Notes from a new mk3 owner

[terryt]

I've had my car just over a week now and thought I'd post my impressions of it so far.


Build quality - I'm surprised after ordering my Leon and reading various VAG forums about the the build quality issues. Reading alot about rattles, trim issues etc. Luckily I've so far not had any rattles or wind noise but I haven't been on a long drive yet. Overall I find build quality is good but not perfect, I've noticed body gaps are not 100% and I've checked all the cars in the showroom. My previous Mazda was perfect all round, in out out. I am being picky here though.

Media system - I don't have the Seat sound system but find the sound quality of the Media Plus system very good. Much better than any standard system in a car I've had before. It's pretty versatile and gives just the right amount of customisation. The satnav guidance is good as it reads out road names etc but its not as quick to setup as CoPilot on Android which I use. The voice recognition is very slow and inaccurate, I've not even been able to get it to call a contact succesfully yet! Overall the system can be more responsive, a higher resolution display would be nice too.

Drive - Start/stop system is a little annoying, especially for a quick getaway but then it can be switched off. Hill hold is handy but I'd prefer it to hold a little longer than it does. I have the 1.4 TSI 140PS, I've not driven it hard and still running it in but it seems responsive enough, the difference in sport mode is quite big, much better throttle response, almost feels like a different car. I have the 18" performance alloys and the roads here are littered with little potholes and speedbumps but the ride is still very nice. It absorbs bumps very well and is not crashy at all

LED lights - they look very nice but they don't seem as bright as HID's and the beam seems quite short. The auto lights sensitivity isn't great, I have the sensitivity set to medium and they turn on during the day when its just a little overcast. The LED light strip in the doors are pretty useless, when in normal mode they are white but you can't really see them unless it's pitch black (even on the brightest setting), when in sport mode they go red and are more noticeable. It looks more like there is a thin red strip in the panel rather than light being cast onto the panel.

I'm use to to having the speedo in the middle of the cluster so I can glance at the current speed, the Leon has it on the right dial and its labelled in 20mph increments (20, 40, 60 etc) so it's not as easy to see when you've hit 30mph. I now have the MFD showing current speed unless I'm use the Satnav. Not sure if this is normal for VAG cars but I find that you have to turn the key quite far round to start the car, I have to turn it in 2 steps, once to the on position and then start so I don't break my wrist.

The FR seats are very comfy and adjustment is very good added to the steering wheel rake/reach adjustment. The storage boxes under the seats don't pull out like a drawer but just have a drop down flap so I've not found any use for them yet. I'm not that tall and find the controls on the door (windows and mirrors) quite a reach, it would be much better if they designed the handle so they curve up at the front rather than down. I find a joypad style button much easier to use to adjust mirrors rather than a joystick. Having the handbrake on the passenger side isn't actually that bad and I wish there was a cover for the cupholders.


That's it my now, will post more as I go but would be nice to hear from other mk3 owners of how they find the car

 

[dw911]

Good write up

I belive the hill start can be adjusted using vcds

Also if you hold light pressure on the brake pedal it stops the stop start from activating

I found the heads lights better than any hids I'd driven, but again some hids are better than others so I quess its down to the cars we have driven with hids for comparison. The high beams could certainly do with a longer reach, although again I think that can be fixed by vcds

My sat nav doesn't read out street named?
But I know why the satnav is so slow, its a nightmare in a area like central london, especially if your moving fast, which believe it or not can happen in london lol it just can't keep up
Why, where is the receiver ? It was on the roof of my mk2 and I had no problem with its satnav
The mk3 must have one, but wherever it is it can't see the sky like a roof mounted one can
Has anyone found it ?


Loved your write up about fitting leds, really helpful, thanks

 

[JK1]

The radio antenna is in a window apparently, I expect the GPS and mobile phone are in the same place.

Personally I thought the build quality has been pretty good the car was out for months before the first mention of a rattle turned up on here, and so far all have been cured with a visit to the dealers. Same with wind noise, a problem was identified with the front grill and within a few weeks dealers were sorting it out. A few years ago I was looking at getting an Audi A1 and when they first came out forums were full of rattle complaints and they were going back to the dealers over and over and over to get the same one resolved. There's also been (touch wood) no major mechanical problems effecting everyone, in fact the biggest issue has been bugs in the media system!

 

[terryt]

My sat nav doesn't read out street named?
But I know why the satnav is so slow, its a nightmare in a area like central london, especially if your moving fast, which believe it or not can happen in london lol it just can't keep up

The routing speed of the satnav is ok once it's up and running. It's putting in the destination that I find a little awkward. As soon as I picked up the car I put in my home postcode and it didn't even find the street name. When giving instructions it reads out the street name eg. turn right into Quality Street, take the 3rd right onto the A205 etc. I live in the outskirts of London and avoid driving into Central as much as I can

 

[terryt]

There's also been (touch wood) no major mechanical problems effecting everyone, in fact the biggest issue has been bugs in the media system!

Yeh, have read about the media system bugs well. Mines a week 40 build and I've not had any issues. Everything I've set has remained rather than resetting back to default.

 

[Swahealy]

Panel fit on my Leon 1.8 FR TSI is very good if not perfect. All seals around windows are very good as well. Also had my car a week and have not been on a long journey yet but there are no rattles. I do prefer the fan window washers I had in my Golf to the current pistols and may change them but not a big problem. I always turn my interior lighting down to minimum but when on maximum they are very bright!!
Mine also has kept all settings in memory. Love the climate control, it gets warm very quickly. All in all very pleased and always have it in sport mode and she is very quick!! Have got used to the stop/start now and not and issue. Gearbox is very smooth and steering feels really responsive. Like I say, all is very good at the moment!!

