New Altea XL owner!

[tetchy100]

I will hopefully be picking up the Altea later this week, I had bought a Mazda 5 and picked it up last friday and found loads of problems and it was well down on spec compared to the Zafira cdti 150 design that I have had for the last 2 years (nothing but trouble)so ive demanded they swap the car for me and ive gone for the Altea XL because we like to go camping and need the space! I hope ive made the right choice!!!, is there anything I should look out for before I sign the dotted line on this car? I noticed when I looked at a 2.0tdi (sold before I could do anything about it)that the carpets were wet and the boot and under the boot floor was wet through and the car had a lot of condensation the new car ive looked at didnt have this problem, but is there anything else to look out for? its done 50k on a 07 plate stylance and has been serviced by evans halshaw where im getting the car from but Ive noticed that it hasnt had a cambelt, ive phoned seat today and they said that they now recommend that the cambelt be done every 4 years or 40k which seems excessive? they also said they had a deal at the mo where they could do that for £250 which I thought was very cheap for a main dealer cambelt change, but I will be expecting evans halshaw to get that done for me anyway, also because im used to 150bhp in the zafira the altea is going to seem very slow and im thinking of getting it remapped? where would be the best place nearest to Grimsby to get that done? I had a dtuk box on my zafira and it led to the engine going bang so I wont be having one of those but it was great having a people carrier with nearly 200bhp that did 55mpg while it lasted lol

 

[bobbycfc]

I will try and answer some queries but some paragraphs and sentences would have made it easier!

I have an 07 2.0 tdi stylance, coming up to 4 years this summer, has done 51k miles, all dealer serviced. Just had its 50k service done and no mention of timimg belt? I know historically VAG have changed their minds about these belts so often that it is hard to find out a correct answer.

I would check with a few other SEAT dealers just in case that one was just trying to sell you a timing belt! If it turns out that it does need one, I would be demanding that it is done by the dealer before you buy. What sort of warranty are they giving you?

There are various reasons why the carpets could be damp, it could simply have been the dealer giving it a right good valet. However there are also various other issues like the rear washers pipe is prone to coming adrift inside the rear wheel arch and can lead to washer fluid into the boot well.

My Altea suffered badly from condensation during the recent cold winter spell - my rear washer pipe had came adrift but I had stopped using it as soon as I noticed. I also changed the pollen filter (a 5 min DIY job on these cars) but that didn't seem to make much difference although the weather is much milder now and the problem seems to have disappeared.

Re performance, I don't think you actually say what model you are getting but I am guessing its a 1.9tdi? I am quite happy with the performance from my 2.0tdi though to be honest I very rarely use the performance, especially with mpg of low 40's and soaring diesel prices! In fact, if I ever come to change this, I think I may well come down a size to a 1.5 diesel like you see in Scenics, Qashqai etc

Re boot space, some models have a sliding rear seat which can increase boot space. The rear seats do not fully fold flat and this can sometimes be an issue if you needed a large flat area but should be fine for most every day use!

Any more questions, just ask away!

 

[tetchy100]

Sorry about the spelling I didnt realise it was important!
Yes it is the 1.9tdi stylance 07 with 50k, I will give another dealer a call and see what they say about the cambelt, im getting a 2 year warranty with the car but I will be expecting the cambelt changed because if they dont and it goes on me, they will be the first to say well it hasnt been kept serviced in accordance with Seats guidelines on the cambelt changes so were not paying!
I was tempted to get another Zafira but I fancied a change and I like Seats so thought I would go for a vag car and see how I get on! Shame they didnt make the xl a 7 seater though! Im sure they would have sold more if they had because its not too common!

 

[dlm2310]

Ok let me clear the cambelt issue up as there seems to be numerous opinions.

According to my handbook (Altea XL SE 2010) the cambelt change is 4 yrs or 80,000 miles whichever is sooner. Yes 4 yrs is early if you have low miles and you can risk it but if it goes it will be VERY costly.

I would take the offer up, my cambelt change in my old Altea was £500. If you get it done ask them to change the water pump whilst they are at it - only £20 but if it goes then the job to replace it is as big as the cambelt change itself.

Look out for a white line at the bottom of the windscreen. Water lamination seems a common problem on Altea's.

