About 6 months ago we bought a 3 month old Terramar with 10 miles on the clock form a main dealer. The following is our experiences so far and with 6000 miles : -
Firstly let’s get the really bad one out of the way…When buying it I enquired about fitting a tow-bar and as the vehicle had not been pre-installed with the towbar kit, the dealer said I would need to go to a towbar specialist. Sure enough no Cupra dealer was interested. Then started a very difficult search for someone to fit a towbar. It seems that towbar manufacturers are a bit slow to release towbars for new models. Lots of people were telling me of dealers they were sure would do it…sadly none would. I eventually found a specialist not far away that fitted a Brink towbar. However he was unable to code the system to take account of the towbar because the VAG group were not releasing codes (unlike all other car manufacturers). Six months later nothing has changed and indeed Cupra have confirmed that they probably will never release codes. Had I know this beforehand I would have purchase another vehicle. New buyers beware! This causes some nasty issues when reversing with a cycle carrier on the back and I have yet to find the work around.
That apart, owning a Terramar has been mainly a delight. The balance of power and economy fits our lifestyle perfectly…we spend 3 months every year in the Alps and the power proved just right for overtaking coaches on mountain roads but not too much that it was difficult to handle for an old git like me! (I did test drive the 333PS Cupra Leon estate….OMG!). Fuel economy varies from low 30’s running in an out of town up to mid 40’s on a long run. With the price different between Diesel and Petrol at the moment we feel we are no worse off than the Seat Ateca 2.0 Diesel we previously owned. Some other not so great things…firstly the car came with shockingly bad tyres. I quickly swapped them for top quality all season tyres which has made a massive difference to handling and ride. We prefer a harder ride rather than the wallowy ride you get say with Skodas. Next is the “Attention Monitor”. This works perfectly for my wife but is terrible for me…is it because I wear glasses and a hat and sit a long way back? But sometimes the alarm is going off constantly…and my attention is always on the road. The fact you cannot permanently turn it off is somewhat irritating. Also not really sure how to save settings. We change the internal lighting on the front wrap around to one that does not clash with the blind spot warning, but the car keeps asking do you want to save the settings…if you say yes, the settings revert! Very strange, but I really do need to read the manual fully. The internal and external lighting is great, and it also adjusts headlights when you configure the car to say you are driving on the right. The automatic shift of the sound balance is a neat touch, I guess it senses what seats are occupied, and the sound system in general is good…I had seen a post where it was criticised but that puzzled me. Electric and heated seats all work fine but the heated steering wheel takes a while to warm up by which time cabin temperature is warm. With regard to seats, these are all very good. Great adjustments on the front seats and they are very comfortable. Even the back seats are good. A minor gripe is that there is no way to flatten rear seats from the boot.
The handling seems perfectly good to me even though it doesn’t have the VZ adaptive suspension. Power delivery takes some getting used to after driving a diesel for years but there is more than enough poke! The rear seats move back and forward, although I cannot see why you would position them anywhere but all the way back. Perhaps if you want to recline them more you may need to move them forward. The rear space is very good. The boot with seats down is longer than the Ateca…enough to take 180cm Skis without going corner to corner, like the Ateca. The slopping roof limits total capacity but I hate loading it up so that you cannot see out the back anyway. All-round visibility is not as good as the Ateca but OK.
I have managed to install a front and rear Nextbase dash cam fine, running cables through the roof trim and up (and down) the passenger pillar.
The controls on the steering wheel seem fine but it is rather a faf to change from Adaptive Cruise Control to Speed Limiter (was one button push on the Ateca). I love the steering column mounted gearbox controller. Again not sure the wiper controls are particularly intuitive. The cockpit itself is fine but not up to the lovely new Kia Sportage. The large screen has most controls on, which can be distracting….I guess I need to get voice control working more. I have all my music on a USB stick and it works very well even playing HiRes FLAC files (unlike the Ateca). The SatNav is good but is well out of date. How is this updated?
The HUD works well and was one of the main reasons for getting a V2, but for some strange reason you cannot get Waze directions on the HUD from Apple CarPlay. It’s OK with Apple Maps and Google Maps and even Waze on Android Auto….bizarre.
All parking sensors work properly but the emergency braking (cross traffic etc) is so vicious that you think you have hit something! But then it works! The auto parking again works once you have got the hang of it…my wife has to cover her eyes! Auto locking when you walk away from the car is not perfect….it works 90% of the time which means you cannot trust it completely.
All in all it’s lovely to drive as it feels more of a “car” than an “SUV” so much so that I sometimes have difficulty deciding whether a Cupra I see on the road is a Formentor or a Terramar.
