overall quality, question to current owners

[slo2mad]

I was however shocked to see that the bonnet had a prop to hold it up.

I liked the gas struts that were fitted to my old car and was disapointed with the nasty bonnet prop in this one however as the dealer and many of you have rightly pointed out, its all down to crumple zones for crash tests. I guess that gas struts won't give very much in an accident.

 

[red line fun]

I liked the gas struts that were fitted to my old car and was disapointed with the nasty bonnet prop in this one however as the dealer and many of you have rightly pointed out, its all down to crumple zones for crash tests. I guess that gas struts won't give very much in an accident.

if that's true (about the gas strut having to be omitted from the new model due to ncap or whatever) then in theory we shouldn't see them on any make/model produced from here on in, agreed?

if they are on new models coming out from other manufacturers, why not the leon? to me the manual bonnet stay is a step back.

 

[LeakyTurnip]

if that's true (about the gas strut having to be omitted from the new model due to ncap or whatever) then in theory we shouldn't see them on any make/model produced from here on in, agreed?

if they are on new models coming out from other manufacturers, why not the leon? to me the manual bonnet stay is a step back.

I wouldn't say any make or model, just ones that get a good score in the Pedestrian Testing section of the euroNCAP tests....

And whats the big deal with using a manual bonnet stay anyway, hopefully you won't have to look under there all that often!

 

[LEON_FR]

if i asked you to consider the overall quality of your new model leon (both exterior and interior) how would you rate your car?

1. worse than outgoing leon?
2. on a par with outgoing leon?
3. better than outgoing leon?
4. easily on a par with Audi and/or VW?

interested in your views.

I just had one as a curtesy car, its a 1.6 5 door petrol and i would never ever swap that for my leon.
the only thing i like about it is the driving position, its awesome! but as for the rest POO!!
Altho im sure the higher specs are much better...
For me its a 1.

 

[WaveyDaveyGravy]

I just had one as a curtesy car, its a 1.6 5 door petrol and i would never ever swap that for my leon.
the only thing i like about it is the driving position, its awesome! but as for the rest POO!!
Altho im sure the higher specs are much better...
For me its a 1.

Agreed. Got a 1.9 diesel today as a courtesy car and whilst it is a million times better than the pile of cr*p Corsa they gave me last week, I'm thoroughly unimpressed. Coming from a Cupra to a poverty spec car is never going to be the best, and I do like the seats and little touches like the one touch/3 flash indicators, but generally I find the interior tacky. Have never liked the centre console, and touching plastic everywhere is awful.

Steering is also very light and the overall refinement is not very good - my TDI is far quieter and less rattley. Will be very interested to see what the FR/Cupra will be like, but if they're asking £18k for an FR they can nob off. Seats are about performance and value, and if they take away the value then what are they left with.

Definate 1. Don't know about VW now but Audi are in a different league altogether.

 

[red line fun]

interesting comments guys, keep 'em coming! reason i don't fancy going back to a manual bonnet stay is because, to me, it's exactly that ... a step back. it's cool being able to just lift the bonnet and know it'll stay there ... as for phaffing around with a manual bonnet stay, i might look elsewhere for my next car, and yes i am being serious ... it's the little touches that count.

as for the quality of some interior plastics etc (some of you saying they're worse than outgoing leon) that's also interesting. why? cause a lot of the plastic bits won't actually change regardless of model spec, only difference is you get more of 'em the higher up the range you go i.e. more buttons etc! yes things like seats will differ, but a lot of other bits won't. this is also worrying.

looks like i could be looking elsewhere, which is a pity.

 

[cmc]

I must be honest and say that I think the glove box is very flimsy compared to the outgoing Leon. It's very small inside, not lockable and the plastic is thin and flexes far too easily. This smacks of cost cutting – although if you believe the motoring media the new Golf interior quality and materials isn’t as great as it once was.

Switchgear seems good and solid enough. The Seats are very good IMO. Also the instrument cluster is a big step forward from the MK1 Leon.

cmc

 

[P0LKR]

I had a look in the golf gti and the interior has gone down in quality and in turn so has SEAT making the SEAT quality on the poor side. Its well put together just thin.