I love my XL, great space and reliability.

Negatives are that it gets nowhere near the MPG quoted in the handbook and I'm not exactly screwing it. Also consider getting a heated windscreen because the windscreen blowers are absolutely crap.

 

[tetchy100]

Ive just spoken to another dealership regarding the cambelt and she said the same as my dealership, Seat have recently changed the cambelt intervals to every 4 years regardless of millage!
Yes I need to check the windscreen for the lamination but if I remember rightly it looked fine! Im used to the windscreen blower not being very powerfull as it was crap on my zafira too!

 

[tetchy100]

Also can anyone recommend some roof bars?

 

[dlm2310]

It's always been 4 years as long as I can remember unless you did 80k before. Whoever told you 40k was talking bollocks !

 

[tetchy100]

They have changed the cambelt and we should be picking the car up 2moro, unfortuneately Im going back offshore 2moro so the wife will be picking it up, she has only been driving 6 months so isnt the best person to take it for a test drive, ive told her to listen out for any noise's! Shame im not going to get to drive it for another 2 weeks now!

 

[dlm2310]

They have changed the cambelt and we should be picking the car up 2moro, unfortuneately Im going back offshore 2moro so the wife will be picking it up, she has only been driving 6 months so isnt the best person to take it for a test drive, ive told her to listen out for any noise's! Shame im not going to get to drive it for another 2 weeks now!

Did they do the water pump ?

 

[tetchy100]

I very much doubt it! It has a 2 year warranty from them, I will make sure I check that the water pump is covered when I get home!

 

[dlm2310]

You will be but my point was that for the sake of twenty quid it would have been worth paying because if that pump goes when the warranty is finished then it will cost you plenty !

 

[tetchy100]

Well I have had a lot of hassle with them, and I forgot all about it to be honest, but thanks for the heads up.
When My missus picked the Seat up on her way there the Mazda lost 90% of its power, she had to phone the garage and get them to come to her and drive the car to the dealership, and when she got there, she took the Seat for a test drive and noticed it was very juddery, on her way home it was just as bad after they had told her it probably just wanted a run on the motorway, so she turned round and took the car back where she was told it was something to do with the cambelt they had just fitted, and the car didnt have a full tank of diels or 1 years tax as promised.
So last night I wrote an emal to Evans Halshaw's head office, and today got a reply and missed calls at home (im offshore for 2 weeks) from the area manager of evans halshaw. very apologetic and is sending us a cheque for the difference in the 6 months tax and fuel and also said they would give us a free service where they would drop off a courtesy car and take ours and then drop it back off once done!
On another note my missus has told me there is a tyre pressure light on the dash that wont go out, she has checked the pressures and they are all at 30psi, I mentioned this to the area manager today who said he wuld look it up and if need be we should take it to our local Seat garage to fix and they would pick up the bill!
But I didnt even know the car had a tyre pressure monitor???

 

[bobbycfc]

Above the handbrake is a switch to reset the tyre pressures so once you have made sure they are all at the right pressure, then press and hold that button which will reset them and the light should go out.

This then monitors them and if any of them deviate, the light will come on again.

Hope this helps.

 

[tetchy100]

Thanks for that, Is there any chance of a pic or a more acurate description, I will have to try to describe it to the missus over the phone, and I have no idea as ive only sat inside the car myself for about 2 minutes!

 

[bobbycfc]

If memory serves me right, above the handbrake are 2 sets of buttons.

One set locks and unlocks the doors.

The other set has one button that switches the ESP on /off and it is the other button that does the tyre pressures as I mentioned previously.

 

[tetchy100]

I told her about it last night and to my supprise she found it, reset it and it went off! So thanks for that!

 

[tetchy100]

Wheres the nearest place to Grimsby thats the best at ecu remapping? The car is far too slow, theres just no power esp when overtaking!

 

[tetchy100]

Well ive had the car for 1 year now, only problem ive had was the rear boot lock failing, had to have something replaced, the wife has dented the front passenger door, been quoted £500 to get that done!
Im going camping in the south of France in august and pulling quite a large trailer, so I really want to get the car remapped! Im thinking of using angel tuning as they do a mobile mapping service, saves me having to take it anywhere to get done! The car seriously needs the extra power as its just not got the grunt!