Firstly let’s get the really bad one out of the way…When buying it I enquired about fitting a tow-bar and as the vehicle had not been pre-installed with the towbar kit, the dealer said I would need to go to a towbar specialist. Sure enough no Cupra dealer was interested. Then started a very difficult search for someone to fit a towbar. It seems that towbar manufacturers are a bit slow to release towbars for new models. Lots of people were telling me of dealers they were sure would do it…sadly none would. I eventually found a specialist not far away that fitted a Brink towbar. However he was unable to code the system to take account of the towbar because the VAG group were not releasing codes (unlike all other car manufacturers). Six months later nothing has changed and indeed Cupra have confirmed that they probably will never release codes. Had I know this beforehand I would have purchase another vehicle. New buyers beware! This causes some nasty issues when reversing with a cycle carrier on the back and I have yet to find the work around.
That apart, owning a Terramar has been mainly a delight. The balance of power and economy fits our lifestyle perfectly…we spend 3 months every year in the Alps and the power proved just right for overtaking coaches on mountain roads but not too much that it was difficult to handle for an old git like me! (I did test drive the 333PS Cupra Leon estate….OMG!). Fuel economy varies from low 30’s running in an out of town up to mid 40’s on a long run. With the price different between Diesel and Petrol at the moment we feel we are no worse off than the Seat Ateca 2.0 Diesel we previously owned. Some other not so great things…firstly the car came with shockingly bad tyres. I quickly swapped them for top quality all season tyres which has made a massive difference to handling and ride. We prefer a harder ride rather than the wallowy ride you get say with Skodas. Next is the “Attention Monitor”. This works perfectly for my wife but is terrible for me…is it because I wear glasses and a hat and sit a long way back? But sometimes the alarm is going off constantly…and my attention is always on the road. The fact you cannot permanently turn it off is somewhat irritating. Also not really sure how to save settings. We change the internal lighting on the front wrap around to one that does not clash with the blind spot warning, but the car keeps asking do you want to save the settings…if you say yes, the settings revert! Very strange, but I really do need to read the manual fully. The internal and external lighting is great, and it also adjusts headlights when you configure the car to say you are driving on the right. The automatic shift of the sound balance is a neat touch, I guess it senses what seats are occupied, and the sound system in general is good…I had seen a post where it was criticised but that puzzled me. Electric and heated seats all work fine but the heated steering wheel takes a while to warm up by which time cabin temperature is warm. With regard to seats, these are all very good. Great adjustments on the front seats and they are very comfortable. Even the back seats are good. A minor gripe is that there is no way to flatten rear seats from the boot.
The handling seems perfectly good to me even though it doesn’t have the VZ adaptive suspension. Power delivery takes some getting used to after driving a diesel for years but there is more than enough poke! The rear seats move back and forward, although I cannot see why you would position them anywhere but all the way back. Perhaps if you want to recline them more you may need to move them forward. The rear space is very good. The boot with seats down is longer than the Ateca…enough to take 180cm Skis without going corner to corner, like the Ateca. The slopping roof limits total capacity but I hate loading it up so that you cannot see out the back anyway. All-round visibility is not as good as the Ateca but OK.
I have managed to install a front and rear Nextbase dash cam fine, running cables through the roof trim and up (and down) the passenger pillar.
The controls on the steering wheel seem fine but it is rather a faf to change from Adaptive Cruise Control to Speed Limiter (was one button push on the Ateca). I love the steering column mounted gearbox controller. Again not sure the wiper controls are particularly intuitive. The cockpit itself is fine but not up to the lovely new Kia Sportage. The large screen has most controls on, which can be distracting….I guess I need to get voice control working more. I have all my music on a USB stick and it works very well even playing HiRes FLAC files (unlike the Ateca). The SatNav is good but is well out of date. How is this updated?
The HUD works well and was one of the main reasons for getting a V2, but for some strange reason you cannot get Waze directions on the HUD from Apple CarPlay. It’s OK with Apple Maps and Google Maps and even Waze on Android Auto….bizarre.
All parking sensors work properly but the emergency braking (cross traffic etc) is so vicious that you think you have hit something! But then it works! The auto parking again works once you have got the hang of it…my wife has to cover her eyes! Auto locking when you walk away from the car is not perfect….it works 90% of the time which means you cannot trust it completely.
All in all it’s lovely to drive as it feels more of a “car” than an “SUV” so much so that I sometimes have difficulty deciding whether a Cupra I see on the road is a Formentor or a Terramar.
