SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy?

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 22:44
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - Nick mclaren
Hi All,

We looked at a 67 plate seat Leon today. Got the car transferred over from Norwich as it was the right spec, colour, price.However upon giving it a test drive the EPC and engine warning lights were on. Petrol 1.4 engine.

The garage are going to look at it in the workshop on Monday and let us know what’s wrong etc and get it fixed. We will then have a three month warranty with the garage. Carshop in Northampton.

Just wondering what the general consensus is whether you would buy a 67 plate car that had these lights on or look for another one?

Cheers.
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Sat 23 Feb 2019 22:50
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - alan1302

Find another one - not a rare car so why take the risk?

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Sat 23 Feb 2019 22:54
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - Graham567
Surely it's under the manufacturers warranty?
I would run away very fast from this one......
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Sun 24 Feb 2019 01:17
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - SLO76
Leave it and pay a bit extra for a good approved used example instead.
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Sun 24 Feb 2019 07:47
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - FiestaOwner
Just wondering what the general consensus is whether you would buy a 67 plate car that had these lights on or look for another one? Cheers.

Unfortunately for many garages these faults are difficult to diagnose and repair. The favourite trick is for them to reset the ECU (which extinguishes the warning lights), only for them to reappear when you're driving home (after you have bought the car).

I'm not making any allegations about the dealership you mention, as I have no knowledge of them (good or bad).

The point of a test drive is to see if the car is what you want/ expect. This car obviously has issues, I would walk away from this one.

You now know why the previous owner got rid of it! Would they really have got rid of it when the repair should have been covered under the manufacturers warranty? I suspect Seat dealer couldn't diagnose and fix it.

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 07:55
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - NARU

I went to look at a car at one of the carshop branches. Also a 67. There was no evidence it had had its first service, and it had clearly had a hard life. I get the impression that some/many? of their cars are cheap for a reason.

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 07:57
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - gordonbennet

Walk away, not just from the car but the premises it's being sold from.

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 08:09
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - RaineMan

Warning light issues and a meagre three month warranty! Just walk away quickly. I had warning light issues on my previous car and came to realise many garages cannot diagnose or remedy these problems because of a lack of knowledge and the incorrect diagnostic software!

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 08:56
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - nellyjak

Don't walk away from it...RUN AWAY from it.!..there is much choice to be had out there...pointless taking any risk when you don't have to

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 09:14
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - daveyjp
Ask yourself why a 12 month old vehicle has fallen out of the main dealer network.

The 1.4 TSi engine isn't unknown for problems, this may be one where dealers have simply given up trying to fix it and shipped it.
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Sun 24 Feb 2019 09:28
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - bathtub tom

I went to that place once, never again. Despite 'phoning the day before, no-one had a clue about the car I was interested in. Someone went to get it (I wasn't allowed to walk to it). They were ages and while I was waiting I saw a list of cars in stock which I picked up and started to peruse. A salesman snatched it away and said it wasn't for the public! The car I was interested in eventually turned up (I suspect it had a flat battery) and what a state. Paint was flaking off a very obviously botched repair, covered in bird poo and filthy inside. I didn't even bother to test drive it.

They said leave a deposit and they'd fix the problems. Told them to fix the problems then ring me and I'd come and have a look - guess what?

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 09:40
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - gordonbennet

I went to that place once, never again.

Yes it tends to be a once only visit, the 3 year old aluminium bodied Merc we went to look at had corrosion bubbles coming through the rear quarter panels (electrolytic reaction from chassis inside) and a large section of one rear wheelarch had completely corroded away.

It was the customer production line, which starts at the security barrier before you even enter the place, which is the most off putting though, same here, never again.

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 12:03
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - Nick mclaren
Thanks for your advice everyone. We will keep looking.

The three month warranty was direct with the garage and presume it still had 18 months with seat but didn’t look that far into it.

Cheers
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Sun 24 Feb 2019 12:04
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - skidpan

My best guess that the car the OP has seen is one that has been rejected by the original owner and not wishing any more grief the dealer has sent it to auction eventually ending up on a supermarket site.

If the dealer cannot sort it with importer backing what chance does a supermarket with the usual type of "mechanics" they employ at these sites.

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 12:17
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - Bromptonaut

Like GB and Bathtub Tom I've visited the premises concerned. Never again. They sell cars mainly to people who want a nearly new car and think of cost in terms of £ per week.

As somebody buying for cash they're a waste of space.

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 12:32
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - skidpan

Like GB and Bathtub Tom I've visited the premises concerned. Never again. They sell cars mainly to people who want a nearly new car and think of cost in terms of £ per week.

As somebody buying for cash they're a waste of space.

We had a site local to use a few years ago that operated in a very dodgy manner.

Buyers could not look at cars (which were in a secure compound at the back) until they had agreed with a salesman their weekly payment.

They were then shown only cars that fitted their budget.

All cars had highly inflated prices but buyers got £1000 minimum for their old car.

Cash buyers were turned away.

They closed after several articles in the local press revealed their practices.

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Sun 24 Feb 2019 12:44
SEAT Leon - Car has epc and engine light. Would you buy? - SLO76
“All cars had highly inflated prices but buyers got £1000 minimum for their old car.”

Mob I used to work for occasionally tried the £1,000 minimum trade-in ploy. I was sent out to add between £500-£1,000 to the sticker prices of a list of old stock no one wanted.

No free lunches in this game I’m aftaid. There’s no way a dealer can give £1,000 for a £200 nail and still make a decent profit on a used car unless it’s overpriced to start with.
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Choosing a child seat can be a quite baffling experience – there are so many sizes, types, brands and price points available that you might not know where to start.

How to choose the right child seat