Altea XL Copa 2.0 Diesel - low MPG and Gear problem

[ConwayCostigan82]

Hello,

I'm new here so I apologize if I've done anything wrong with this post.

Basically I've just bought a 2013 Seat Altea XL CR SE 2.0 138 bhp Diesel Copa Edition with 86000 miles on the clock. When I bought it Evans Halshaw had just done the timing belt, new pads, discs and tyres and it had a full service history. The Problem is that when I drove it home I noticed that the fuel economy was terrible at an average of 38mpg. That was with driving without being heavy footed with a mixture of 60mph and motorway 70mph. Also when my wife drove it she noticed that when traveling at 30mph 4th gear is too high and the car judders. And that's the same with 40mph in 5th and 50mph in 6th. I have previously owned a VW Bora 1.9, VW Torran 2.0 and Seat Alhambra 2.0, which was also a 2013 with dpf. None of those cars required you to be in 3rd gear when cruising at 30mph.

Evans Halshaw put it on their machine and found 2 fault codes come up. P0473 and P0016, which they said were timimg issues. It's been in with them all day today and theyvth supposedly fixed it. However both issues of fuel economy and gear problem are still there. Their excuse is that these new diesel engines aren't as good and nobody drives in 4th gear at 30mph.

Am I expecting too much from this car? Is there something that can be done? I do love everything else about driving this car and am reluctant to try and get a refund (if they would even give me one). Any advice would be really appreciated.

Thank you for any help you can give me,

Matt

 

[Legojon]

TBH, I think that's rubbish. I had a 2012 Leon 2.0 CR170 with DPF and got 40mpg around town and doing short journeys. I made a 585 mile round trip on a single tank. On the 4th gear thing. The engine would labour doing 30mph in 4th. I'd have to do 32 maybe 33 can't remember to keep the engine happy in 4th.

Trouble is, anything could be causing the poor mpg. I assume you've taken it for a long motorway run. To track down the issue with eg another garage could be costly. Whether it's worth asking to speak to the mechanic directly. Just to confirm, how did you get your mpg reading? From average 1 on the multifunction display I assume?

 

[ConwayCostigan82]

TBH, I think that's rubbish. I had a 2012 Leon 2.0 CR170 with DPF and got 40mpg around town and doing short journeys. I made a 585 mile round trip on a single tank. On the 4th gear thing. The engine would labour doing 30mph in 4th. I'd have to do 32 maybe 33 can't remember to keep the engine happy in 4th.

Trouble is, anything could be causing the poor mpg. I assume you've taken it for a long motorway run. To track down the issue with eg another garage could be costly. Whether it's worth asking to speak to the mechanic directly. Just to confirm, how did you get your mpg reading? From average 1 on the multifunction display I assume?

Hi, thank you for replying.

I've looked at both readings 1 & 2 on the multifunction display and reset them to see what it does on a single journey.

Interesting about the gear situation, thought it would be pretty much the same as the Alhambra I had which I thought was engine. But I guess I must be wrong. I can't say I'm that bothered as I drive quite differently to my wife anyway, but she finds it really annoying. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't another problem.

Thanks again,

Matt

 

[ConwayCostigan82]

Hi, thank you for replying.

I've looked at both readings 1 & 2 on the multifunction display and reset them to see what it does on a single journey.

Interesting about the gear situation, thought it would be pretty much the same as the Alhambra I had which I thought was engine. But I guess I must be wrong. I can't say I'm that bothered as I drive quite differently to my wife anyway, but she finds it really annoying. Just wanted to make sure there wasn't another problem.

Thanks again,

Matt

*Supposed to say 'i thought was the same engine as the Alhambra

 

[Legojon]

Probably is the same engine. But may have a different gearbox / gearing ratios. But something's definitely not right. I drove to Blackpool last weekend in a 370bhp petrol and managed 37.7mpg. And some of the members here have seen how I drive.

Oh and I always look at average 1. Average 2 always seems about 10mpg lower for me.

Had a quick search round. The CR140 engines seem to average around 55mpg. I had a CR170 and was getting 41mpg around town from looking back at my old threads.