 

[keithjeb]

The only thing that niggles a bit is the display for easy connect - when its off its not really off, its lit but still black, which is annoying - it'd be better if it either went to the clock or properly switched off. I'd also like a night mode toggle for it, or an easier method of dimming than going through 3 layers of menu - particularly getting to this time of year I find night driving annoying with lots of lights on. Except the door lights, which I think are amazing (yes, I have the mental age of a 5 year old!)

 

[terryt]

it'd be better if it either went to the clock or properly switched off.

You can set it so it shows the clock when the system is off. Its one of the options in the car menu setup.

 

[keithjeb]

You can set it so it shows the clock when the system is off. Its one of the options in the car menu setup.

On mine that option only sets it to show the clock when its off off (i.e. no sound, guidance etc) what I'm after is effectively 'clock after 10s'

 

[dw911]

The only thing that niggles a bit is the display for easy connect - when its off its not really off, its lit but still black, which is annoying - it'd be better if it either went to the clock or properly switched off. I'd also like a night mode toggle for it, or an easier method of dimming than going through 3 layers of menu - particularly getting to this time of year I find night driving annoying with lots of lights on. Except the door lights, which I think are amazing (yes, I have the mental age of a 5 year old!)

You can set it so it shows the clock when the system is off. Its one of the options in the car menu setup.

On mine that option only sets it to show the clock when its off off (i.e. no sound, guidance etc) what I'm after is effectively 'clock after 10s'

But the reason it doesn't go off completely in that mode is it needs to be active straight away when its needed, if it went off completely, it would take a few seconds to boot back up which is not helpful if you're using it to navigate
I guess it could go to a clock, but the idea of that 10s function is to black the screen so it isn't distracting when drivng till its needed, a clock being displayed would sort of defeat that purpose

If you need the clock to display, just push the off button

Have to agree about the dimming, a simple dimmer wheel by the light switch would be far better than having to go all through the menu and to one place for the dash and one for the infotainment screen

 

[dephead2004]

Still cannot turn off my radio or media!!
Turn off radio/ turn off ignition / turn on ignition and back comes the radio uncalled for.
I want it on when I want it on not when it deems it OK which is always. HELP me

 

[Swahealy]

just press the "off"switch and turn off the clock set up. You can also set to turn off the screen display after 10 seconds....

 

[gh2]

can someone remind me where the 'off after 10 seconds' option is please.

I've just looked through the menu and couldn't find it! It's too cold to sit outside in the car any longer.

Thanks

 

[keithjeb]

can someone remind me where the 'off after 10 seconds' option is please.

I've just looked through the menu and couldn't find it! It's too cold to sit outside in the car any longer.

Thanks

Menu button> setup> screen. It does turn the nav screen off as well though, so if you use that a lot you may want to leave it on.

 

[BigfatPaulie]

My "off after 10 seconds" resets when the keys are removed.... Is this behaviour "normal"?

Sent from my ZX81

 

[dephead2004]

Still cannot turn off my radio or media!!
Turn off radio/ turn off ignition / turn on ignition and back comes the radio uncalled for.
I want it on when I want it on not when it deems it OK which is always. HELP me

Perhaps I should have been clearer. I really want the radio off until I tell it to and the screen on for mpg, satnav etc. Can't find a way to do that. Can anyone do that?

 

[dephead2004]

OK so this is the "official " line from SEAT UK CS: The volume on startup can be turned down by this route : Menu/Sound/Sound Setup/Max Switch on Volume.
I had already found this but discovered it can only go to a minimum of 5 on the scale. This is confirmed by SEAT UK CS.
This means that media does indeed come on whether you want it to or not after having switched it off before turning off the ignition as stated in the manual.
I suggested that they consider a software upgrade to stop this annoying feature. They need complaints/comments and then it will become a reportable issue.
So if you are also annoyed by this then please dial in on 0500 22 22 22. It's a free call. They are always helpful in my experience

 

[terryt]

OK so this is the "official " line from SEAT UK CS: The volume on startup can be turned down by this route : Menu/Sound/Sound Setup/Max Switch on Volume.
I had already found this but discovered it can only go to a minimum of 5 on the scale. This is confirmed by SEAT UK CS.
This means that media does indeed come on whether you want it to or not after having switched it off before turning off the ignition as stated in the manual.
I suggested that they consider a software upgrade to stop this annoying feature. They need complaints/comments and then it will become a reportable issue.
So if you are also annoyed by this then please dial in on 0500 22 22 22. It's a free call. They are always helpful in my experience

I need to check mine to see if it does come on after switching it and the car off. I know it doesn't come on instantly but takes a few seconds to boot up and the first thing I usually do in any car is turn the system on.

 

[Fred99]

Mine does the same.

There is a workaround. You could just mute it but that would mute the sound from the Nav (I assume). A better way is to select a media source other than radio, CD, USB or SD. The last played track will appear - just press the pause button and it will be quiet at last while still retaining sound for other features.

 

[dephead2004]

Thanks Fred and terryt for the help/suggestions. I have tried the "hit the mute button" workaround which actually doesn't mute the Nav as there are entries in the setup sound menu that allow for customisation of the volume of Voice, satnav, media and other sounds all independently. I could just do as you suggest each time we start up.
I have also tried the "select some media that you don't have connected" trick and that works just fine.
I have also tried the turn off the screen with the big LH button. But guess what it turns off the volume and the whole screen and so no satnav, range, mpg or any data at all.
It does seem very odd that you can't turn off the volume completely on a 2013 car. Come on SEAT.