Need advice on a SEAT Leon I have seen advertised for sale

TheGame7

Guest
I am in the market for a new second hand car.

I have decided I want a black SEAT Leon with either a 1.4 or 1.6 engine for cheap insurance and running. I do not want to spend any more that £3k (but ideally would like to spend less).

However, upon further reading it appears that these engines might struggle a little with a car of the Leon's size. Since the 1.8v T has a high insurance group and would not be very economical with fuel, I have turned my attention to the 1.9 TDI.

I have seen a 51-plate advertised at £3k with the following description:

5 Doors, Manual, Hatchback, Diesel, 90,000 miles, Metallic Black, MOT-08-2010, 1 Owner. Metallic Paint, PAS, ABS, Alloy wheels, Folding rear seats, Immobiliser, Passenger airbag, Radio/Cassette, Side airbags, Rear headrests, Sports seats, Traction control, Body coloured bumpers, Drivers airbag, Front electric windows, Front fog lights, Height adjustable drivers seat, Rear wiper, Remote central locking, Steering wheel rake adjustment, Steering wheel reach adjustment, Alarm, Electric door mirrors, Isofix child seat anchor points, 3x3 point rear seat belts, Heated door mirrors, Rear electric windows. Insurance Group:7A, LOOKS & DRIVES SUPERB, 1 OWNER CAR FROM NEW, HPI CLEAR, FOLDER FULL OF RECEIPTS, CAMBELT REPLACED AT 87K.

What are your opinions?

Diesels seem to be rare and consequently fetch a higher price (Parkers' website suggests dealers will charge £4k for an 51 diesel) so should I be wary of this due to the price it is being sold for?
 

bcstudent

Boost FTW
Apr 17, 2005
184
0
Norwich, UK
Personally, I'm wary of ANY used car regardless of age or claimed mileage. If the car's local you need to go and have a look and judge it on its own merits. Just make sure you take a level-headed friend with you that knows a thing or two about cars. Hopefully they'll stop you from jumping in with both feet on an impulse.
 

Cupra Ross

Breaks things............
May 15, 2005
1,380
1
Edinburgh, Scotland
Check it over thoroughly, you can write whatever you want in a description. Parkers prices are pulled straight out of thin air and bear no resemblance to real world sales. I wouldn't be paying more than £3k for such a car, £4k is fanciful.

From the spec, it sounds like a 1.9 TDi SE 110.
 

TheGame7

Guest
Sorry - you are correct. It is a 1.9 TDi SE 110. I thought I had stated that but I hadn't. So £3k sounds realistic?

Also, is 90k mileage on a VW Diesel engine nothing to take that much notice of?

If I go to view it, what should I be looking out for with Leon's of this age?
 
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-SlicK

No smoke, No poke
Nov 23, 2008
547
0
Beith, Scotland
I wouldnt panic too much about the mileage mate, as long as its been serviced regularly it will be bullet proof :) My toledo 110 is the same engine on 135k and had no real issues. Still going strong.
 

Alexis27

Active Member
Dec 20, 2009
2,095
451
Manchester
Looks good. For comparison you should be able to get a 1.6S with 60,000 miles for the same price. Insurance group is one lower too.

But yours would be an SE with fogs and climate control.
 

TheGame7

Guest
Thanks for the input so far. So if I go to view it, what should I pay particular attention to?
 

Cupra Ross

Breaks things............
May 15, 2005
1,380
1
Edinburgh, Scotland
Make sure there are no clonks from the front suspension. Front wishbone rear bushes cost about £120 to replace. Excessive black smoking is usually a clogged EGR assembly/intake manifold, no big deal and easy to fix but it can be worn out injectors too. A bottle of Millers Diesel Sport 4 can help to clean them.

The Leon can suffer from a leaking pollen filter seal and this allows water to leak into the passenger cabin. Make sure the interior carpets are dry under the mats and don't have signs of water damage. Rear washers are also prone to leaking. Uneven idle on the TDi engine is usually down to cracked injector fuel return pipes, its a 5 minute job to replace them with narrow bore silicone hoses.

Most important on the TDi, welly it in second then up to 3rd with the foot on the floor again. Then top gear from low revs with the foot on the floor. This will show if the clutch is slipping (revs increase but speed doesn't). When the clutch slips on these it usually takes the flywheel with it. This can be replaced with a single mass flywheel and G60 clutch to prevent the same issue happening again (only on 5 speed cars, 6 speed 130/150s need a more expensive replacement). I have an ECS Stage 1 clutch and flywheel on my 1.8T, this can also be fitted on the TDi.

Its fairly normal on the 110 for it to shudder very slightly when dropping down to idle. This can be sorted with VAG-COM by raising the "perceived injection quantity" at idle, a 2 minute job. Check the handbrake strength, its a known weakpoint on all Mk4 platform cars, again nothing serious but gives you a bargaining point if its weak. New rear discs usually bring it back to life or a simple wire brushing of the area around the levers on the rear calipers.

Thats really about it, the engine itself is the best 1.9TDi that VW made and is very reliable for big mileages. Its very restricted by the standard downpipe and the standard air intake. Get shot of these and you'll see a huge difference.
 

sambarnes

Guest
I got my hands on a 2001 1.9tdi SE 110 last week for £2300, 88000miles, VERY good condition. If you look everywhere on the internet there will be a few bargains about.

Sam
 

TheGame7

Guest
I am still on the lookout and have seen these 2. Opinions?

hxxp://xxx.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201022360090826/sort/priceasc/usedcars/colour/black/fuel-type/diesel/price-to/5000/model/leon/make/seat/?logcode=p

hxxp://xxx.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201019358982097/sort/priceasc/usedcars/colour/black/fuel-type/diesel/price-to/5000/model/leon/make/seat/postcode/le55eg/radius/100/page/1?logcode=p

Replace xx with tt and xxx with www
 

TheGame7

Guest
He won't knock any more than £100 from his £2900 asking price. Is it still a good deal?

The link is no longer on Autotrader but to remind you, it is a 02 plate SEAT Leon SE 1.9 TDI. £105k miles. Black. It has a leather interior, arm-rest, sunroof, headlight washers, anti-glare rear view mirror and 18" alloys (not best condition) as extras. 9 months MOT and tax. Well looked after, FSH, any MOT failures were minor, brake pads only needed replacing once, still original clutch, next service is oil change only, the one after that requires a cam belt change.

Can someone confirm that the engine in the car will be 110BHP and not 130BHP and what insurance group it falls under?

Also, before looking at Leons I considered an Audi A3 but thought they were out of my price range but then I saw this:

hxxp://xxx.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201022360248194/sort/priceasc/usedcars/colour/black/price-from/2000/price-to/3000/model/a3/make/audi/postcode/le55eg/radius/1501/page/3?logcode=p

(Replace xx with tt and xxx with www)

Is the A3 a better buy?
 
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