Just found about that such a thing as a Leon Cupra 280 estate exists. Seems to be a bit of a goer, based on the same mk7 Golf chassis, plenty of things standard which are extra ££s on Golfs, but probably suffers from rapid depreciation due to image. No idea of interior trim quality or cabin ambience, but has anyone experience of recent Seats?
Personally, one of the few marques I have never even sat in
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Some of the switch gear, steering wheel, etc. shared with the Audi A3. Seemed well put together to me when I drove one last year. Before going for the Cupra, try a 184PS diesel too. The adaptive dampers and progressive steering became options after they became available (as standard) on the Cupra.
I'd actually say I prefer the look of the Leon to the Golf. I considered the Leon FR 184PS diesel estate. I had a test drive lined up for the 5 door but cancelled it because I liked the A3 more. And lead times meant waiting for the test drive of a Leon pushed back any A3 order by a month.
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Strangely rtj70 the Golf estate is not available with the 184PS diesel engine option. And the forthcoming pirates Golf estate only with DSG, according to DTD.
I hope this need to blow my entire private pension pot, and then some , goes away soon!
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>> Strangely the Golf estate is not available with the 184PS diesel engine option
Today it isn't but it has been shown at Geneva this year so is available soon. Available next month for deliveries in June.
www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswagen/golf/90218/vw-golf-gtd-estate-heading-to-geneva
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 09:24
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>> I hope this need to blow my entire private pension pot, and then some , goes away soon!
You are your own man LL and you will do as you see fit. But, as someone who sold his pension years ago to help re-float an ailing business, I can tell you that the long term implications of addressing a short term need are more than a bit scary.
Having a car you want now can't be worth jeopardising your long term security can it? If, as I was, you were going to lose your business, your house, your every material possession there might be a certain justification in such a radical approach but to fund a car?
Of course it's your money and your decision, but y'know...wow...
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Thanks for your considerations Runfer. Well intentioned I'm sure.
As for long term security, I'm the wrong side of fifty and dont give a stuff about the future. I only paid into a private pension between the ages of 18 & 23, hence it is only a small sum. Comparatively speaking. After that every spare penny went on repaying a mortgage and a few business loans. Despite the exex & ex, the mortgage is now paid off, and no more business loans. Or business actually. The body threw a wobbly & put paid to that particular avenue of pleasure ( B.Fawlty plagiarism)
But I can downsize and my needs are few. Scrounging accommodation off overseas friends in exchange for roast beef & yorkshire pudd, the odd last minute ski trip, regular cheap beer in my local pubs. And the state pension is less than ten years away. Whilst in the slammer on my back I had plenty of time to cogitate so now I make hay whilst still on top. Mind you, part time work still gets in the way of my life on occasion. I can do without 30 + hours a week sometimes!
Enjoy your weekend. And don't fall off!
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Aye weel, fair enough.
Don't go blowing it on a Seat then. Get a decent car.
;-)
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>>Don't go blowing it on a Seat then. Get a decent car.>>
It's comments like that that make me despair. Just as with Skoda, VW transformed Seat and you are getting a package that's equally great value for money.
VW basically caters for different sectors of the market with its Audi, VW, Seat and Skoda ranges and does it well.
In fact in Preston the main Skoda and Seat dealerships are side by side, just separated by a road junction...:-)
Last edited by: Stuartli on Sat 28 Mar 15 at 12:37
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>> In fact in Preston the main Skoda and Seat dealerships are side by side, just
>> separated by a road junction...:-)
thats to cater for the older market segment that wont do right turns..........
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>> >>Don't go blowing it on a Seat then. Get a decent car.>>
>>
>> It's comments like that that make me despair.
You just have to accept that some people don't realise that cars are mainly assembled from the same generic parts marked with different labels. Badge engineering is one of the biggest cons and profit makers for the car assemblers.
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>> Badge engineering is one of the biggest cons and profit makers for the car assemblers>>
True, but in the case of Skoda and Seat, VW transformed the quality, value and images of both marques after the takeovers to a very much higher level in a comparatively short space of time.
