Help me choose please! Leon FRs...

[Vyncenze]

Hi guys


Completely new to the Leon (and Seat in general) but quite taken with the idea of one for our next car. I was looking at leasing as there are some good deals around due to the upcoming new model, but then started looking at “nearly new” and think that might be better value. So now I’m a bit torn and need some advice.


Car will do 12-15k a year, mostly driven pretty sensibly by my wife on her 35 mile commute to and from work. I’ll use it a bit for my own shorter commute along the motorway, and obviously as a general run around. I’m drawn to diesel as I like the way the power’s delivered and I think the mileage just about warrants it, but aware the 1.4 and 1.5 are supposed to be very good engines and probably only 7-10mpg down on the derv. I’m coming from a 530d which is obviously crazy power but not really built for slinging about.


I know for a fact I want an FR, so the best options I’ve found are:


1 - Lease a 2.0 TDI (150) FR Sport for 3 years (12k a year) at £10500 total cost


2 - Lease a 1.5 (130) FR for 3 years at £8000 total cost (no good offers on the 150 version…)


3 - Buy a year-old 2.0 TDI 184 FR technology for about 15k (I’ve found one in desire red with sunroof, conv pack, seat sound etc etc with 5k miles on it from a main dealer for 15.8k). I figure worth about 10k in 3 years time with 40k on?? So cost of 6-7k over 3 years


4 - Buy a year-old 1.4 EcoTSI (150) FR technology for about 13.5k (couple of grey 18-plates from main dealers coming in at that price with 5k miles). Maybe hold their value a bit better but more expensive in terms of fuel….


Help! What would you do? Much as I’d like leather I’m leaning away from option 1 and maybe towards buying used, but I can’t decide…

 

[Shaady]

With used prices like that I wouldnt be looking to lease, it just doesnt seem worth it. I drove a 150 TDI before I got the 184 and it really did feel lacking, can imagine the MPG would be insane though.

My commute is about 50 miles a day with about the same annual mileage as you mention, and to be honest I wouldnt do it in anything other than a diesel. It sips fuel, in summer I can get 2 weeks out of a 50 quid tank and yet it'll cruise all day on the motorway without breaking a sweat. The only unknown is how much it'll be worth in 3 years, god know what the world will think of diesel by then! Plan on running mine into the ground though so am not too worried about that.

 

[Legojon]

I'd go option 3. The 184 is a nice motor, you'll get good mpg and can remap it for a bit of extra poke. And at the end of it all, you'll own the car rather than having to walk away from it. If I was doing 12-15k a year, I wouldn't go near a petrol, not even an eco one.

 

[KXL]

Get the 2nd hand 2.0 TDI 184. I used to have the 2.0TDI SE 150.
It seems fully loaded, plus has Seat Sound system! If you get it, give it a first 2 full tank of either Esso Supreme Diesel, Shell VPower Diesel or BP ultimate diesel then you can put whatever diesel afterwards. Every 5th tank or so, use one of the above 3. Consensus is even standard diesel from the proper petrol stations (Shell, Esso, BP, Jet, Texaco) are still better than supermarket ones, but you can test and see what you find by how far you get on a tank of each, and or feeling of power (or lack of) with each fuel. Depends on your right foot and fuel pumped, you should be seeing 55-62 mpg if you stick to the speed limits, perhaps even more if you have a light foot.

 

[Copra68]

If your getting the 2.0tdi you really need to get the 184bhp model and you also would never regret getting one with a DSG box. Brilliant car.

 

[Vyncenze]

Thanks all, these replies are really helpful.

I think buying vs leasing does seem the way forward, I was surprised to find that nearly-new prices were quite as good as they are (that 184 is over 12k off the list price with options!) It's just deciding diesel v petrol now - browsing around this forum all the love seemed to be for the 1.4 150 so I thought that would be all the feedback. I do like a pokey derv engine, but as was said it's really hard to judge whether the bottom is going to drop out of the market completely...

 

[Vyncenze]

Tempted now by a grey 1.4 150 with added convenience pack, adapted cruise, Seat Sound and winter pack (oddly, on cloth?!). 18 plate with 14k miles on it, £12995. That's nearly 3k cheaper than the diesel which is a lot of fuel savings.

Too difficult.

 

[DanielW]

Tempted now by a grey 1.4 150 with added convenience pack, adapted cruise, Seat Sound and winter pack (oddly, on cloth?!). 18 plate with 14k miles on it, £12995. That's nearly 3k cheaper than the diesel which is a lot of fuel savings.

Too difficult.

Where have you seen that? That is a good price! Im in the market for a 1.4 150 too but ideally want one with DSG

 

[Hag]

I work for a Leasing company and I bought my 184 FR DSG used at 3 years old.partly was due to lead time but I’m glad I did as the car is much better than the 1.5 150 I’d have ordered if I’d had time. Little things like the upgraded brakes on the 184 and the independent rear suspension that is only standard on the big diesel make a difference and it’s both quick and can be decent on fuel. Even if my TAP is similar to a lease in payment costs I’ll have something at the end of it


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Vyncenze]

Where have you seen that? That is a good price! Im in the market for a 1.4 150 too but ideally want one with DSG

It's not from a main dealer which I wouldn't normally mind but I've just spoken to them and it was reg'd March 2018 and hasn't yet had a service. They said they'd do it but is that going to be an issue with the manufacturer warranty?

 

[black_sheep]

The car will be on long life servicing 2 years/18,700miles (30,000km) so wouldn’t worry about it not being done - first service is approx £180-£200 at the dealer so try to knock something off the ticket price and get it serviced in a few months time when it needs to be done - they can send you a picture of how many miles/days remaining to next oil and inspection service easily enough.

