thinking of getting the new leon

[steve67]

hi,
i currently own a vw golf mk6, im looking at the mk7 golf but the Leon seams a better looking car and a few £'s cheaper
a few mates say i'm mad going for the seat , are they right or shall i go with my gut feelings.
the mk6 golf is a great car , ok its only the 1.6 tdi bm match but it has the toys and returns a steady 55mpg around town.

if i was to go for the Leon my choice would be the fr.

what are you views ?

regards

 

[Stegor]

Your mates give any reasons?
You will save around 2-4k depending on the model but the golf will snatch quite a bit of that back when you come to sell. I see the Leon as a sportier golf which, lets face it, is a bit on the boring side looks wise.
Which FR are you looking at?

 

[steve67]

Your mates give any reasons?
You will save around 2-4k depending on the model but the golf will snatch quite a bit of that back when you come to sell. I see the Leon as a sportier golf which, lets face it, is a bit on the boring side looks wise.
Which FR are you looking at?

Quality was the main reason to discourage me.
Agree with you on the looks of the mk7.
I was looking at the 20 tdi 150

 

[DeanC]

Take one for a spin. I was set on a 125d and tested an SC FR just because of the looks and value - it's not a long way off quality wise. I'd say it's on par with the mk6 golf and the only bit which puts it behind the mk7 is the materials used on the trim between the front seats and the glove box.

 

[Stegor]

Quality was the main reason to discourage me.
Agree with you on the looks of the mk7.
I was looking at the 20 tdi 150

The 150 gets some good comments on here so if you do the miles it's a good choice. If you do less than 10k per year then maybe look at the 1.4 petrol. The 1.8 which I've got is great fun but a tad thirsty.

 

[skidpan]

Had owned a BMW 1 series for just over 5 years. The new cars on my wish list included another 1 series (116i), Golf TSI GT and Leon 1.4 TSI. All had about 140 PS and as standard pretty much all the kit I needed.

Golf was probably the nicest place to sit (just) but there was not a huge amount in it. The Golf was the best equipped but some of the extra kit was way above what I needed on planet earth (ACT for example). Drove the Leon first and that was it, no need to drive the others, superb. Considering the OTR broker price with a few "necessary" extras the Leon was £3800 less than the 1 series and £5000 less than the Golf.

With regards to residuals its impossible to say 100% which will be best. My BMW did really well over 5 years but the last Golf we had (TDi 6 1/2 years old, 63000 miles) was worth bugger all when we PX'd it. The lease costs for the Leon are quite a bit less than those for the equivalent Golf which generally means the lease companies have a bit of confidence in its residuals. The lease costs for the 1 series are between the Leon and Golf. Tell you in about 5 years but having saved £5000 over the Golf I am not worried at all.

 

[steve67]

guess where i'm off to today, will let you know how i get on.
i currently do 10k mile or just under a year, mainly around town mon to fri and a few extended runs at weekend. upto now i've has no dpf problems but what mpg do the petrol engines return in the real world?

 

[skidpan]

Well documented on other thread but my 1.4 TSi SE 140 has averaged just over 46 mpg for the 1800 miles I have owned it. Typical mixed use. Run to the coast averaged about 52 mpg. These are calculated, the dash display lies.

 

[weatherlight]

Most people accept that previous Leon was inferior to MK6 Golf. I had a chance to check both cars interiors and read reviews. I did a research before purchasing the new Leon and all the reviews praised the car, suggesting it is finally a decent rival for Golf. Same frame, same engine, same tranny, pretty much same options and many exact parts. I did 2 test drives with DSG and 1.6 TDI manual, and I purchased one

You can check the web for expert reviews, for example top gear

http://www.topgear.com/uk/seat/leon

 

[steve67]

well.. back from a test drive in a FR tdi 150.

VERY NICE, a completely different drive from the mk6 golf, more power ,, obviously but the general drive was more responsive and the cornering and braking was excellent.
think the sale mans gone home to change his pants.., told me i wasn't driving the car hard enough so i put it through its paces and the true talents of the Leon were revealed.

i want one...

he spent a while trying to do a deal but i walked away as they were way off where i need to be, and looking at dtd and even wewantanycar( for px) i can bring the cost down.

so now the hard work begins in trying to persuade the Mrs to take it for a test drive. she don't want to change yet as only half way into our pcp

one ace up my sleeve is that the Leon has a handbrake, mrs don't like the new switch system...