Taxi drivers in particular love the Octavia as it's great value for money and earns its keep in what is a hard life for a vehicle.
My best mate has had a new Skoda Octavia estate for a year now with all the bells and whistles (after a number of Mondeos over 15 years) and loves it. It's even more roomy luggage capacity wise than the Mondeo estate model.
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>> True, but in the case of Skoda and Seat, VW transformed the quality, value and
>> images of both marques after the takeovers to a very much higher level in a
>> comparatively short space of time.
Not really, they bought two names, built two new factories in countries with lower labour rates, and built they same range of cars as more expensive germany
Nothing to do with improving anything, had nothing to do with the existing company, it was simply manufacturing expansion and marketing.
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>>Not really, they bought two names, built two new factories in countries with lower labour rates, and built they same range of cars as more expensive germany>>
Correct, after the takeover. VW makes vehicles, engines etc in a number of countries including Brazil, United States, Mexico, Austria, Ukraine, Argentina and India, as I'm sure you are aware.
No doubt though that VW overcoming the jokey image of the Skoda name in the UK was a commendable achievement.
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>> >> Badge engineering is one of the biggest cons and profit makers for the car
>> assemblers>>
>>
>> True, but in the case of Skoda and Seat, VW transformed the quality, value and
>> images of both marques after the takeovers to a very much higher level in a
>> comparatively short space of time.
>>
That is because the Seats and Skodas are now VW / Audi's, Seat and Skoda only exist as brands and a way of expanding the range and variety of cars availiable from the VW Audi group.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sat 28 Mar 15 at 13:19
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>>That is because the Seats and Skodas are now VW / Audi's, Seat and Skoda only exist as brands and a way of expanding the range and variety of cars availiable from the VW Audi group.>>
That's exactly what I've pointed out earlier. As I said, VW can cater for a wider range of potential buyers.
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>> That's exactly what I've pointed out earlier. As I said, VW can cater for a
>> wider range of potential buyers.
>>
And exactly why I said a lot of people don't realise it is all one company making a range of cars with different badges. They are just a lot better at it than BMC was in the 1960s and 70s.
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I think I've driven precisely one Seat, a non-turbo diesel Ibiza in southern Spain in 1997. It was OK as I recall, and not as desperately slow as I might have expected, but it's hardly recent.
I've looked casually at the Leon as a Golf alternative, and the pictures suggest the interior lacks the feelgood factor of a Golf or an Audi. I expect it will hold together well enough, though; Skodas are similarly dreary inside but seem not to fall apart. I think Z has more direct experience of the Leon, though, so I should probably defer to him.
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Drove a New Leon ST recently. Deeply impressed, seemed pretty well screwed together to me. Seat used to save money with interior trim being very plasticky, but no more. This was every bit as a good as any Skoda, with considerably more internal and external style. The interior seemed much lighter and brighter than any coal hole VW.
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 26 Mar 15 at 22:51
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I preferred the inside of the SEAT Leon to the Skoda Octavia. All better than the Mazda6. The car I thought I'd get on looks alone. Inside it was cheep. Recently improved.
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>> every bit as a good as any Skoda
There's a phrase that you couldn't have imagined using 30 years ago.
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>> There's a phrase that you couldn't have imagined using 30 years ago.
Unless you knew a bit about cars, had driven a Skoda or two and weren't the sort of wimp who gave a fish's tit for the views of ignoramuses.
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I did know a bit about cars, I don't think I'm a wimp, and I'm hardly a slave to the opinions of others.
Still, I'm sure you know a bit about cars and probably are not a fish, tit or ignoramus if one ignores your slightly dodgy memories of Skodas.
Allow me to jog your memory;
Skodas 30 years ago.
www.motorbase.com/picture/profile/2014/09/21/skoda-120-ls-1985/
Last edited by: No FM2R on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 01:09
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I'm sure you aren't a wimp or ignoramus FMR.
