Settle for an FR with this deal???

[sotonjoe]

I've been looking at used cupra r's for a little while now - around the £10/£11k mark.

However, I've recently seen a pre-reg 55 Leon FR with 50miles on it going for £11950 from a seat dealer. I'm tempted but sure whether it'll be a little disappointing after looking at cupra r's.

I'd be interested to hear what other people think would be the best buy?

In the Fr's favour, it would be a 'new' vehicle but without the hassle of having to worry about the initial lump of depreciation.

I've lloked at the engine specs and, on paper, it doesn't look much different. However, will I be in for a disappointment when I see it in the flesh / have a drive?

TBH, I would hope that it would still be impressive given that my only driving experience so far is in a Civic with 115bhp.

So, would you go for a pre-reg fr at £11,950 or spend similar money on a cupra r that is a couple of years old and has 20 - 30k miles on it?

Interested to hear any thoughts / opnions on the matter.

 

[225]

difficult to say really drive both and see what you think. The FR will remap to the same power as a LCR but then again a LCR will remap upto 260bhp ish. You wont be disapointed with either and at least with the FR you get a new car as you say.

 

[skint lc]

i was in your type on position and ended up with a leon cupra and not a cupra r.

big misatke i made, i have spent £2k on mine and its still nowhere near as good as a cupra r!...so im gutted still after 2months

look about on here a the car you want will come up for sale at the right price

 

[sotonjoe]

Incidentally, I just spoke to the dealer and found that one of the staff has been using the car and has put 2000 miles on it!

I told him that would obviously have to affect their asking price seeing as I would be dealing in cash which he begrudgingly accepted.

Not sure whether that could work in my favour really.

On the one hand, some guy could have been treating it a bit poorly since it isn't his actualy vehicle. But on the other hand, I could get them to drop the price by a grand.

who know's!

 

[tris]

when i bought my cupra i thought it was a lot of money beween them and you dont get leather in the R and as i was starting a family didnt see the sence in speeding more and not being able to wipe clean the seats

 

[allaction]

I bought an FR and am pleased with it. As said above you can easily re-map an FR to getting onto R power, with the benefit of a new motor and 3 years warranty. Take it for a spin and see what you think, it will probably be plenty fast anyway after the civic!

 

[sotonjoe]

yeh, tbh I'm not that worried about the performance - it probably will be a jump!!!

Tried searching on here to find differences between r and fr but really strugglling. Anyone care to give a quick rundown?

 

[tris]

brembo brakes, cloth seats, single cd, bumpers, wheels, turbo, 2 smic
cupra/FR only has 1
think thats about all

 

[S3 AKR]

It depends what you want out of your car. Ultimate performance - go for the R. Excellent performance per £ - go for the FR. You can always "chip" it to around 220/230 bhp (loads of info on here about that), but then you get addicted and end up wishing you had the R and chipped that instead!

That is a good price. The last of the FR's had the R body kit too (I wish mine did)

 

[sotonjoe]

Right, funds all in place.

Now it's decision time.

I can go out and get the pre reg fr if I so desire.

I'm after a little advice on the residuals though.

Are the fr's still on sale new? How much? Then I can work out how much i should be paying for a pre reg with c.2k on it.

Despite avoiding a fair amount of the depreciation due to it being a pre reg will I still be facing a nightmare given that the new models will come out soon or is the case that there are always buyers for well kept motors such as this???

I'm even considering just going out and buying a new fiesta zetec s

 

[allaction]

I've heard you can get a Fiesta ST150 for £11,150 from www.buymynewcar.co.uk saving around £2500. I saw the piece in CAR magazine so I don't know anything about the company.

 

[sotonjoe]

interesting, always worried about dodgy internet car brokers though.

I don't think the st would be that good an idea anymore, it wouldn't save me much compared to the leon tbh.

At least if I just brought a zetec s instead it would only be group 7 insurance.

The st is still a group 14 in which case I'd be better off getting the fr at group 16.

 

[S3 AKR]

I got my Leon FR through tins.co.uk and it wasn't a pre-reg. It came from a Seat dealer, uk supplied in Bedford. Awful dealer but the car was over £2k cheaper.

 

[Yaboy]

Go for the Cupra R its better value and no need to remap it has great performance but find a 225bhp model you should get one for below £11k in mint condtion.

 

[cojjer]

Looks like a good deal for the FR. I paid £13.5K for my ex demo (400 miles on it) last September. Got to say I'm well happy with it - might get it Revo'd after the warranty has run out, as I'll probably be looking for a bit of boost by then.

I do look at the R's sometimes and think what if, but to be honest it was a price issue and I like having an almost new car - the fact that it's not been thrashed by any boy racers etc.

Good luck - and either way, good choice!

 

[sotonjoe]

tins want £15.5k for a new fr!!!!

Crazy money.

It's all down to what the dealer are willing to do on their pre reg fr i guess.

Thye were asking £11,950 for it before they started putting some miles on it themselves.

Given that i'm a 'cash' purchaser with nothing to trade in and that they have now put 2k on the clock, I want a pretty hefty discount. Somewhere between £10-11k would be sensible (although obviously closer to the 10!)

 

[cstevens]

"cash" doesnt always work in your favor, remember they make their money twice with a trade in on the mark up of they car they take.

 

[Reg]

I can't really see a dealer knocking up to 2 grand off the price just because they have put a couple of thousand miles on it. Hardly the end of the world is it?

Only you can decide what you want - if you want the looks of a Cupra R, and the FR has that bodykit on, and you are not bothered about the difference on performance, and want the cheaper running costs. Buy the FR.

If the above is not true, and you want the real thing, buy the Cupra R. Personally, I wanted the real thing, so I bought the Cupra R, because while you can start messing about with chips, and mods and everything else, why not just buy the one that comes like it as standard? Again, it depends in your priorities, but if you want an R, whatever you do to a FR/Cupra, it still won't be a Cupra R.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[DaveP]

I know an audi dealer who needed to make their numbers and knocked £10k off an A8. So, you can never assume they can't do a deal.
Also know somebody who got £1600 off the price of a 2nd hand Leon last week. So £2k off for 2k miles sounds in the right ball park.

 

[Ant FR]

Cahs is no bargaining tool, as they can't make any commison on the finance deals they do .