 

[robby71]

I bought a 2017 (67 plate) FR150 Titanium last weekend from Motorpoint, 19000 miles, £12500.
I looked at lower mileage cars but wanted the extras the Titanium has (18"s, rear spoiler, side blades), higher miles than i usually go for (p/x'd a 2300 mile car for this) but i only do 80 miles a week.
The display is showing 47mpg on my 7 mile commute which is similar to my last 150 FR so i know it's fairly accurate,
The drive is so smooth, the engine so quiet you can hardly hear it and when you put the foot down it does have some pull

 

[Vyncenze]

Yea

The car will be on long life servicing 2 years/18,700miles (30,000km) so wouldn’t worry about it not being done - first service is approx £180-£200 at the dealer so try to knock something off the ticket price and get it serviced in a few months time when it needs to be done - they can send you a picture of how many miles/days remaining to next oil and inspection service easily enough.

Yeah he's checked the car and it's saying due in another 3400 miles. Seems a long time to go without an oil change - what determines whether the car is set up for long life vs yearly changes then?

 

[robby71]

I think the default setting is for variable servicing (car tells you when it needs servicing) but your dealer can reset it for fixed (every 12000 miles/ 1year)

 

[black_sheep]

Default is longlife...

More info here:

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/servicing/regimes

Fundamentally there are a number algorithms in the ECU that calculate service interval vs no of cold starts, how hard the car is revved etc. Some other systems can detect particulate matter and magnetic plugs for collection of metal particles for example - ie. oil quality.

From 20+ years automotive/aviation experience, it’s contamination from poor fuel/poor air filtration that is more likely to cause damage. On some of the military applications £100k+ in value, we were completing oil dialysis - old oil sucked out, run through a high filtration dialysis machine and put back in with contaminants removed. I would expect HGV (albeit some of the large haulage firms may already be doing this too) and cars to eventually go down the same route soon.

There is two stages of fuel filtration, oil filtration and the OEM air filters are pretty good too.

VAG used to use different grades of oil for the two different service regimes, but they all use the longlife grade now due to diesel and/or gasoline particulate filters that are fitted to the vehicle.

To be honest the longlife regime is a bit of a con now on the MQB cars due to the fact that after the first 2 years, the inspection service reverts to every year/18600 miles, and the oil service up to 2 years/18600 miles - invariably the car ends up going back more frequently for servicing, which is the opposite reason why you would chose the longlife service intervals.

 

[Vyncenze]

Makes sense. So the only advantage of the long intervals is for year 1, which doesn't benefit me anyway. Ah well!

So I'm going to sleep on it tonight, but have basically two cars to choose between.

The 2.0 TDI 184 FR Tech at 5k miles, Aug '18 reg, in desire red with 18" wheels, sunroof and led interior, conv pack, seat sound - £15800

Or

1.4 EcoTSI 150 FR Tech at 14k miles, March '18 reg, in monsoon grey with standard wheels, led interior, conv pack, seat sound, adaptive cruise, winter pack for £12995.

Both seem decent deals to me but it's hard to overcome that 3k price difference..

 

[black_sheep]

Makes sense. So the only advantage of the long intervals is for year 1, which doesn't benefit me anyway. Ah well!

For the 184, you would have circa 12 months/13000 miles until it’s first service is likely to be due, but yes, really pays off when owning from new.

 

[SRGTD]

I think I’d go for the petrol.

Diesel has been given lots of bad press in the past 2-3 years - much of it unjustified IMO. I loved my VW diesels and that great big slug of torque they delivered. My last car - a mk6 Golf GTD - was the best car I’ve ever owned in over 40 years of car ownership.

With lots of focus on clean air zones and the need to improve air quality in built up areas, diesel vehicles might be seen as an easy target by some local authorities - either banning them from entering certain inner city / town areas or charging them for the privilege. Newer, ‘cleaner’ diesels would probably be exempt from such measures, but could that change if a local authority is strapped for cash?

The £3,000 lower price of the petrol would also be a big factor for me in deciding which one to go for.

 

[Owen83]

Just my 2p worth, I have the FR ST 1.4 Eco TSI. I do 18k miles a year.... My long term average on the computer is 55MPG yesterday I did 300 miles round trip and averaged 60.4MPG and less than half a tank of fuel used. I generally get 525 mile per tank at a cost of £50 ~ £55 to fill so that too works out in high 50's....... thats on par with my previous Diesel Mercedes A-Class AMG Line and Petrol is cheaper to buy and the car doesnt sound like a bag of spanners....

However when my lease finishes in 2.5 years (4 year lease) the GFV is £5.5k......... (Car was brand new 18 Reg)

 

[KXL]

The difference between the 1.4 TSI ACT 150 and the 2.0TDI 184 is perhaps only 4-5 mpg like for like. Which would take AGES to recoup seeing that petrol is actually cheaper than diesel, as would insurance. If you prefer a quieter ride, go petrol (plus it has 17 inch rims, so more comfort, and cheaper replacement tyres!), however, as the others says, the 184 has 'of course' more power and esp torque, it has bigger disc brakes, plus a 'better' rear suspension. I have an inkling feeling that the TSI would be better on fuel in the city. This is from experience from my EcoTSI vs 2.0TDI 150 cars that I've had 2 years each. As Owen83 mentions, with a gentle foot, 60mpg + is possible, and other owners of this engine have posted similar figures on the forum.
I would say the petrol would be cheaper overall, and it might take over 5-6 years to recoup any savings...from the slight mpg gain from the diesel. However, in the 184TDI you would get the 'shove in the back' feel when you put your foot down at any revs...it's a tough one. However, as you are coming from a 530d, you may find the petrol 150 a bit...'lacking'