Emotional responses should be left to the squidgy bit driving them. I would never attempt to change people's opinions, you either like it or you don't. Make up your own minds.
I love my Mk2 so I was never going to completely dislike this car, and all I can share is my own opinion of what I have experienced. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder after all. I guess most things in life are marmite really.
I have my disappointments too. Price is the main one, but that is an overall market
problem that is no doubt part and parcel of this recession were in. Compared to its competitors its there or thereabouts on the money. VAG having so much influence of what they can and can't do hurts these cars, and that is something I would like to see change.
However without that VAG umbrella would we have the same quality of engineering on offer today in SEAT products? Not to say SEAT rely on VAG completely the expertise from the motorsport division has paid dividends to their development work on chassis setup which more often than not is better than their VAG stablemates.
SEAT are striking out as a brand more on their own achievements these days, the new designs (ie
Ibiza) coming out of Martorell are much more bespoke to SEAT. They might still be VAG inspired but SEAT does appear to be more in touch with its own identity. More of their own engineering/design experience is going into the latest cars. Exceptions like the Exeo are an effective way of getting their foot into a market they were absent from as cheaply as possible.
I was more surprised with what they have done with the styling to a degree on the R, I would liked to have seen some changes at the front, side skirts would
help finish off the lines. Though the original Mk2 was supplied much the same way and most owners go on to add the extra parts such as skirts and spoilers to their own taste.
You could argue SEAT should supply it like this, maybe as a flagship model they should be, but then it's adding on extra to the base cost and not everyone who walks through the showroom door would care about these additions. Leather interior again its a marmite thing really, personally I would of liked the option to whether I wanted it or not. Having seen it in the flesh its too strong to say its a deal breaker because the car was so much fun otherwise.
On the other hand something m0rk pointed out yesterday was not everyone who buys these cars are like me or you. They come in see leather interior and love it, and that may well be the defining factor for their purchase. I have to admit my first
Mk1 Leon had leather and it was a strong factor to me for buying that car. However the novelty for me wore off and its not something I have missed.
SEAT's philosophy was that they aim to supply a level of styling and equipment that appeals to a broad spectrum of buyers yet want to support and encourage enthusiast owners to do their own thing with it. You only need see that people on here add a splash of vinyl, different wheels and make their cars more bespoke to them and their tastes.
SEAT even said to us yesterday that they would be interested in introducing a range of styling enhancements such as vinyl decals. They even expressed an idea that they could
help owners achieve this with SEAT's access to the R&D
resources to make projects like this work for a mass market appeal.
I pointed out the engineering modifications are something they can't warrant at this time. Its not that they flat are against people doing it...they simply can't warrant something they had no part in designing or engineering.
Which on the face of it is fair enough comment. Why should SEAT pay to repair a car if its remapped outside SEAT's set parameters and it goes on to spit out a clutch, or gearbox or throws a rod through the side of the engine block. Again that comes down to an individual choice really, risk it or not to risk it.
The competitors might offer some of these carrots, if the market drives SEAT that way then maybe in the future things will change. They are not ignorant to what is going on in the market, and they have had close relations with at least one major tuner in this country. Who knows what might happen if the market forces a change of approach. SEAT don't see a paradigm shift yet that all customers want what the competition is offering, and its always easy to forget SCN forum members are not their only source of customer.
