Petrol or diesel Leon SC

[Psyman79]

I have decided its time to trade in my Mk2 Leon Cupra, there are a few reasons for this but mainly because my old man knees cant cope with town driving anymore

I've decided to go for a Leon SC with a DSG but just cant decide which one. I've bombarded myself with figures and tried to work out whether the 1.8 petrol or 2.0 diesel (150bhp) would be the best option.

This might make me sound older than i am (34) but the only way i can convince my wife is to show that, financially, a new car makes perfect sense.

I'm basing my maths on combined mpg figures, residual values and the like but was just looking for some feedback. I've driven the diesel with DSG in a Golf GT (liked the engine but not the car) not tried the petrol yet though.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Si.

 

[roger7248]

Can I ask what you are looking for? If it is purely finance, what figures are you using, or are you requesting other people's calculations?

 

[car-help-uk]

I would only really consider buying diesel is you are doing more than 25,000 miles a year or more as the cost of the car and the cost of fuel will not pay off and you may also run into dpf issues if you do lots of short journeys from my experience

 

[Psyman79]

Difference in price between petrol and diesel is only £800 and that is cancelled out over the 3 years due to residual values and the need to pay road tax.

Fuel price doesn't really affect me either as i currently use v-power or momentum 99 in the cupra which is the same price as diesel anyway.

I'll probably be doing about 10000 miles/year but my commute is only a 15 mile round trip.
I hadn't thought about there being issues with short distance driving, could well be what puts me off the diesel. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to cars, i just buy what i like at the time

Regarding my calculations, it was just to see what sort of MPG figures people are actually getting as my monthly savings over the Cupra are what is winning the argument with my wife.

Thanks for making me think more about diesel

Kind regards,

Si.

 

[Fred99]

Difference in price between petrol and diesel is only £800

Si.

Looks more like between £1700 and £2000 to me!

How did you work out the £800?

 

[AndrewJB]

I've driven them all..

For me it was between 1.8TSI DSG and, 2.0TDI 184

Get the 1.8TSI DSG

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[Psyman79]

Price for Leon SC 1.8 TSI + DSG starts at £21,720

Price for Leon SC 2.0 TDI (150) + DSG starts at £22,515

 

[Psyman79]

I did try out the TDI 184 but moving away from a manual because of my knees. Shame they don't have the 184 with DSG like they have in the Golf GTD as that would be perfect.

 

[Fred99]

Price for Leon SC 1.8 TSI + DSG starts at £21,720

Price for Leon SC 2.0 TDI (150) + DSG starts at £22,515

Yes, that is true but you are really not comparing like for like 184ps vs 150 ps.


If there was a 184TDI/DSG I assume that would show a bigger difference.

 

[Psyman79]

Fred99,

Yeah, your right there not really a very fair price comparison on my part.

Hopefully i'll be able to pick up an ex demo of the TDI 150 DSG which will mean all my calculations were a bit of a waste of time anyway

 

[derelyth]

I'd seriously consider not just the mileage you do but the type of mileage. My TDI died (Turbo began to seize) when my commute went down from 98 miles round to 12-13 miles round in heavy traffic. TDIs like to stretch their legs when warm otherwise there's a risk that soot will make a home on the vanes/actuator which can go spectacularly wrong.

Luckily I PX'd mine before it went bang (but not before it started to seize meaning I couldn't go above 2500RPM - hitting 6k on a test drive of the 1.8 had me wondering when it was going to change up!) and I went for the 1.8 (both cars DSG) and love it - very versatile engine, will happily return 42mpg on the motorway or 34-38 round town. And as the torque runs from 1250-5000 RPM flat it's very perky.

It's a shame the 1.4 isn't offered with a DSG else I may have gone for that as it is apparently very frugal but just as pokey when pressed.

 

[Psyman79]

Considering the fact that i get 30 mpg motorway and 25 around town from the Cupra, anything is an improvement

What sort of timescale are you looking at for these issues? I was only planning on having it for 3 years and changing it when the warranty expires.

 

[skidpan]

Modern diesels don't worry me. Since 1996 we have had 6 and have had no issues with turbo's, DPF's (not all have had them) or DMF's (not all have had them). Two of them have been kept for over 5 years and one for 7 years and we did not have a single issue. Some people have issues but a huge majority just drive them and put fuel in. DPF's have regenerated when needed to, non of this need to thrash down the motorway like some scribes insist, will do a regen on normal roads at normal speeds when the ECU decides.

Having said that my new Leon is the 1.4 TSi and its superb. Had a 1 our test drive before I bought to make sure it totally suited our needs and as far as I am concerned its better than any turbo diesel I have owned. The power spread is superb, the rev band much wider and no turbo lag. Running costs are virtually identical to my old diesel with the same PS rating. About 45mpg so far.

 

[Shiners]

Modern diesel worry me little either but these DPFs take a bit of getting use to. My partner's Polo 1.6TDI 90 is a lazy beast when it comes to DPF regens - 6 miles at 60mph on a flat road last time. No fault lights prior to this or codes recorded - VCDS checked. My FR184 has done two active regens in its first 600 miles and it lets you know alright - MPG takes a dive and it does hovercraft impressions
I guess it's just something else to consider when making your buying decision? Personally, I love the torque of this oil burner and the vastly reduced fuel bills compared to the Mk5 GTI I had previously. When I use the Leon on the daily commute it's a 58 mile round trip.

 

[Max Damage]

With a company car I have gone diesel. With my private cars I always went petrol, and still do with the wife's car. Had a vRS PD170 company car last time and the DPF was a nightmare, and they became known for it. The current Mazda 3 has been a dream and hope the new Leon is, but wouldn't risk it with my own cash

 

[DeanC]

I went derv as it's a company car but when I looked with my bro for his the derv was a no brainer. The extra cost was easily swallowed up by the reduced depreciation alone either private or the GFV on a pcp.

 

[DeanC]

No brainer cost wise I should add. You might not want a diesel (like my bro).

 

[slo007]

I like my Leon 1.2 TSI DSG. It's not as punchy as the Golf mk6 1.4 TSI, but it feels very light and responds well when I need it.

On the other hand, I'm only getting about 37 mpg max on country roads. On the Golf I'd hit 42 mpg easy. Maybe it's because the car only has 250 miles on the odometer.

 

[Psyman79]

Without trying to sound completely useless (failed that then) are there likely to be DPF issues with a brand new car over its first 3 years? Surely filters will be checked and cleaned at service time. I'd have thought if this was such a major issue there would never be any sales of diesels anywhere.

Thanks for helping a complete novice

Si.

 

[Max Damage]

Based on experience I would say no. The old PD engines were a joke, but the CR engines seem to have improved it. All I know is my Mazda 3 185BHP diesel has been perfect on the DPF, and I hope the new Leon is also.

I think the main problem was the PD engine