What Car?'s Leon SC 1.4 FR

[TomWhatCar]

Hi, I posted this in the introductions thread, but, as suggested, thought it worth posting here as well.

First of all, I feel I should offer a small apology - I have been lucky enough to have been running the What Car? long-term Seat Leon SC for a few months now, and I am only now saying hello to guys. Sorry about that!

Anyway, I've been pretty chuffed with my Leon for the last few months, but I wanted to come and chat to you all about it and see how you were getting on with yours.

My car has the 1.4TSI 140 engine, and is in FR trim. I went for Alor Blue, and think it looks fantastic. I didn't got for much in the way of added extras, but as the Technology Pack was (and still is) free on SE and FR cars I couldn't turn that down!

I'm sure there are a few tips and tricks that I am missing out on, though. I only found out after a fair while of living with my car that you need to hold down the lock button on the key to fold the door mirrors in. Does anyone know of any other little extras that make living with the Leon even better?

 

[Bubbs]

Hello!

I've got a 5dr 1.4 FR, had it since October, covered about 6000 miles in it so far. Had several (4) SEATs in the past, two petrol and two of the old PD diesels, but came back to the marque after 6 years of Honda and Mazda diesels.

Can't think of any real 'tricks' as such, though if you hold the keyfob lock/unlock button down then the windows will also global open/close too I believe (or maybe just close, not sure).

LED lights are cool, more like a super-bright halogen beam rather than a xenon-type light though. I like the way the DRLs dim themselves when the indicators are on, then burst instantly back to full brightness.

Something I'm not too keen on is the wiper-blade service-park thing, in that if you want to lift the arms off the windscreen you have to get the wiper arms to swing up towards the drivers' side of the windscreen - if you lift then in the 'down' position, they can snag the edge of the bonnet, depending on where the auto-blade-bump thing* has left them.

*when you start to drive off, and/or at the end of each journey, the wiper arms shift position slightly in the park position to prevent the blade rubbers spending too long a time in the same place.

Also, the centre armrest position could be higher to start with, so that you don't have to drive around with it half open just to get the height up to where you want. That said, the Golf and the Audi A6 have exactly the same system so maybe VAG know something I don't

The amount of stuff you can customise in the touchscreen display thing is unlike any other car I've owned. Door lights, footwell lights, wiper settings, aircon modes, etc etc etc

 

[Pheo]

I used your review as part of my decision to get a 5dr FR 1.4 TSi 140!

Not noticed too many things which need user input. ACC auto accelerates when indicating out to help you over take. That's pretty cool.

 

[niggle]

Something I'm not too keen on is the wiper-blade service-park thing, in that if you want to lift the arms off the windscreen you have to get the wiper arms to swing up towards the drivers' side of the windscreen - if you lift then in the 'down' position, they can snag the edge of the bonnet, depending on where the auto-blade-bump thing* has left them.

You're doing it wrong, mate!

To inspect/change the wiper blades, hold down the wiper stalk after immediately after switching off the ignition. The wiper arms will move to the vertical position. They will remain in this position until you switch on the ignition again and activate the wiper stalk up or down.

 

[TomWhatCar]

Hi Bubbs and Niggle. I've not had reason to play around with the windscreen wipers too much yet as my blades have remained mercifully clean so far, but I'll definitely go and have a play with them.

Hi Pheo - cool! Glad it helped and hope you are enjoying it!

I love the footwell lights - such a small thing, but I love the effect on the cabin at night. A colleague disagreed with me and turned them off but I called owner's privilege and turned them back on again.

The favourite buttons for the phone are great as well - they save so much hassle when calling people from the car.

One thing that is still driving me bonkers though, is the auto zoom on the sat nav. Despite unticking the 'auto zoom' box, it still zooms in and out at junctions and the like. Has anyone found a way around this?

 

[Bubbs]

You're doing it wrong, mate!

To inspect/change the wiper blades, hold down the wiper stalk after immediately after switching off the ignition. The wiper arms will move to the vertical position. They will remain in this position until you switch on the ignition again and activate the wiper stalk up or down.

That's what I meant, it means that once you've put them in the 'service' position, by doing the ignition + stalk trick, and cleaned the screen, the only way to get them back down again is to then re-park them, which means that they drag all the way down the dry, clean windscreen, leaving little marks


I cannot figure out how the zoom thing on the satnav works either, seems to have a mind of its own!

 

[Fred99]

I thought that there were two stopped positions. When you park and turn off the ignition they move about an inch up. This is so you don't crush them if you open the bonnet. When you start the engine they retract to the lowest position so that you cannot see them when driving and it does not interfere with the airflow.

I find it is possible to lift them enough in the parked position to clean the screen under them. The service position is there in case you need to change or inspect them.

It never ceases to amaze me how many tiny features are built into the cars systems. For example, when you use the windscreen washers, the A/C goes into recirculation mode so you can't smell the washer fluid!

 

[Bryanm]

If you use the knob on the right hand side whilst in the sat nav screen it will zoom in or out! Hope this helps. I've also got a 1.4 sc fr, love it! Seats are lazy boy comfortable.

 

[niggle]

That's what I meant, it means that once you've put them in the 'service' position, by doing the ignition + stalk trick, and cleaned the screen, the only way to get them back down again is to then re-park them, which means that they drag all the way down the dry, clean windscreen, leaving little marks

Clean the blades while the windscreen is wet and then dry the windscreen when the wipers are parked again.

 

[stevemc81]

I discovered something new this morning at a roundabout.

I was balancing the car on the clutch/accelerator ready to set off but let up on the clutch a bit too much and stalled, I immediately pushed the clutch all the way down and it restarted all by itself without me having to switch the ignition off and on again.

I guess that's a benefit of having an auto stop/start car!

 

[Fred99]

That confused me at first, but it's a nice feature.

Another thing that confused me was that when we pulled up outside our gates waiting for them to open, the engine stopped as usual but would not restart. It came up with a message to start manually.

I finally worked it out. My wife was driving and she has a habit of releasing her seat belt while waiting. It will not allow a restart unless the driver is in the car and belted up.

 

[TomWhatCar]

Hi Bryanm, zooming in and out when I want is ok, it is stopping it from auto zooming at junctions. Sometimes I want it to just show me a massive overview of my journey, but it keeps zooming in on occasions. It's not a big deal, but it's odd and a bit irritating, mainly because I thought I had ticked the box in the menus that stops that happening!

The speed of the stop start system is brilliant as well. I ran an Alfa Giulietta diesel a while back, and that was a nightmare as it was so slow to respond. I ended up turning it off and just let the engine keep running while it was sat still.