Seat Leon 1.6 diesel SE Auto DSG

[Gokhan]

Hi guys

Thinking of joining the Seat family after nudging by a freind , sold my focus ecoboost manual and want a auto with good mpg for a 60 mile a day commute along motorway with a little urban driving but im a bit worried about auto DSG box and general reliability of these cars.

Looking at a 2014 SE 1.6 diesel auto with 30k full dealer service history , any pointers or help on what to watch out for , service , running costs etc would be much appreciated.

Humble Thanks

Gokhan

Ps do auto boxes require gearbox service every 40k and how much and what is involved ??

 

[KXL]

Has it done its MOT yet? With full dealer service history, most bases should be covered.

I guess most of your 60 miles will be 40-70 mph roads? If yes, you should be getting a very economical ride, I'm guessing in the region of 60mpg+ average.

The Mk3 is still quite a new car, haven't seen any on the forum with massive problems. I used to own a 2013 2.0TDI DSG, besides the odd rattle here and there inside the car, it had no problems mechanically. Routintely gave me 55-58mpg average if no or little city driving involved.

Is yours going to have Tech Pack (eg...LED headlights?).

A full tank of diesel should (unless you have heavy right foot) give you around 600 miles to a tank. Eg...refuel once every 10 days. I would suggest you fill firstly a couple of full tanks of Shell V Power NItro+ Diesel (gives engine a nice clean), then stick with non Supermarket fuel (Esso, Shell, BP) thereafter.

Your 60 miles a day journey should mean that DPF filter shouldn't be an issue.

 

[Gokhan]

Yeah mate new MOT with car till 2018 , thanks so much , reasonably reassured

However I actually made a mistake , daily commute is 30 miles return during week

Though most is 40-70 range , will this add any issues for DPF ???

Also what about DSG service or Cam belt on 1.6 ??

 

[MyLeon]

My DSG service was £150 on top of the normal service cost, so not really too much of an issue every 40k.


2015 Leon ST FR 184 DSG

 

[Gokhan]

Can anyone confirm whether it's chain or cam ??

If so how much is cam change ?

 

[KXL]

However I actually made a mistake , daily commute is 30 miles return during week

Though most is 40-70 range , will this add any issues for DPF ???

Yea you'll be fine...so 30-35 min drive each way...DPF only becomes an issue if you are say driving 2-3 miles each way each day in start stop city traffic, and engine not warmed up yet etc. If your speeds are high, and engine load consistinly not idling no issues.

I had 2.0TDI for 2 years, mainly city driving, some highway blasts, no DPF issues. It does regen a few times here and there actively, don't get alarmed if you park up your car, turn engine off and fan is still turning for 5 mins or so or something really stinks...the car is doing a regen.

Looks like you will be only filling up once 18-20 days then .

Do me a favour, if you do get this car, as your journey seems consistent. Fill tank with regular diesel, see how long/many miles before red light comes on, and repeat with Shell Vpower Nitro+.

Had a friend (not sure if she's pulling my leg or not), who has a Clio diesel 88PS one...regular diesel, need to fill every 10 days, Vpower, every 12 days...cost wise was cheaper to use Vpower, but each car is different, and I couldn't test with my 2.0TDI as my journeys were not consistent.

Anyhow enjoy the car, it will be a lot more economical than the EcoBoost.

 

[Gokhan]

Cheers mate your a star

Will Deffo test my journey is super consistent so should be good.

Tbh in ecoboost didn't matter one bit whether I used shell or supermarket and crazy enough had 20k miles and no mechanical issues , I may have just been lucky so hoping the Seat is the same.

I always got 47mpg no less no more even in winter etc

A little annoyed that Seat doesn't come with DAB where as Ford which is 2 years older does as well as rear parking sensors but hey the seat has cruise control where as Ford doesn't , win , some , lose some I guess.

Anyone else have any input on cambelt??

 

[nokiauk]

Cambelt seems to be an unanswerable question, I'd like to know also (though for 1.2 TSI). I've heard some mention its 5 years/80k miles and other sources have indicated its a special long life cambelt which is inspected for wear at each service, not sure which if either is correct?

 

[Luckypants]

I have a 1.6 TDi DSG and have done 30K miles in two years. No issues with the motor or gearbox. On a steady run I get 60-63 mpg, but this always takes a nose dive as I get closer to home due to the hills. From my sig you will see my measured average MPG from new is 56+, so a very economical car (the compute consistently claimed over 60mpg until I had it fixed in VCDS to reflect the mpg measured at the pump!) From reports on here, I'm not sure the 1.6 is much more economical than a 2.0 in real world use.

