SEAT Leon

Im looking at a 1.4 petrol SEAT Leon. Has anyone ever driven or owned one of these before. What is it like in terms of value for money, maintenance, reliability, etc.

What year Leon are you looking at? There are two totally different models, older and newer.

Value for money you cannot go wrong at all.

Reliability and Maintenance - You basically are driving a VW Golf with a Seat badge on it. Same engine, same gearbox, same chassis. So no real problems there that you wouldnt get with a VW.

I'd be wary of using VW as a benchmark for reliable cars. Nice cars to drive (I've had 5 of them one-after-another) but they are hopelessly prone to electrical defects. As long as the SEAT doesn't inherit that particular trait then indeed it's likely to be good value.

Not a bother on them, Three cars in one there, Leon, Golf and Audi A3. Every car can hava bad day, regardless of Make. I love my Leon

AFAIK, statistically, the Leon is more reliable than the golf - the platform on which it is based. A bit odd - maybe chassis/engine aside it's a bit more basically built otherwise in terms of electrics etc?

This happens - a Mazda 3 is 'basically a Focus' too - but again, it's a fair bit more reliable.

Anyway, FWIW, I think Leons are a great car - the older model was very good and if anything the 'new' one is better - it certainly looks the business IMO. Great to drive. I'd take one over a Golf any day for a few reasons - not least cost.

The engine variants will be similar to the Golf I'd say - in which case the standard 1.4 wouldn't be great as a 'drivers car'. A bit lacking. Try the 1.6 if you can. The 1.4TSI would be just about right without being mental.

A mate has a leaon cupra 150 bhp tdi 1.9

Road rocket lovely car to drive.

Did feel as solid as the equivelabt VW but great car none the less.

Seat have just dropped their prices on all new models including the Leon. If buying new watch the tax bands on the Leon, I think emissions may be high on some models and do not qualify for lower road tax bands.