And of course there's no such thing as a perfect car. But Czech cars are absolutely ace.
Having owned five Skoda Estelles (of course they were cheap which helped) I can say that they were a very fine design let down by poor materials and inferior starters, generators and so on. I could go on about their virtues for ages but I've done it already and no one really takes it in.
They had to be kept in tune, which most owners and mechanics couldn't manage. They were surprisingly comfortable, very economical and surprisingly quick. You just had to keep your foot down. They only went into sudden oversteer mode if you lifted off in mid-bend, but a lot of cars will do that.
Jasper Carrott saved me a fortune by poking fun at them in an ignorant and arrogant way.
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>> They had to be kept in tune, which most owners and mechanics couldn't manage. They
>> were surprisingly comfortable, very economical and surprisingly quick. You just had to keep your foot
>> down.
If you had to own one the first thing to do was to replace the Jikov carb with a Weber replacment. Ditto the Ford VV and the GM Varajet !
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>> If you had to own one the first thing to do was to replace the Jikov carb with a Weber replacment.
Nothing wrong with the Jikov carburettor. It was more progressive and more economical in use than the rather crude Weber substitute.
The important thing to get right was the float level. Not one of my five Estelles came without the float level wildly out. Most mechanics would simply set it too high (meaning over-rich mixture) because it would usually start and run like that, especially with the dwell angle all to cock in the ignition. Of course like that it didn't go as well as it should and used too much petrol.
An Estelle with the engine in proper tune was a really good and reliable motor. Evidently too much of an intellectual challenge for the average British garage though. Once you had the dwell and float level right, and a new or fettled contact breaker (they cost peanuts in my day), you could get the mixture perfect, even a whisker on the lean side, and the car would go properly, do 40 or 50 mpg, display a white deposit in the tailpipe and make a Czech engineer smile.
Ten or fifteen minutes every few thousand miles was all you needed to keep it like that. I used to enjoy doing it.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 18:11
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>> Just found about that such a thing as a Leon Cupra 280 estate exists.
One was parked down the road from where I work the other day. A brown or green coloured thing, which had orange coloured wheels and matching orange backed door mirror cowlings.
We had bets that someone was driving it for a dare as no one in their right mind would choose such a ghastly colour combination.
edit, apparently it can be ordered in those colours
www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article10070505.ece/alternates/w620/38-Seat-Estate.jpg
www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/seat/leon/cupra-2014/20-tsi-cupra-280-sport-tourer-5d/road-test/67663/
Yuk!
Last edited by: VxFan on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 01:45
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It's a grey car with some orange details. I rather like it. I'd certainly much rather have orange wheels than black. I wonder if it's orange inside as well.
I've seen some smaller and sportier BMWs in a rich metallic orange that looks fantastic. Very tempted; I'd certainly know which one was mine.
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I saw a guy about my age or a bit older maybe in a new Nissan Juke yesterday. Grey with big wheels, orange door mirrors and a thumping big orange roof spoiler wing thing.
I'm guessing it was one of those "Nismo" models, well, I hope so anyway because it would have looked even more ridiculous if it was a normal one with those accessories bolted on.
In isolation, it looked kind of ok I suppose, and if the driver had been a trendy young blade it might even have looked sporty. But with a grey haired, slightly plump middle aged bloke in it he just looked like a drawer handle.
Maybe he was delivering it of course. Might not be his fault.
You have to be so careful with these things.
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FIL has a Leon - bought it at launch and I gather has been very please with it. Think its a 1.8 Tsi- DSG 180 ish bhp in FR trim. Think it has everything possible on it
It must be good as he is a fussy sod, although he did complain about the false engine noise thing so the dealer turned it off for him
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It's 4 years now since we had a SEAT - late 2004 Ibiza bought new.
I suppose over the 6 years we had it is was basically OK - it was on a newer platform than the Polo of the day and was much better spec'd and for a lot less (percentage wise) money.
