Faults:

No faults at all with the car.

I have had no problems other than the front tyres wearing out quickly, due to heavy diesel engine and my driving style.

General Comments:

I am hard on cars generally, as I do an average of 25000 miles a year, long and short journeys, mainly over back country roads, and the Leon has behaved perfectly.

The SE model has very good handling, much better than the std golf my wife has. It behaves predictably good in corners, no under steer or over steer, and the electronic traction control gives extra stability in sharp cornering.

Trim, electronics, paint finish etc which other people have complained about, I find to be perfect.

Dealer Service was the best I have experienced yet from past experience of Ford, Peugeot and Mazda main dealers.

Car is very comfortable for long distances, superb motorway cruiser, and has plenty of gadgets.

110bhp TDi engine is brilliant - much better than that in the Peugeot. I consistently get 65mpg, and it is only Group 5 Insurance, which is 7 groups lower than the std gold 1.9 90bhp.

Faults:

Front near-side CV joint boot failed at 7000 miles. Replaced by dealer, but they knocked the tracking well out in the process and failed to notice. Some inconvenience getting it fixed.

Rattles intermittently (possibly linked to temperature changes) from the rear and front doors, and tailgate. Quite annoying and disappointing. Ruins the overall experience which would otherwise be blissful.

On picking the car up, the steering wheel and dash were scratched, and the dealer was not in the least bit interested in doing anything about it.

Squeaky accelerator pedal. Not really a serious concern.

General Comments:

Great value for money and a good car to own, but for the woeful dealer cooperation and frustrating rattles which betray the car's generally good build quality. This seems to be a common complaint so far as I can detect.

In summary, what's the point in spending £11,000 on something when you get this kind of service? The dealers seem to have no idea how little it takes to ruin the experience of making a large investment. At least I should be able to part-exchange it at an Audi garage later on.

Faults:

Nothing so far (although previous Cupra was far from reliable).

Tyre wear seriously worrying though - Pirelli P-Zero Rossos, worn down to the tread indicators at 7,000 miles. Hmmm, not going to be cheap to replace I guess.

Paintwork (black) terrible. Chips like crazy, and shedloads of swirling scratches. Not very impressive.

General Comments:

Performance is excellent, although not that much quicker than a well run in bog standard Cupra.

Overall though, brakes, grip and suspension more than warranty the extra £2,000 over the regular Cupra.

Like the "Spanish Skoda" quips as well - don't know if anyone's noticed, but Skodas are seriously respectable cars now - just hope that Seat can match Skoda reliability in future.