Fountain of Youth

[MatthewB]

I'm 30 and have been pottering around in small hatchbacks for most of my driving life. I wanted something a bit fun, but with the proviso from "she who must be obeyed" that it could handle a few suitcases and possibly small people. The Leon was a natural choice as it's got german engineering, latin styling with an Eastern bloc price-tag. Seemed ridiculous paying over the odds for the equivalent DSG enabled Golf.

It makes me chuckle that badge snobbery still exists in these days of shared components.

Different aspects of my car reflect a different age group:
Styling - 25-35
Price - 40-55 (well it is the sensible financial choice when compared to a Golf and A3)
Colour - 18 (even when it's grey and miserable outside, I've got sunshine sat on the drive)

 

[Adtkm83]

I’m 20, have had my Fr TFSI for 3 weeks now really love it.
But the loud peddle has gone really stiff for the last third. Very odd getting a new one fitted on Saturday.

Any one got a hi flow sports cat? Thinking about getting one

 

[Chuckie]

Hi had my TFSi FR for about 10 months now, still loving it.

I have had a few comments from people (all good) in particular from two engineers from the US that we had on site.

They liked the look of the car but had not heard of SEAT, once I said it was the same company as VW and AUDI and the Leon FR is equivalen to a Golf GTi they were in the picture.

They were very inpressed that 200bhp was standard from a 2 litre engine (wtf) but less impressed when I said that a basic Golf GTi would cost the equivalent of $40,000 in the UK.

By the way I am 41 and married with a 17 year old daughter who is learing to drive cry:Help)

CH

 

[CandyFR]

I have just ordered a FR Tdi, I was looking at everything from A4's, Bmw 1 series, A3's, and could not decide what to get, decided to test drive the leon and never turned back after that, i did not even test drive any others.

Some of my friends say what you getting one of those for, but there the ones that dont know anything about cars.

One of my friends was slagging it off until i took him on my 2nd test drive where he said ' I want one '

Like others have said people at work who know about cars say its a really good choice and others turn there noses up.

I am 19 years old

Nick

 

[MatG]

Interesting one this...one of the many reasons I chose the Leon was because I'd noticed how few of them there are around against the usual ST / Type R / Mk5 Gti etc as I wanted something a little more unique.

Generally (admittedly after only 10 weeks ownership) I've noticed that people who know about cars give it respect and those who don't really know about cars just look puzzled and go back to their 'follow the crowd' motors.

After bringing mine to the office, I was prepared to have to defend my choice some-what...but quickly realised that I didn't have to as I got nothing but praise for it..and after a few burns with them in the passenger seat some even wanted to buy one! A close friend of mine (who wouldn't drive anything without an Audi badge on it) summed it up really as "a clever mans purchase"...I'd have to agree!

Before I got mine I noticed an article in Top Gear magazine about buying a second hand Leon Mk1. As well as saying that Seats were bought by savvy drivers, it had a quote against the Seat badge saying "...those who can't see past the badge are missing out on a great car"....I'd sum it up by saying that whether you are 20 or 50...most can't see past the badge because we're usually in front of 'em

I would totally agree with this, and I am surprised at some of the replies in this thread. I think the majority of car enthusiasts do respect and rate the Seat range these days especially with the VW badge is so plagued with build issues and not fantastic styling. All my friends can not wait to get a drive in the new car on the 1st March and all agree with the above comment - 'a clever mans purchase'.

Oh I am 33 and I run my own business and my employees think its great looking car.

 

[cuprascott]

im 30 and on my third seat

ive had (all bought from brand new)

2001 Ibiza cupra - Tuned to 197bhp

2004 Leon Cupra - Standard apart from K&N

2007 Leon FR TDI - Standard at the moment.......

Im of the opinion that the Seats are great motors and the aftersales service i get from Rutherfords of earlston is outstanding. The only thing that would tempt me away would be an A4 avant to replace our Passat Estate.

 

[andycupra]

you can also review this previous thread on ages:
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/showthread.php?t=133374&highlight=poll
or for those that cant be bothered to view it:

IMO, perhaps the colour of your car is the main reason they look at it in such a manner rather than the actual car?
im sure they all have lovely grey suits and blue shirts, with grey black or blue cars...

 

[phil3012]

I just get grief at work for buying new cars in general "Waste of money" is the general oppinion. (I work in IT).

Those who know a bit about cars have a lot of respect for SEAT.

Some of the apparently more desirable brands are getting a bad image nowadays, in particular BMW. Usually driven by people with no respect for other road users. Pity if I wanted to put my foot down, the Cupra could blow a lot of BMW's away...

I personally wouldn't buy a BMW due to the bad image, would maybe consider a Z4 or 6 series but that's about it.

Looked at a Mini the week before I ordered my Cupra and they dealers think they are totally above themselves... It's as if you've got to feel honured going to buy a car off them.

 

[Watchin FC]

Looked at a Mini the week before I ordered my Cupra and they dealers think they are totally above themselves... It's as if you've got to feel honured going to buy a car off them.

I drove past a Mini Dealership a week or so ago and saw a new clubman outside with a tag of £19990.00 in the window.

They're having a laugh!

 

[andycupra]

I drove past a Mini Dealership a week or so ago and saw a new clubman outside with a tag of £19990.00 in the window.

They're having a laugh!

i presume it was positioned so you saw it from the 'correct side'.
shame we dont drive that way here.

minis are not cool anymore.

 

[Watchin FC]

It was a passenger side view.

