A fond farewell to the Leon

LeonES

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
264
0
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Well it had to happen sometime but on Saturday I waved goodbye to the Leon after 2 years of fantastic ownership. It's been a completely trouble free experience with the only thing needed doing was the mouldy sound proofing replacing at the second service, it had 4k on the clock when I bought it and 27K when we parted on Saturday and it never missed a beat, not once.

The good bits:

I've loved just about everything about the FR CR170, from the reliability and the massive punch & economy around town from the oil burner, to the great build quality, no rattles at all, and I may be in the minority here but I particularly liked the simplicity of the dash & centre stack. My favourite was probably the colour, if anyone is having doubts about buying a Crono Yellow Leon put them to one side and DO IT, it's an awesome colour it really is and has been the biggest head turner I've ever had. I'd also add the service from Pulman SEAT has been first class.

The bad bits:

Not a lot really, the only thing that really pissed me off is the road noise, it is horrendous and completely out of character for a VAG car. Also the fuel economy on a long run was not that great, I found it difficult to maintain high 40's even when trying but I nearly always had 3 adults aboard so I may be nit picking here.

.......................................

I shall be hanging around for a while because this is a great forum, I've read some terrific advice from people on here who are real SEAT enthusiasts, without you I wouldn't even know what VCDS was let alone carry out my own tweaks so thanks to all who have offered help & guidance, not just to me but to everyone.

Regards

LeonES
 
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LeonES

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
264
0
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I've replaced it with a brand new BMW 118i M-Sport with plenty toys. I really have tried to like the new Leon but every time I see one I think it's an Ibiza, it's lovely inside with some good tech especially in FR trim but I just can't get on with the rather bland looks, just my opinion of course and no offence intended to those who have bought one.

Here it is, after 4 weeks of negotiations I eventually got an unbelievable deal that I just couldn't refuse.

BMW 118i M-Sport - 1.6 twin scroll turbo 170bhp.

Glacier Silver, Driver Comfort Pack, Interior Comfort Pack, Auto lights/wipers, DAB.









 

J400uk

Active Member
Jan 7, 2010
1,978
3
London, UK
Nice 1 series, I'll certainly consider one when next changing. How are you finding the petrol after the diesel leon? Apparently BMW have put a lot of development into the new petrol engines
 

LeonES

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
264
0
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Nice 1 series, I'll certainly consider one when next changing. How are you finding the petrol after the diesel leon? Apparently BMW have put a lot of development into the new petrol engines

Bit early to tell at the moment, but it is silky smooth, super refined and it's spookily quiet after a diesel lol. Performance wise I can't really compare because it's only done 250 miles at present and being BMW you MUST follow a strict running in period of no more than 4500rpm for 2000km (1200 miles), it certainly deosn't feel like its lacking any grunt though, apart from Eco+ mode (flat as a fart) where the boost and air con are backed right off to preserve fuel. In comfort mode (normal) we did a 150 mile round trip over the dales and it averaged 40mpg with 3 adults aboard so it seems to be very efficient too.

All told, I'm f***ing chuffed to bits with it, the build quality is fantastic.
 

t121anf

Newbie
May 14, 2004
570
9
Nice to hear of another leon with less than great mpg, maybe it's the geography of the north east.
 

betty_swollox

Richie
Feb 15, 2011
5,497
6
Washington
the new Leon but every time I see one I think it's an Ibiza


+1!!!!! The Leon just looks like a stretched out ibiza


The new ride is very nice mate, wasn't that keen on the 1 series when I first saw them, but the new ones are well smart

P.S, you love that car park at chester le street for all your car photos don't you?! lol!!!!
 

Daniel M

Blackbelts & Chickenheads
Apr 18, 2013
2,874
7
Middlesbrough
Beemer look lovely, wasnt overly keen on the facelift 1 series but they have grown on me.

Agree with the comments on the new Leon, I dont like it at all, looks boring and plain compared to the mk2's.
 

LeonES

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
264
0
.
+1!!!!! The Leon just looks like a stretched out ibiza

P.S, you love that car park at chester le street for all your car photos don't you?! lol!!!!

You noticed lol, it's right on my doorstep.

This time there was a couple of chavs onlooking the photo session, one in a pimped up 55 year old Fiat Uno and another in one of the worst Corsa's I've ever wtinessed, they clearly didn't like the beemer judging by the disparaging remarks flyine across the car park, jealousy is a terrible thing lol.
 

LeonES

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
264
0
.
I can get 50-55mpg if I take it proper easy.

I could leave our house on the outskirts of Durham, drive to say the Metrocentre approx 12 miles, stick to the spped limits and it would do 50-55 mpg every time, short journies around town it would do 42-44 mpg but as soon as it hit the motorway the consumption plummeted at 70-80mph.

I never reset trip 1 once, so the 23k we done in it it actually averaged 42.3 mpg which I was very happy with, the CR170 engine is a peach imo.
 

betty_swollox

Richie
Feb 15, 2011
5,497
6
Washington
You noticed lol, it's right on my doorstep.

This time there was a couple of chavs onlooking the photo session, one in a pimped up 55 year old Fiat Uno and another in one of the worst Corsa's I've ever wtinessed, they clearly didn't like the beemer judging by the disparaging remarks flyine across the car park, jealousy is a terrible thing lol.

lmaooooo, I love the corsa crew, I see them when I go down to banatynes for physio on me knee lol.
 

betty_swollox

Richie
Feb 15, 2011
5,497
6
Washington
I could leave our house on the outskirts of Durham, drive to say the Metrocentre approx 12 miles, stick to the spped limits and it would do 50-55 mpg every time, short journies around town it would do 42-44 mpg but as soon as it hit the motorway the consumption plummeted at 70-80mph.

I never reset trip 1 once, so the 23k we done in it it actually averaged 42.3 mpg which I was very happy with, the CR170 engine is a peach imo.

see, I normally drive at 65MPH to save fuel:whistle::rolleyes: lol!!!
 

Jarre

Active Member
Dec 9, 2011
5,365
11
Stockton-On-Tees
Nice car mate :) the M Sport trim certainly looks the part. Did you take advantage of the 4.9% finance?

My dad has got an M135 so pretty similar. I feel they've really upped the interior plastics compared to the old 1 series, too.
In the M135 we weren't told about any run in period (haven't checked the manual) just driven how he wanted to drive it since day 1!
 
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LeonES

Active Member
Jun 7, 2011
264
0
.
Nice car mate :) the M Sport trim certainly looks the part. Did you take advantage of the 4.9% finance?

My dad has got an M135 so pretty similar. I feel they've really upped the interior plastics compared to the old 1 series, too.
In the M135 we weren't told about any run in period (haven't checked the manual) just driven how he wanted to drive it since day 1!

I did take advantage of the offer, made the car even more affordable. The interior plastics are very much improved over the previous model which I didn't like at all, it now feels very upmarket inside. As for the running in, the salesman went out of his way to point out that it must be run in properly as the remote/transponder stores a multitude of information including the way it's driven, the handbook on the i-drive states exactly the same, so I'm just being cautious for warranties sake, once the 1200 miles has passed then it will get some welly, guaranteed :D

Errr M135i......yes please, it must go like a spaceship lol, will probably be my next purchase all going well.
 
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