Looking to buy a '64 plate Leon 1.6 TDI SE

[KXL]

Back from our week away and with time to think she's now set on having an FR. Which engine version is yet to be decided by what we can find out there. We've yet to have a test drive in a 1.4 but look forward to doing so soon.

Is there such a thing as a diesel FR that's not a 2.0?

Sadly no, all FRs are at least 140PS powerful. The least powerful engine in their line up is 'tada' the petrol 1.4 140 PS for that era. The 2017 models have a 1.4 125PS FR. Weakest Diesel is the 2.0 TDI 150.

50mph flat road, should easily get you low to mid-50s. I do a not dissimilar journey once a week, 16 miles, 50mph zones...car would give (note I have a 1.0 TSI though) anywhere between 56-62mpg with very light traffic.

If you can find a petrol 1.4 ACT 150 within your budget, that woudl be the one to go for. One forum member recently got 64mpg over 200 miles with average speed of just over 50mph. That's diesel territory...

 

[Karmann_65]

Sadly no, all FRs are at least 140PS powerful. The least powerful engine in their line up is 'tada' the petrol 1.4 140 PS for that era. The 2017 models have a 1.4 125PS FR. Weakest Diesel is the 2.0 TDI 150.

50mph flat road, should easily get you low to mid-50s. I do a not dissimilar journey once a week, 16 miles, 50mph zones...car would give (note I have a 1.0 TSI though) anywhere between 56-62mpg with very light traffic.

If you can find a petrol 1.4 ACT 150 within your budget, that woudl be the one to go for. One forum member recently got 64mpg over 200 miles with average speed of just over 50mph. That's diesel territory...

I called in (wife free) at the local Seat dealers this morning. It's where we bought her current Altea new 10 years ago. To be fair, their prices on a used car were not much different than that of the big car supermarkets. They searched their database but failed to locate a single 1.4TSi FR currently in stock. They had however just received a 2.0 TDi in white but it needed a full valet and they hadn't fixed a price for it yet and the mileage was nearer to 40K.

140PS would be perfectly adequate I'm sure. If anything comes in soon the dealer will let me know. I did ask the question about 1.6TDi FR's and you're quite right, they don't exist.

What does ACT stand for?

 

[KXL]

140PS would be perfectly adequate I'm sure. If anything comes in soon the dealer will let me know. I did ask the question about 1.6TDi FR's and you're quite right, they don't exist.

What does ACT stand for?

ACT is Active Cylinder Technology. Eg...if you are using the power of the engine, all 4 cyclinders are working...however if you are cruising gently ... say in a 50mph zone, flat, not all the power is needed, so the engine cleverly shuts off it's middle 2 cylinders and essentially runs in as a 2 cylinder 700cc motor, but when power is required again, it will restart the 2 cylinders and back to a 1.4 4 cylinder motor. I doubt anyone will even feel the transition, except for a small indicator on the dash. It's likely that the people who were getting 60mpg + on their consumption figures, were predominantly in 2 cylinder mode when crusing on the highway. Even up to 70+ mph, it can still run on 2 cylinder mode.

 

[Karmann_65]

ACT is Active Cylinder Technology. Eg...if you are using the power of the engine, all 4 cyclinders are working...however if you are cruising gently ... say in a 50mph zone, flat, not all the power is needed, so the engine cleverly shuts off it's middle 2 cylinders and essentially runs in as a 2 cylinder 700cc motor, but when power is required again, it will restart the 2 cylinders and back to a 1.4 4 cylinder motor. I doubt anyone will even feel the transition, except for a small indicator on the dash. It's likely that the people who were getting 60mpg + on their consumption figures, were predominantly in 2 cylinder mode when crusing on the highway. Even up to 70+ mph, it can still run on 2 cylinder mode.

Thanks again. So that's the same as used in the Polo Blue GT then? It's all VAG so makes sense that its the same.