A great car for a longish commute, whatever model.

 

[Gokhan]

Thanks again guys

Shame belt isn't chain looking forward to my test drive Saturday , hopefully I'll like what I see , though no Tech pack but think I can live with that.

I'll update you guys soon hopefully.

Thanks

Gokhan

 

[Pops848]

I've just bought a 1.6 tdi dsg Leon so I'll be trying the nitro+ and standard diesel.

Out of interest why does everyone always say stay clear of supermarket fuel? It's never done me harm before?

 

[Pops848]

From my sig you will see my measured average MPG from new is 56+, so a very economical car (the compute consistently claimed over 60mpg until I had it fixed in VCDS to reflect the mpg measured at the pump!)

Interested to know how this works, how does the car measure it normally and why change it in VCDS?
Still looking for Vcds at a good price for myself actually...

 

[Gokhan]

Hey guys

Well what a nightmare

Spent all day traveling only to witness a car in very bad shape , to the point where smoke was coming out of oil cap , which even I know is not normal !!!

Cant understand why people would even waste others time with cars like this , in the end I bought a Lexus ct200 , as it had remainder of warranty and was less risk.

Thanks for all the advice and help

 

[KXL]

Out of interest why does everyone always say stay clear of supermarket fuel? It's never done me harm before?

Well when I got my 2.0TDI on PCP, the showroom staff gave me a good long talk about this, and the DPF.

As far as I understand, the consensus is that supermarket fuel is a bit less refined (yes base fuels come from same source, but once they go to say Shell/BP/Esso and supermakets other 'agents' are added or not which might not be the case of supermarkets, I don't know). Also with modern diesels having DPF filters, the more 'refined' fuel runs cleaner, which is both good for the injectors, and filter (DPF, Oil).

I have seen supercars fuel up at Tesco petrol station, but then I realise they are fuelling up with Momentum 99, which is something different.

I'm sure cars will run with supermarket fuel, but we don't exactly look inside the engine, for deposits, soot build up or at least I dont. Subjectively I can't notice any power gains/loss between Esso/Shell regular diesel and Shell Vpower Diesel. MPG wise, according to trip PC, maybe 1-2 mpg more over 13 mile journey. About 49mpg regular, 51mpg Vpower.

So one day I decided to put £10 worth of supermarket diesel in. Engine felt and sounded a bit grumpy, ok...maybe its in my mind...so I do the same journey (as above) the next day...trip PC showed 46.3mpg....

Another story, former flatmate (who's quite tight with money) has a Clio DCi 88PS. Normally fuels up cheapest supermarket diesel fuel...in this case at the time, Asda. I floated the idea of Vpower...she scoffed, saying she's not rich..it's a gimmic...etc bla bla bla....so I asked her...(since her journey everyday is in the same route, same time etc)...how often she fuels up...she said every 10 days or so, full tank, and 10th day, red light comes on. She agreed to try 2 full tanks of Vpower...so I'd stop pestering her...I believe on the first full tank, it went 11 days before red light, and 2nd tank 12 days, and it's settled at 12 days, so about 40-50 miles more. She said on vpower engine a bit quieter, powerwise, no feel of more power.. Now she only runs Vpower as it works out cheaper in the long run.

Now whether this Vpower is fantastic or not mpg wise, I don't know, or perhaps after so many tanks of supermarket fuel, Vpower just gave the engine a bit of a clean to make it more efficient.

 

[Pops848]

Well when I got my 2.0TDI on PCP, the showroom staff gave me a good long talk about this, and the DPF.

As far as I understand, the consensus is that supermarket fuel is a bit less refined (yes base fuels come from same source, but once they go to say Shell/BP/Esso and supermakets other 'agents' are added or not which might not be the case of supermarkets, I don't know). Also with modern diesels having DPF filters, the more 'refined' fuel runs cleaner, which is both good for the injectors, and filter (DPF, Oil).

I have seen supercars fuel up at Tesco petrol station, but then I realise they are fuelling up with Momentum 99, which is something different.

I'm sure cars will run with supermarket fuel, but we don't exactly look inside the engine, for deposits, soot build up or at least I dont. Subjectively I can't notice any power gains/loss between Esso/Shell regular diesel and Shell Vpower Diesel. MPG wise, according to trip PC, maybe 1-2 mpg more over 13 mile journey. About 49mpg regular, 51mpg Vpower.

