was having to wait a few weeks while Motorpoint arranged for a local Seat main dealer to swap out the km/h speedo with a mph unit.

Absolutely fantastic choice of car IMHO and immense fun to drive with the DSG (I should say it's my first sporty car) but you'll find the frequent fillups are a shock especially coming from quite a frugal diesel like your Astra.

 

[Marshall]

How many years warranty do you get on an import? Am I right in thinking its only 2 years?

 

[GainfulShrimp]

Yes, the usual UK warranty is three years where the first two are from Seat and the third year is from the dealership. You are missing out the dealership in this case, so only the manufacturer warranty applies. Also, the warranty usually starts ticking when the importer buys the car to bring it into the UK, so if it ends up hanging around in a warehouse or forecourt for a few months, you might only end up with 18 months or thereabouts.

 

[leon_in_uk]

Why an Fr? Why not a cupra for 13.5k??

 

[SP.DK]

I would go for a DSG i love mine, i know a lot of people without the DSG and they all say that they envy me for the DSG, they ars driving both cupras and fr.

 

[HuckingFell]

Why an Fr? Why not a cupra for 13.5k??

I'd love a cupra, just not sure I can afford the insurance and looking around there's not really any in my price range!

 

[Robbo73]

I second the DSG...the main reason I went for the FR over the Cupra at the time....great for driving in and out of built up areas such as central London. Good performance too, I've only just managed to get 360 miles out of my tank this week though, so not sur eif the Cupra guzzles a bit more or not but would presume it's a little thirstier?

 

[rllmuk]

I'm sure you could get a Cupra for that amount of cash, just depends how old you want it to be.

I can confirm the DSG is awesome but if it goes wrong out of warranty it won't be cheap. This didn't put me off, but it's something to think about.