I was dismayed when it failed MOT at 4yrs/40K miles due to suspension bushes and rear brakes - but SEAT did eventually refund the cost.
One thing to be aware of is that in some areas the dealers are thin on the ground - I live near Chester and there isn't one for Chester / the Wirral. It's noticeable that SEATs are rare around here.
During ownership I did see a lot of stuff that indicated that the dealers are generally not well thought of. That may have changed, of course, although I'm so dis-satisifed with the VW dealer we bought a Golf from to replace the Ibiza that I moved to indie servicing - first time I've ever done that on our family fleet. So perhaps it's a VAG thing - they're off my list now, anyway.
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 15:10
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If I had £28k and needed an estate I think a 4WD, V6, 155mph would be on the list...
something like this
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201412029393014/
Last edited by: VxFan on Sat 28 Mar 15 at 17:25
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Thanks, but not sure I want 4WD. I still hanker after a 330 Touring. No point me getting a 330D with my few annual miles, and as I intend to keep for several years I have an irrational fear of expensive diesel repairs.
Every time I drive the 330, I think to myself, what a peach of an engine.
Although in moments of madness I dream of a C63 estate, a few years old which has suffered from massive depreciation. Anyone know of any going cheap (ish)?
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A friend had a C63 estate for about a year ( from new ) until he was offered a very respectable amount of money for it by the same dealer he bought it from. ( apparently they're pretty sought after if the mileage is low )
Anyway, I was in it a few times. Absoflippinglutely bonkers thing, in a nice way. Noisy ( again in a not unattractive way )
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Am sure you would like the Skoda Humph - brilliant for carrying bikes apparently as well if the Tour De France teams are anything to go by.....
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True, Bobby, but it would stick out a mile in a dodgy neighbourhood like that. You might ask a kindly mod to remove the postcode from the link.
};---)
But I'd go a couple of years older and have an S211 E63 instead.
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Not my postcode, made it up
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A Skoda you say? Yes well, harrumph, cough, I'm sure they're very, er, um, practical? Sensible indeed. Thinking man's choice even...bear it mind and so on...good advice most probably.
;-)
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Humph, they work in forests as well.....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw1x8ZQ0VaE
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So do Snow White's mates, but I don't want one of those either! Nice noise though.
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Very nice noise!!
Who was the young guy on the old HJ who wanted a V6?
Was his name Adamski or something like that??
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>>.good advice most probably. >>
Definitely most probably.
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>> Not my postcode, made it up
A good 75% of that link isn't necessary for it to still work. See the edited version.
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>>A good 75% of that link isn't necessary for it to still work
Well it doesn't work for me guvnor.
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>> Well it doesn't work for me guvnor.
I've just tied it on 3 separate browsers, and also on PCs with different operating systems and it's ok.
We are talking about the same link I presume?
i.e. this one www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201412029393014/
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>> We are talking about the same link I presume?
i.e. this one www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201412029393014/
Okey dokey, I must have been trying a different one before.
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Ah West Pilton Avenue... enjoyed delivering the post down that way 20-odd years ago in my summer holidays.
Other than Giros and Summonses it was a fairly lightweight bag to carry.
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Best run was West Granton before it was demolished and replaced by Granton Mill - early-mid 90s most of the flats had steel doors and windows, awaiting demolition.
7hr 22mins pay for 2x45 minute deliveries - result!
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Pilton!! Jeez I need to pick random postcodes better!!
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What was that block of flats with the really bad reputation? Martello Towers wasn't it?
Something tells me they did it up and sold the flats off as luxury waterside apartments or some such? Maybe I'm remembering that wrong.
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Think it was Martello Court
22 floors of joy - used to take the lift to the very top then come down the stairs delivering the post - 4 flats per floor IIRC.
Was possibly owner-occupiers by then as it was way nicer than Fidra, Oxcars and Inchmickery which had the usual number of old white goods in the carpark that had simply been tossed from the nth floor balcony by their lovely tenants.