 

[skidpan]

he spent a while trying to do a deal but i walked away as they were way off where i need to be, and looking at dtd and even wewantanycar( for px) i can bring the cost down.

Sounds like you visited the same dealer that I did. Sales boy constantly went back and forth to his manager for a better deal and kept coming back with exactly the same one and asking "how does that sound", after 2 hours I gave up. Difficult to stay polite in front of a total muppet.

Looked at the DtD and We buy... route, the prices on the screen indicated a £1300 saving but its well known that We buy.... always offer less when they see the car than they offer on-line thus the saving would have shrunk.

E-mailed an enquiry to Carfile.net (whose prices after taking the £1000 PCP contribution into account were identical to DtD), immediate reply asking me to contact them Monday am which I did. Within 15 minutes their dealer had contacted me and took details of my PX. 15 minutes later came back with a price toswap and told me a car to the spec I wanted was in stock. The price to swap saved me £1700 over the local dealer. Car bought there and then and delivered 4 days later.

Try them.

 

[steve67]

Sounds like you visited the same dealer that I did. Sales boy constantly went back and forth to his manager for a better deal and kept coming back with exactly the same one and asking "how does that sound", after 2 hours I gave up. Difficult to stay polite in front of a total muppet.

Looked at the DtD and We buy... route, the prices on the screen indicated a £1300 saving but its well known that We buy.... always offer less when they see the car than they offer on-line thus the saving would have shrunk.

E-mailed an enquiry to Carfile.net (whose prices after taking the £1000 PCP contribution into account were identical to DtD), immediate reply asking me to contact them Monday am which I did. Within 15 minutes their dealer had contacted me and took details of my PX. 15 minutes later came back with a price toswap and told me a car to the spec I wanted was in stock. The price to swap saved me £1700 over the local dealer. Car bought there and then and delivered 4 days later.

Try them.

thanks for the info, i'll take a look,

 

[steve67]

whats the best price people have paid for there mk3?

 

[Spuddo]

Steve67 I'm in the same boat as you. I have exactly the same car as you at the moment (company car) and am due to order a new one. I just had the 150 on demo for a week and loved it.

I've had a Focus-ST, FN2 Civic type R, and several other toys of my own in the past, and also built a Banzai magazine cover car and honestly I thought the Leon was one of the best cars I've driven.

My choice now is do I go for the 150 with the sun roof or a 184 with no sun roof. (I've actually ordered a 184 but could still change as it's ordered for March 1st delivery) With either model my car policy will just about allow me the convenience pack and the Seat Sound System. Really struggling to decide.

 

[steve67]

Steve67 I'm in the same boat as you. I have exactly the same car as you at the moment (company car) and am due to order a new one. I just had the 150 on demo for a week and loved it.

I've had a Focus-ST, FN2 Civic type R, and several other toys of my own in the past, and also built a Banzai magazine cover car and honestly I thought the Leon was one of the best cars I've driven.

My choice now is do I go for the 150 with the sun roof or a 184 with no sun roof. (I've actually ordered a 184 but could still change as it's ordered for March 1st delivery) With either model my car policy will just about allow me the convenience pack and the Seat Sound System. Really struggling to decide.

so far dtd come in at £18916 for a 2.0 tdi tech pack fr

but the main stumbling block is'she who must be obeyed' the mrs drives the car more than i do so a bit of arm twisting required....

 

[DeanC]

I think I'll get the award for the worst price via my fleet scheme.

 

[Rob66]

Steve try Pete at Robinsons SEAT Lowestoft, he can normally over a very good deal....

Rob

 

[gar074]

Steve try Pete at Robinsons SEAT Lowestoft, he can normally over a very good deal....

Hmmm... they diid me an OK-ish deal on an Ibiza nearly a decade ago, but only after a long, hard negotiation. Might pay them another visit...

 

[madduffyx]

Hi Steve,
Just ordered my new Leon Fr 184bhp. Think i got a decent deal with the tech pack, 18inch wheels, convenience pack, winter pack, alacantra seats and in Navada White all for £22500 I think it helped that the sales man hadn't sold an FR yet so was eager for a deal before the end of Q3! Now just the wait and the pondering over wether I should of went for the emocion red lol

 

[cilurnum]

Just ordered my new Leon Fr 184bhp. Think i got a decent deal with the tech pack, 18inch wheels, convenience pack, winter pack, alacantra seats and in Navada White all for £22500

Not bad at all from a dealer. My ball-park is £22,000 which I'm trying to get down to to get somewhere close to DtD.