12th Jan 2003, 04:03
Ha, ha you are right, the Leon Cupra R is the king of the council estate.
For the rest of the world it is just a Skoda from Spain.
12th Jan 2003, 09:06
Sold my Leon Cupra last month and bought a Honda Civic type R.
My Honda does 0-60 in 6.8 seconds, that is faster than the Cupra R will ever do, saved 1000 pounds in the process, handling is much better and I don't have to worry anymore about the dodgy built quality of my old Leon.
13th Jan 2003, 09:33
Mr 11th Dec here!
"SEAT sales are leap-frogging and breaking past records, especially the Leon. No.2 theory squashed"
Have you seen the sales figures in the rest of the EU?
In most countries they dropped by 25 to 40% last year, first time Leon buyers found out it was crap and didn't buy one again.
Fact.
12th Feb 2003, 07:22
Did you encounter the coil problem yet?
It means you will have to go back to the dealer 4 times because Seat will only replace the one that is broken and they will all brake one day.
If you buy a new Leon now you will know it will brake down 4 times in the near future, nice car! I got rid of my Cupra just after the first coil went.
Did you had your Leon broken into?
Seat (VW) deny there is a problem with the central locking although more and more VW groep cars are found with al the doors and windows open and the contents stolen.
Nice car!
Had the damp problem yet?
Seat is still in denial about this problem although thousands of Leon owners experienced this problem all over the world.
Nice car indeed!
I'm so happy I got rid of it.
24th Feb 2003, 09:57
Oh, yes you can.
Try a Lada with sidewinders duck taped to the roof, same built quality only much cheaper.
26th Feb 2003, 06:18
What a terrific and sensible comment.
Seriously, has anyone had any problems with the quality of a Cupra R and if so, what?
Thanks!
6th Mar 2003, 07:43
I've owned a Leon Cupra for 8 months or so now and I can honestly say I've not had a better car. The build quality is the same as my partners golf so no complaints there.
"Skoda from Spain"? hmmm I don't have a problem if you see it like that, after all Skoda is now a VAG brand just like VW, AUDI, SEAT. A Golf, Octavia, and Leon are the same underneath the body work and badge...
In all my Leon has been reliable (even chipped to 200bhp), cheap to run, and most importantly fun to drive. The only disappointment is that there is no 4wd version available in Britain.
Signed: Owner of a blue Leon with an identity crisis ;)
6th Mar 2003, 15:29
I talked my wife into purchasing a new 2002 Mercury Cougar about 6 months ago... BIG MISTAKE! After 16,000 miles, we had to bring the car in to have the clutch and flywheel replaced which wasn't covered under warranty and ended up costing us $1200! We finally picked the car up after a week and returned it the same day for them to replace the transmission (which was under warranty) After another two weeks, we finally picked the car up today and had to return it AGAIN because of some electrical problem causing it not to start! Ford to date has been far less than helpful and understanding. You could not pay me to buy another Ford product due to the poor quality as well as poor customer service I have received with this vehicle.
10th Mar 2003, 03:52
"Skoda from Spain".
Then a VW or Audi is a Skoda from Germany, just as much as a Skoda is a VW from Czechoslovakia and Seat is an Audi from Spain. They all have the same platform, chassis, engines, parts etc. Just built in different factories.
In fact the Seat and Skoda perform better and are better value for money. VW/AUDI know that they can extort £1000's out of their customers from the price of a £5 badge and a posh leather sofa in the service area.
If you doubt the joy a Seat Leon can bring to your life, just visit www.seatcupra.net.
And to the CTR owner; enjoy the summer heat!
17th Mar 2003, 05:23
Wake up and smell the coffee!
You are right, the Leon is cheaper to buy and cheaper to insure, and because it is related to VW, you may expect a good quality car.
The Leon feels sold, drives great and it looks the business, but if you look closer you will see that nearly all the components it is built with are not from the same brands a Golf used to be build with.
For example, the wipers and the electrical parts are not made by Bosch, the lighting is not made by Hella and the cockpit is not made by VDO.
These are only the things you can see as an owner, underneath it gets even worse.
These are the parts that often go wrong and make the Leon a lemon.
Oh and by the way, Cupranet is controlled by Seat, so you will only read happy stories over there.
So wake up and smell the LEMON JUICE!!!
19th Mar 2003, 09:04
Ha, ha, lemon juice! nice one!
But you are right, it's like car tires, Michelin owns Ceat tires and quick fitters try to sell you a Ceat tire with the words:"they are made by Michelin and only cheaper because of the brand name", but you don't want to do 140 MPH on Ceat tires, do you?
The same is true for Seat, they like you to think that it is only the 5 Pound batch that is different, but that is just a marketing trick and you must be quite naive to buy that, don't you think so?
So, WAKE UP AND SMELL THE LEMON JUICE!!!
25th Mar 2003, 10:52
I have just PX'ed a Jaguar X-type 3.0 SE for a Cupra R and this car is far better in all respects than the Jaguar which is supposed to be a prestige car. Or is this a Ford from Dagenham perhaps.
15th May 2003, 03:38
I'm one of the main founders of SEATCupra.Net, and though we have a good relationship with SEAT, we're certainly not controlled by them; we are a group of like minded fans of the brand, who also welcome input from fellow Audi/VW/Skoda owners too. We don't stoop so low as to badge snobbery. If you had actually took the time to read the forums of our site, instead of completely fabricating your statement, then you'd realise that.
The site does praise SEAT's, but look deeper and you'll also see owners are very free to complain about the brand's shortcomings too. If we were controlled by SEAT, I doubt that would happen.
But as it happens, SEAT are very happy to support a site like SEATCupra.Net, which in the long run is pointing out problems to them.
Having just purchased my 3rd SEAT, that being a New Leon CUPRA R, and my last car being a Leon Cupra, I've been very satisfied with my cars. They look great, which is more than can be said for most of the competition. The R is a totally different beast to the standard Leon Cupra; handling, speed and looks are all a huge evolution.
Audi make similar exciting cars, if you have over £25k in the bank, and the Golf R32 is a nice car, but well overpriced, as it's an end of line, look at me car. The Skoda vRS and Cupra R are two of the most exciting new sub £20k motor cars money can buy today. The Civic Type R is a nice car, and sounds good value to start with, until you weigh it up against the Cupra R's standard specs, and as for the power, after chipping the Cupra R, the power to weight ratio would trounce a Civic, and in fact most cars in its sector. 6.8, and try 6 or less with the chip, and a chip on a Civic will get nowhere near the gains of a Cupra with its turbo.
I'm happy with the reliability of all my SEAT's. The build quality is good, not perfect, but then I don't think an Audi is screwed together particularly well either. Always room for improvement in any marque. Otherwise, why would they bother with new models, if the current ones were so perfect.
I looked into buying an Audi myself this time, but the price for something with anywhere near the Cupra R's specs and power was nearly £8k more, and that's for an S3, which has been discontinued now anyway, so you'd be buying an old car straight out, and even with its 4WD, it has nowhere near the road handling and balance of the R.
28th Dec 2002, 03:53
I think a Skoda from Spain will always be a Skoda from Spain even with 200 bhp.
OK it is a fast car, but at the end of the day when you park it in front of your house, people will only see a Skoda from Spain with spoilers to match.