Edit: Ha! It even has a wiki entry - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martello_Court
Last edited by: Lygonos on Sat 28 Mar 15 at 00:16
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'er indoors calls them "areas of social depravation" my local one (far enough away thank god) is Surrey Towers - a place where the residents set fire to rubbish on their 22 story balconies to keep warm
www.ilivehere.co.uk/addlestone.html/comment-page-1
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"Soon as I can I’m getting the hell out of here to cornwall, people smile there. Dispite their pirate problem".
:-D
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Do the rich pirates drive Golf R's?
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Diesels mostly, running on red.
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>> edit, apparently it can be ordered in those colours
>> www.independent.co.uk/incoming/article10070505.ece/alternates/w620/38-Seat-Estate.jpg
>>
>> www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/seat/leon/cupra-2014/20-tsi-cupra-280-sport-tourer-5d/road-test/67663/
>>
>> Yuk!
>>
I quite like the colour combo it's quite striking in the same way that a bright green Vrs is. Nice to see that Seat are making some nice looking cars, rather than their poor efforts over the previous generation. If I could afford a new car I'd go have a look at one.
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I owned a SEAT Cordoba 1.9 TDI estate for six years and 110K miles. It was built on the same line as the Polo equivalent, was better equipped, and had the same build quality. Outside normal servicing it the only repair it needed was a handbrake cable.
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ON, my ex ex's partner has a P reg A4 1.9 Tdi . It has been incredibly reliable over the ten + years he has owned it. He runs his cars into the ground, and being a retired engineer services it himself. He tells me there is lots & lots of life in it yet! He could afford a new A6 BiTurbo Avant with his rental properties but each to his own.
His hobby is nipping raisins in half but I respect his lifestyle and environmental concerns.
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When my Cordoba was out of warranty I did all the servicing on a 10K mile cycle. Other than oil and filter changes it was only brakes and visual inspections required.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 27 Mar 15 at 22:24
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I don't understand VAG's branding anymore, VW, Audi, Seat & Skoda all seem be be trying to be jack of all trades and to appeal to everyone.
I would have:
Audi = Vorspung durch Techniq, Quattro, sporty.
VW = High build quality, understated but smart.
Seat = Cheaper, sporty looking but not fast, using slightly older VW technology (5 years behind)
Skoda = Safe styling for older people. Dependable and reliable. None of that new fangled stuff like night vision or ACC but has the best reversing aids.
Last edited by: Shiny Tailpipes on Sat 28 Mar 15 at 20:08
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We looked at the new Leon wagon and new jacked up wagon as a replacement for the C4 Grand Picasso.
My wife loved the new jacked up version but found the standard car too low.
Problem was the lease costs, SEAT wanted 33% more for a 1.6 diesel than Toyota for an Auris estate hybrid. That, plus I couldn't have my wife driving around with Bernd Beivers on the number plate in the UK.
She now has an Auris estate hybrid and loves it, the benefit for me is the fuel consumption has dropped from 7.3l/100kms to 5.8l/100kms over the first 1254 kms.
Whould've thunk! a petrol more economical than a diesel ?
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Roughly 38.7MPG vs 48.7MPG
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"Bernd Beivers"
wonderful !
I'd pay extra for that !
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I knew you'd see the funny side.
How much? I'll get you some to put on your 'Bahn wagon.
Almost as funny as having FUD on your number plate in Edinburgh !!!
Last edited by: gmac on Sat 28 Mar 15 at 21:31
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There used to be a shoe shop in the Kings Road called R. Soles.
The carrier bags were much sought after.
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40mpg? How the heck are you getting it that low? I would have said that was impossible.
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That's an average over the last 6 years so not impossible.
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In winter , I can get 25mpg from my Jazz driving up and down hills on our single one track roads with passing places. That is: after the car has warmed up. If I turn up the hill out of our house, I average 20mpg in winter for the first 2 miles - the first mile is up a steep long twisty hill..liable to ice up in winter (the stone walls and fencing show what happens to people driving too fast!)
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SEAT Leon II - Build quality - rtj70
