Back in June I commented on a thread that I had bought a new Seat Leon 1.4 TSI SE and another poster asked me to update the forum about the car when I had driven it more.
It was bought to replace a BMW 118D I bought new in 2008. Did about 37,500 miles in it and never had a problem other than a broken front spring, probably the run flats to blame for that. Averaged a genuine calculated 48 mpg over that time. I was a very happy BMW owner.
With the wife being temporarily retired we had no need for 2 diesels in the house thus a petrol was the engine of choice. A modern small turbo one was essential since I still wanted decent economy and a decent turn of speed when needed.
Considered another BMW but a 116i, too expensive and still cramped into the rear.
Considered a Volvo V40, nice finish but to cramped.
Considered a Focus 1.6 Turbo petrol, nothing wrong with it but simply did not excite me and mpg poor.
Considered a Golf TSi GT, very nice but more expensive than the BMW.
Wife has a Kia Ceed which we really like but the Ceed petrol was non-turbo and a slug unless you ragged it all the time. A GT version with turbo is on the horizon but I did not need 200+ bhp with the obvious extra costs.
Compared to these the Seat won in just about every category and was £5000 cheaper than the Golf with the same 1.4 TSI engine, result.
Purchased it via the broker Carfile. Excellent service. Dealer took BMW in PX and Leon was delivered 4 days after order, by some fluke he had exactly the car and colour I wanted in stock, not normally that lucky. Saved £1700 on the price to swap compared to best local deal.
Well I have had it for 10 weeks now and about 1800 miles. Obviously still early days but all my original feelings have been pretty much confirmed. Comfort wise its superb, the ride is way better than the 1 series, its quiet and there is much better internal space. In terms of finish I have no complaints but a couple of reviewers moaned about the quality of a storage flap lid!!!. No rattles so far. On the equipment front it has everything the BMW had and more. Hitting the options list was tempting (as always) but there was nothing that was going to improve my driving experience. If I had wanted more kit going up to the FR would have been a better idea but I simply did not feel the need. No need to visit a dealer yet, fingers crossed. The only extra bits I bought was the extended 5 year warranty (if bought at registration gave the same cover as the 3 year warranty) which was reasonable and the 3 year service plan which at under £11 a month was a big saving compared to paying annually.
As for performance it has surpassed my expectations. With 140 PS it really flies but with 184 lbs/ft of torque between 1500 and 3500 rpm overtaking in any gear is really simple, it actually betters most turbo diesels IMHO because of the rev limit. Floor it in 3 rd at 30 mph, pick up is instant and strong and you can go all the way to almost 90 if needed.
Economy, over the first 1700 miles the calculated consumption was a genuine 46 mpg. On a trip to the coast it did 52 mpg. But beware, the dash display lies, it indicates 4 mpg more than the truth. 46 mpg is way better than I expected, only 2 mpg short of the BMW diesel which in truth was not as quick. Factor in the cost of petrol being 4p a litre less and the difference is approx. 0.5 mpg short of the BMW diesel.
So in summary very happy. If the mpg goes up with the miles I will be even happier. Lets hope it gives 5 years trouble free service
