Faults:

Ignition Barrel failed

Boot catch would not open when unlocked

Strange clunking when applying brakes occasionally

Horn stopped working (then started again!)

General Comments:

From a value for money point of view this car is fantastic, performance is very frantic now after doing 8000 miles it is nicely run in and a lot smoother to drive.

Suspension is too soft, you can't exactly throw this car around much. In the wet this car is scary to drive!

Seats don't give enough support.

Faults:

Coil broke down - replaced at 8k.

Leaking door seals.

Rattle from hatch.

Rattle from rear seat.

Interior trim falling off (various).

Intermittent alarm fault.

Paint chipping on bonnet.

Grabbing brakes.

Weak synchromesh on 1st gear.

Engine hesitation from cold.

General Comments:

Reasonable acceleration, but suspect handling on anything other than smooth surfaces. When driving hard, the lack of body control is actually dangerous. The car needs softer springs and stiffer dampers. I'm astounded VAG allowed a vehicle like this to be sold.

Decent comfort over long distances, but marked down for the intrusion of the centre console into the left leg - very painful, and almost 12K on, just as annoying.

The seats are comfortable when travelling in a straight line, but for a car with sporting pretensions, fail to hold the driver or front passenger in place when cornering quickly.

Fuel consumption is reasonable for a car with 180bhp, but I'd hoped for better. There isn't that much difference consumption wise between it and a hard driven Impreza Turbo, but in performance terms, the two cars are like night and day.

After being initially impressing with its build quality and reliability, things are going down hill quickly of late. Shame...

My underlying memory of the last 9 months of Seat ownership won't actually be the car, but the help and advice I've had from the members of SeatCupra.net. I hope it's acceptable to mention it here.

Faults:

The drivers seat loosened, this caused an annoying cracking sound. The dealer changed the seat base under the warranty, and commented this has happened with a few others.

The flash red colour is a little prone to stone chips. But the speed these cars entice you to travel at proberbly brings this problem about.

General Comments:

The multi spoke wheels look the business, but they are a real bind to keep clean. The car is not suited to the boy racer type driver. But people who need to drive long distances very quickly and effortlessly it would be difficult to beat at it's price.

As this is my first ever car from new and makes me think more critically about it. I can say I don't think I could have made a better choice.

Faults:

My Leon was very damp on the inside; 3 of the doors leaked.

It took the dealer 3 attempts to fix it, but first they tried to deny that there was a problem, and then they told me I was the first one with this problem.

I had to show them a copy of the official internal Seat repair procedure I got from the Internet, to convince them that this was a common problem.

The door sills are made of the wrong material, and they let water through after a certain period.

I found out that Seat didn't change anything in the door's construction until early 2002, so all Leon's sold before spring 2002 have the wrong sills fitted.

Seat has no intention to contact the owners, and they will only do something about it if your car is soaked and still under guarantee.

So if are planning to buy a used Leon, check if the sills are replaced, or you can be in for wet feet and an expensive repair.