So one day I decided to put £10 worth of supermarket diesel in. Engine felt and sounded a bit grumpy, ok...maybe its in my mind...so I do the same journey (as above) the next day...trip PC showed 46.3mpg....

Another story, former flatmate (who's quite tight with money) has a Clio DCi 88PS. Normally fuels up cheapest supermarket diesel fuel...in this case at the time, Asda. I floated the idea of Vpower...she scoffed, saying she's not rich..it's a gimmic...etc bla bla bla....so I asked her...(since her journey everyday is in the same route, same time etc)...how often she fuels up...she said every 10 days or so, full tank, and 10th day, red light comes on. She agreed to try 2 full tanks of Vpower...so I'd stop pestering her...I believe on the first full tank, it went 11 days before red light, and 2nd tank 12 days, and it's settled at 12 days, so about 40-50 miles more. She said on vpower engine a bit quieter, powerwise, no feel of more power.. Now she only runs Vpower as it works out cheaper in the long run.

Now whether this Vpower is fantastic or not mpg wise, I don't know, or perhaps after so many tanks of supermarket fuel, Vpower just gave the engine a bit of a clean to make it more efficient.

Interesting read, I've heard one or two "horror" stories from super market fuel, but nothing major tbh.

As for V Power (or equivalent) it's proven that it does indeed produce more BHP in higher end cars, but on a 1.6 TDi, I'd be surprised.
However, with all being said and done BP, Shell etc is a touch more expensive, not stupid so I'll give it a go in the new car when I pick it up tomorrow.

I do the same journey 5 days a week, 90 mile round trip. For those interested I'll report back my findings

 

[KXL]

Hey guys

Well what a nightmare

Spent all day traveling only to witness a car in very bad shape , to the point where smoke was coming out of oil cap , which even I know is not normal !!!

Cant understand why people would even waste others time with cars like this , in the end I bought a Lexus ct200 , as it had remainder of warranty and was less risk.

Thanks for all the advice and help

Oh dear, was it running low on oil/coolant or maybe the wrong oil was used? Maybe it's been run too long on supermaket fuel hee hee...

May I ask, was it from a Seat Dealership or an independent dealer/car supermarket? Did they mention if was Cat-C/D? Must have been so annoying to travel just to be disappointed like this.

When I got my Leon back in 2014 I too, traveled quite a bit by train to the south Coast of UK, saw the car, inspected the car, as it was 2nd hand.. didn't even bother test driving it...just only started engine and played with Sat Nav etc...and returned 2 weeks later (after they serviced it, despite my protest, does it really need one? it's not even 10k yet, they insisted) to collect it. As it was from main dealership, didn't even think about that...but then again, it still had 2 yrs warranty left..so I guess that was why I didn't think twice. It's a pity that the one you saw turned out to be a bum one...

 

[KXL]

I'll give it a go in the new car when I pick it up tomorrow.

Not sure anything needs a clean, engine wise as everything is already super shiny as it's new.

Btw, if you are from London, there is an Esso station just south of Tower Bridge...their prices are usually 2-3p cheaper per liter than anywhere else.

If you're not based in London, you probably get fuel the same price as this very service station

 

[Pops848]

Not sure anything needs a clean, engine wise as everything is already super shiny as it's new.

Btw, if you are from London, there is an Esso station just south of Tower Bridge...their prices are usually 2-3p cheaper per liter than anywhere else.

If you're not based in London, you probably get fuel the same price as this very service station

ah afraid it's not shiny new new, just shiny new to me, 63 plate with 14k on the clock.

Might get it a terra clean, that would make the engine shiny shiny on the inside!

haha I'min Hornchurch, just enough outside london that I get decent prices, but I commute to Hemel daily for work, Hemel prices are more expensive and in line with London!

 

[KXL]

ah afraid it's not shiny new new, just shiny new to me, 63 plate with 14k on the clock.

Might get it a terra clean, that would make the engine shiny shiny on the inside!

haha I'min Hornchurch, just enough outside london that I get decent prices, but I commute to Hemel daily for work, Hemel prices are more expensive and in line with London!

Ah, then regular diesel it the first tank, check average mpg etc...vpower it next tank see if any difference

@ 14k miles, engine should be nice and willing....I guess you have the full TechPack (eg..SatNav/DAB/LED lights?).

What car you had before?

Last time I checked Diesel at the said Esso was 115.9p

 

[Gokhan]

Yeah car was trash , guy was a private seller , Turkish like myself but honestly it was a joke , car had clearly been abused , he last had it serviced last year but had no paperwork apart from stamp and he wouldn't let me drive car despite me showing him my license.

Buyer beware