I’ve made some headway with the insurance finally.
My insurer AXA will let me transfer my existing cover from my Mazda6 Sport to the R ST for no cost. It runs until end Sept.
The ABT 370 thing is still an issue though, I explained the car only has 350 and the lady from AXA said it’s not technically correct for the insurance then and they would need to get approval from the underwriters due to the difference in actual power and listed power.
I have been rattling cages at Seat the last week and received a reply today saying that they will remove the ‘370 ABT’ from the insurance database on June 20th and replace it with ‘ABT’ only.
See screenshot for the full email from them.
Can you solve an unanswered question for me.
Assuming your in the UK, does the car have ACC + Driver assistance aids ??
I’m not going to see mine until Friday as don’t want to spoil the ‘covers off moment’.
Scared to ask my dealer as I used the fact it hasn’t got it on spec sheet to get further discounts !!!
Oh and please tell us what the car is like
So UK gets 3y (36 months) but EU ONLY gets 48 months, are you correct on this?Firstly, thank you for confirming.
As someone that would be very keen to acquire personally, to be honest this option isn't likely to be in high demand relative to other options across the brand and thus I doubt things will move forward too quickly. I guess one of the main issues is the Year 3 warranty in UK; I believe that manufacturer's warranty only applies for 48 months in mainland EU and is aligned to the ABT warranty - we used to have to pay up front, and then claim back costs from UK for any warranty work for a UK car in its third year of life whilst living in Germany.
The approach that SEAT are using is similar to that with Volvo/Polestar when they first started to sell optional ECU tunes, so let us all hope that the partnership continues and further options are made available in due course similar to some of the VAG franchises in Germany.
Based on what else you’ve written, did you mean to put 24 months not 48? As 48 months is 4 years. And I’ve seen ABT warranty as 24 months.Firstly, thank you for confirming.
As someone that would be very keen to acquire personally, to be honest this option isn't likely to be in high demand relative to other options across the brand and thus I doubt things will move forward too quickly. I guess one of the main issues is the Year 3 warranty in UK; I believe that manufacturer's warranty only applies for 48 months in mainland EU and is aligned to the ABT warranty - we used to have to pay up front, and then claim back costs from UK for any warranty work for a UK car in its third year of life whilst living in Germany.
The approach that SEAT are using is similar to that with Volvo/Polestar when they first started to sell optional ECU tunes, so let us all hope that the partnership continues and further options are made available in due course similar to some of the VAG franchises in Germany.
Reading an article today on JCT600, happened to notice the below wording about insurance;
"The option to upgrade for £500 you can increase the power to 370PS and add an ABT tuning pack, reducing the 0-62mph to 4.5 seconds without impacting the homologation status (insurance rated)."
Firstly, that sounds odd for insurance to just not bat an eyelid, and secondly doesn't follow your issues with insurance?
EDIT - Link - https://www.jct600.co.uk/news/seat-announce-fastest-ever-leon-cupra-r-st/20084/newsdetail.aspx
No that’s right. The ABT box is a modification, it’s only the UK that is getting the ABT 350 box this way. A lot of Europe already has the ability to upgrade via ABT and keep warranty.As per my previous post with the email screenshot it looks like Seat have finally gotten their act together and will be renaming the ABT tuned car “Cupra R 4Drive ABT” on insurance databases, removing the reference to power output (that was inaccurate at 370 anyway)
Wether or not this has an increase in insurance premium or not remains to be seen.
I found something else odd today also. My dealer sent across the pre registration document I needed to sign and return, which gets sent to the DVLA for the V5C to be created.
My car is listed at “Cupra R blah blah blah 300PS blah blah blah”
I queried this as it’s now 350PS with the ABT tune.
They replied that as the car left the factory as a 300PS car, that is what the registration document has to say, and that the ABT tune is simply an aftermarket modification.
See attached screenshot for actual wording.
I get the distinct impression Seat have no idea what they are doing with this ABT tune.
As it’s easy enough for Seat to know whether the car was ordered with it or not. And if a none R ST comes in, more so.Why is that though ?
I’ve already established with my order (see my posts above) that the car is registered as a standard Cupra R ST 300PS as that’s how they leave factory and then the ABT is just a modification/add on !!
The ABT upgrade will be fitted at the supplying dealer to the Cupra R only. They had to be ordered when the car was ordered. They initially were 370 but due to emissions laws (WLTP) were de tuned to 350. It will still be an animal with that power!
I’d be very surprised that the dealerships didn’t tick that box if it’s a pre registered car. I fully expect all the Cupra R ST’s in the UK to be ABT.Does anyone know if a dealer demo/pre-reg car would be eligible for ABT add-on when sold on to first private owner ?
The posts above seem to read that you have to option it from initial order.
Therefore you will be paying alot more than £500 for the ABT because a demo/pre-reg could save between £6-£9K compared to a fully spec'd new order RRP.