2002 Seat Leon S 1.6 petrol

Summary:

Good value, comfortable, in the summer when it's dry

Faults:

- Dimple on passenger seat when new

- Coil failed after 10k miles

- Leaking water into body work after 18 months

- Driver mat worn through.

General Comments:

The driver position and comfort level are very good.

The car handles reasonably well. Is superb on motorways and long country drives. The hearing and aircon work well and very quickly from starting.

Rear visibility is poor, however I'm now used to it and find little problem parking most of the time.

Seating and load capacity is pretty good, and it's straightforward to lower the rear seats.

I opted not to buy the glove compartment filling CD changer and spend the 400ukp on an ipod (which I use in the car through an adapter) and have not regretted it.

Not impressed with the faults I've encountered. On contacting a dealer they feigned ignorance that these were common problems. Also, even though I live in London, I discovered that they would not book the car in to fix the leak for a month!!! I had to argue for them to fix the coil earlier. So, I've had to drop the car off twice even though the car had both problems at the same time. I thought the leak problem had been fixed in 2002 vintage cars???!!!??

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 17th February, 2004

2nd Mar 2004, 06:58

Nearly all Leon's and early Toledos leak, It is a major design fault with them! SEAT do know about it, they have done for a very long time.

All dealers claim ignorance, this is due to them trying not to accept responsibility.

I have had 2 Leon's and they both leaked, I even found over a centimeter of water under the rear carpet, and my door seals were sealed correctly!

20th Apr 2004, 13:22

I brought a seat Leon 1.6s at 12000miles on a 51 reg, now 7 months old.

I added 20000miles on the clock, but the number of times returning to the dealer for warranty work is ridicous.

Its had,

1 new electric window switch,

2 new coil packs,

1 new rear exhaust pipe (2 year old car!)

1 new Engine Management System (complete loss of power when pulling of junction)

1 new expansion bottle sensor

Now the Engine Management Light has come, guess what, another sensor gone in the exhaust monitoring co2 level. Great the car is current drinking fuel.

The warranty ends this year september 2004 and I am getting rid of it.

20th Mar 2005, 09:18

I don't blame you, the dealers are very poor anyway.

24th Apr 2005, 02:52

I have a 51 Leon with 35k on the clock. My Leon has been back to the garage 5 times for warranty work, and it has always been the emissions light. They said it was a sensor in the exhaust. A lambda sensor or something.

The car drives great, and I find the economy of this car brilliant, although when the light comes on, you can literally see the petrol gauge going down.

It was only when I threatened to dump the car on the forecourt and put the keys through the letter box that they actually fixed the problem. I also have water creeping in the back carpet, which I noticed when hoovering the car. If all these niggles were sorted out, the car would be brilliant.

Again, I am not satisfied with the reliability of this car, and I am putting it up for sale.

In reply to 2nd Mar 2004, 06:58

10th May 2012, 11:28

How did you fix a passenger floor water leak?

2002 Seat Leon Cupra 20VT

Summary:

A love hate relationship

Faults:

In the first 6 months of ownership the car spent one third of this time at the dealer garage. The faults were:

Failed weld spot above rear wheel arch

Defective horn (small adjustment needed)

Windscreen wiper timer malfunction (wrong chip fitted)

Clattering seat belt holders

Squeaks in the dash board and rear seat (still there)

Coil failure after 15000 miles (affected 100,000 VW cars apparently)

That's it so far...

General Comments:

For the price this car is excellent value for money and handles really beautifully.

The interior looks good and has a spacious feel.

The stereo buttons aren't easy to use when driving, but the sound is good.

The engine delivers ample power in a responsive and controlled way with very little turbo lag.

I went for the leather seat option which gives the car a bit of class. One warning about the leather - it marks easily and I have had to get the garage to replace one of the seat covers which they damaged while it was in for a squeak fix.

My advise: if the body work proves to be good, buy one of these second hand and let someone else sort out the 'teething' problems.

I love this car despite the trouble it has caused me. I cannot fault the dealer for their efforts to sort the problems out either.

Would I buy another? I don't like the look of later models, but I don't have enough experience of new cars to put this experience into context. I will reserve my judgment.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 13th February, 2004

23rd Mar 2005, 06:32

Postscript: I am coming up to my third year with this car and apart from the ongoing rattles and a failed water pump impeller I have had no other problems.

Still really enjoying the car and am planning to keep it going.