 

[KXL]

Thanks again. So that's the same as used in the Polo Blue GT then? It's all VAG so makes sense that its the same.

Yup, also in Golf, Octavia, A3, A1, A4 etc, most engines VAG has it, hence the extremely long wait times for this engine in a new car.

If in doubt if you are wondering if the engine has ACT on it, just open the hood, ACT engines would have the middle 2 cylinder blocks coloured in Blue label. Please note, the older versions were 1.4 140PS ACT, but most of the newer ones are 1.4 150PS ACT. I believe the latter are more common.

 

[Karmann_65]

Yup, also in Golf, Octavia, A3, A1, A4 etc, most engines VAG has it, hence the extremely long wait times for this engine in a new car.

If in doubt if you are wondering if the engine has ACT on it, just open the hood, ACT engines would have the middle 2 cylinder blocks coloured in Blue label. Please note, the older versions were 1.4 140PS ACT, but most of the newer ones are 1.4 150PS ACT. I believe the latter are more common.

We test drove a Leon 1.4 150 ACT FR at the weekend (albeit brand new and out of our budget) then tried out a Polo Blue GT for comparison.

Both drove really well but you could tell the Leon had that "bigger" car feel and rode all the better for it. We've decided to save a little bit more before making a purchase due to the poor trade in value of our current Altea 1.9 TDI.

WBAC.com are offering £1200 so thats's the minimum we'll accept as a trade in or sell it to WBAC.com same day. For the price, selling private is no doubt going to be a hassle we can just do without.

 

[KXL]

Well in the Leon, I could not reach to close/re-close the front passenger door (if somebody didn't close the door properly), in the Ibiza (should be same size as Polo more or less), I could do this easily!

 

[Karmann_65]

We finally bought a Leon at weekend.

15K on the clock, full service history and one very meticulous previous owner.

The car was for sale privately and we managed to beat the dealerships to it that were also offering to buy.

It's a 1.4TSI FR ACT in white and still under manufacturers warranty until January.

Only issue now is we have one car too many and it looks a little bit like a dealership at home.
Fortunately we're in no rush and can afford the time to find a good cash deal for our Altea.

Happy wife = Happy life

 

[KXL]

Congrats! How much did it set you back? Don't forget 1 full tank of Vpower, and polish those dual exhaust tips, good to go.

 

[Karmann_65]

Congrats! How much did it set you back? Don't forget 1 full tank of Vpower, and polish those dual exhaust tips, good to go.

11K with no haggling. Seemed like a fair price and we weren't going to let this one slip away. As an extra bonus it was only 30 miles away so we viewed it and sorted all the paperwork out at the sellers house then drove it home same day.

Even knowing that the engine has the auto cut off function, it ticks over so quiet and smooth that as a passenger it's impossible to tell if its running or not until the driver gives it some throttle.

I'll break out the auto sol on them exhaust tips.

 

[KXL]

Yes coming from a 2.0TDI Mk3 Leon to a 1.0 TSI Ibiza, the engine was so quiet comparatively speaking. Need to check the rpms if it was on or off.

Only thing is on a 3cylinder motor, I can feel the slight vibration on the pedals, but I'm sure the 4 cyl EcoTSI is a lot smoother.

Were you lucky with the car? Eg...haven't discovered / experienced any of the common problems other Leon owners have? or rattling sounds?

 

[Karmann_65]

Yes coming from a 2.0TDI Mk3 Leon to a 1.0 TSI Ibiza, the engine was so quiet comparatively speaking. Need to check the rpms if it was on or off.

Only thing is on a 3cylinder motor, I can feel the slight vibration on the pedals, but I'm sure the 4 cyl EcoTSI is a lot smoother.

Were you lucky with the car? Eg...haven't discovered / experienced any of the common problems other Leon owners have? or rattling sounds?

So far so good. Nothing rattles that's made us question what it was and I'm quite fussy about such things.

I asked about water getting in the rear lights and the previous owner already had the seals changed under warranty.