Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with this car to date.

General Comments:

The engine sounds quite noisy when cold, but soon quietens down when the engine has warmed up.

Performance is excellent from the 110bhp diesel engine.

Throttle response is good and there is plenty of power available for overtaking etc.

My only dislike is the red dashboard lighting.

Faults:

Supplied with:

1. Paint defects (raised blemishes which leached waxy stains) on three body panels - ultimately required respray of all three panels.

2. Poorly fitting handle assembly on one door - required return to dealer.

3. No owners manual (although it did come with a Spanish language manual for the Toledo!) - took dealer two months to obtain proper manual from Seat.

General Comments:

Faults 1 and 2 should clearly not have got past factory quality control or the dealer inspection - it is a major worry that these highly visible problems were not picked up. Why a manual could not be supplied by return of post, I do not know.

Notwithstanding, dealer service was provided without quibble, albeit in a quite laid-back manner. All problems have now been solved to my satisfaction.

Despite all this, I really love the car!

It is sporty enough for my needs (town/frequent long drives). Looks great in black, by the way.

I got a good deal (£1000 off list, and less than 'What Car?' Target Price) - without finance too!

Interior specification and build is solid, tough and high quality (equal to Golf, for instance - many shared components)

Handles very well - smooth, sure and solid, rather than 'on rails' (nothing like Focus, for example)

Despite what has been written elsewhere, the sound system ('Seat Aura') with 6 CD-changer option is fantastic. Tight bass, crisp treble, excellent spatial representation. (again, nothing like Focus!)

I would absolutely recommend test driving a Leon if you're looking at a Focus, Golf or A3 - you might find it fits the bill and leaves you a few pounds left over!

Faults:

Only minor things have gone wrong. Clutch pedal a little squeaky. Following stormy conditions, the engine must have had some ingress of moisture and was very noisy for 20 minutes. The fault rectified itself and no further issues have been encountered.

General Comments:

The workmanship of the car is very good, solidly built and you feel very secure inside the cabin.

The 1.4 version which I have is a little sluggish, but still a good ride.

It handles well and very easy to control.

However, the gears feel a little notchy at times, but nothing too worrying.

Faults:

Upon delivery, two of the interior panels were damaged. They took 4-5 months to replace them.

The CD auto-changer rattles. The dealer has attempted to correct this, but failed. It is very annoying.

The clutch assembly was loose.

I have found numerous nuts in the car that I cannot atrtribute to anything.

General Comments:

The motorway performance is superb. Generally it a BMW beater.

Handling is average and not quite as good as a Golf, but will leave similar priced cars standing at the lights.

It appears to be generating more rattles on daily basis. I find this particularly annoying as I had my Mazda for 4 years and it never rattled once.

The standard equipment is good for the price, but the CD in the glove box is going to find its way smashed to pieces if I hear it rattle any more.

Faults:

The horn needed replacing after 7k miles.

General Comments:

For: The Leon is basically a VW Golf/Audi A3, but it is cheaper, quicker and has more standard kit than the equivalent Golf 1.8T (I had one for a year before).

Against: The rear legroom could be slightly better.