As far as I'm concerned the original mini is an icon of cool.

The new pudgy mini (in whatever form) might be a good car to drive but it's just not cool at all.

 

[GhostMjr]

Hi all, pretty new here but thought i'd throw my 2 pence in.

I am very tall around 6ft 4 and currently drive a 1.0 daewooo matiz 54 plate. I am hopefully moving up to a leon and have had a couple of test drives. I am 21 but after looking around the market i will say why i set my heart on the leon.

I did my homework and had a look at these cars

fiesta st- I went to try this one out, fast car but it just hasn't got a big enough bootspace and does the same mpg as a dodge caliber :S

mini- too expensive as shown above and not high build quality

focus- didn't fit in it too cramped

vaux corsa/ astra/ vectra- all cramped in drivers seat boot space in astra and corsa the same build quality poor.

vw golf- proportioning of seat to steering wheel wrong and uncomfortable (discount offered)

a3- same as above but higher price tag.

renault clio- dashboard ugly and was offered £3000 off the f1 straight away after mentioning this when i walked through the door. not allowed to sit in a display model or test drive :S

leon- it looks stylish, sitting inside is comfortable for both long and short journies. I have a 33" leg and can lie my leg flat in both the driver and passengers seat easily as the seat goes back that far. The wind wipers are well placed and i love the way the swish down and up. Its hard to put everything into words its just so well thought out. usb port for a usb drive. It's just awesome. Going for crono yellow as its a free colour . Also the two differenet dealerships in different regions of the uk gave me the keys and said simply, enjoy your test drive .

 

[MikeShaw100]

IMO, perhaps the colour of your car is the main reason they look at it in such a manner rather than the actual car?
im sure they all have lovely grey suits and blue shirts, with grey black or blue cars...

How did you guess Andy....?

Mike
57 FR170, "CRONO"

 

[Starscraper]

Those who know a bit about cars have a lot of respect for SEAT.

Looked at a Mini the week before I ordered my Cupra and they dealers think they are totally above themselves... It's as if you've got to feel honured going to buy a car off them.

That is true, most blokes I know think Ibizas and Leons are great cars. Women however are a different story, one I know thinks my ibiza has no "street cred" as she puts it yet she drives a Toyota Aygo.

About the Mini, I got a similar treatment 3 years ago I went my local Beemer/Mini garage looking for info about a Mini One and was completely ignored.

Maybe I'm generalising things but most women seem to treat cars like fashion icons. How else can you explain another girl I know recently spending £8K on a 5 year old Mini One?

 

[phil3012]

A lot of people raved about the Leon which is why I went to look at it in the first place. Test drove a Ibiza Cupra Diesel the year before and unfortunately it just wasn't for me.

Some people still pay silly money for the Mini. They are nice cars but very expensive to buy and very expensive if they go wrong. Outside of warrenty you are paying BMW costs to get even wear and tear items replaced.

Yeah some women (no disrespect to anyone on here) do treat cars as a fashion icon. But end up paying daft money for an average car. Take the new VW Beetle, basically an out of date Golf that was popular for a couple of years and still expensive to buy.

Just trying to think what cars do have street cred...

 

[Ninja]

im gonna be 30 this month

Time to sell the ibiza lol.. Always fancied one of those leon cupra r's

 

[darrellr]

I'll be 40 this summer

I bought the Leon nearly two years ago for me but never got my hands on it. Believe it or not it's been the family wagon since day one (My missus + my two young lads). I've just ordered an Altea XL and so the Leon will soon be mine. However, to be brutally honest I'd have prefered to have kept the Golf. Heresy, I know.

 

[RCS2K4]

Interesting Thread...

I'm a mere baby then at 23. I'm in a management role for my employer, and on the few occasions the Cupra has been to the office, it gets mixed reviews. I get the usual "So, you couldn't afford the Golf then?".

I start to get a bit defensive at this point! Most people still regard Seat as a cheap, "also ran" brand where I work, and laugh at how much I paid for the Leon.

This sums things up there though. I have a company car to use, and it's a (Boring) Silver (Boring) Mondeo (Boring) Titanium X TDCi (Boring). They seam to like that (Boring) one

No matter how much I bang on about how the Leon IS the best car I have ever owned, they still dont believe me.

 

[nibbles]

I am 40 and i must say i am re-living my youth.
I have always had quick cars apart from one or two

Astre GTEs
SRIs
Audi 80 sport
BMWm3
SO ON

And i must say i have had two SEATs now and this one i have now LCR 225 is the best car i have ever had

It gets the looks and i think people are getting wise to what they are as its the brave few that have ago

All in all i love it and its going to take something speacial for me to change from seat

oh yes going to all the BTCC racers and meeting up with other members is the best

 

[sp1derman78]

I'm 29 and this is my first Seat and its my company car. Like others here those you meet who are into cars have respect but the badge snobs are just rude One of my colleagues who drives and A4 Avant said, "Whats a Seat?". Another guy in work who just had his A3 Sportback 170 TDI said the same and called it a hairdressers car when I showed him a photo.

Turned out this guy has no real car knowledge just a badge fan. He bought a freelander for the family and was bragging to colleagues on a night out and saying, "you knows its basically a BMW underneath", when the lads informed him FORD owned Land Rover he wouldn't believe them and eventually went all quiet and in a bad mood

Now my colleagues that know cars absolutely love my Leon so much one of them is down to the Leon and Alfa GT to tesdrive for her choice.

Mine is known by those in the know as a beast of a car