2002 Seat Leon S 1.4 16v from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Has had too many problems for us to feel we can rely on it

Faults:

On the second day the windscreen wipers stopped after 1hour 10 minutes. Two visits to dealer to replace whole unit.

Tailgate wouldn't open. Dealer told me I had the lock in the wrong place- not true and see later.

Clutch pedal stuck down. Needed new master cylinder.

Near side engine cover fell off.

Tailgate won't open again!!

Driver's seat is badly worn on base and back rest. New covers more than £200!

General Comments:

The car looks good, drives well and is comfortable, but in 3000 miles has proved so unreliable it is now up for sale. (It will be sold when the dealer has released the tailgate again.) I have measured 43 mpg on petrol on mixed motoring.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 8th January, 2005

2002 Seat Leon S 1.6 petrol from UK and Ireland

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?