Buying a Leon estate - advice please

BillyCool

Active Member
Jan 16, 2020
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Leicestershire, UK
Thought I'd found it here: https://www.alistairbuchan.co.uk/us...rer-euro-6-ss-5dr-east-wemyss-202302033908544 It's right on budget, got some nice "extras" and although I'm not keen on the "rubber band" tyres myself, he loves that sort of "bling". Probably take about an hour of comfortable driving to get up there for a look see. However it's a non starter because his other half won't have a red car!

How rude! I waited months to find my red 184. Tell her to reconsider! The mileage is really good for the year, My TDI is on 122,000.
 
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Walone

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Feb 10, 2016
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Near Heathrow
Thought I'd found it here: https://www.alistairbuchan.co.uk/us...rer-euro-6-ss-5dr-east-wemyss-202302033908544 It's right on budget, got some nice "extras" and although I'm not keen on the "rubber band" tyres myself, he loves that sort of "bling". Probably take about an hour of comfortable driving to get up there for a look see. However it's a non starter because his other half won't have a red car!
Personally I think that car is overpriced, doesn't have LED headlights, no navigation system, no Carplay/Android Auto, very basic MIB1 infotainment system.
Also noted on the photos that it has 18" wheels, not 17" as the description says.
 
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BigJase88

Jase
Apr 20, 2008
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Red is the best colour. Emocion Red is flat red like a tomato. The Desire Red Darker Metallic is nicer.
 

SRGTD

Active Member
May 26, 2014
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Red is the best colour. Emocion Red is flat red like a tomato. The Desire Red Darker Metallic is nicer.
I had a red rental car in New Zealand some years ago and the lady at the desk of the rental company said that a red car is also the fastest coloured car 😉. Might be true of a rental car which won’t be treated in the same way by drivers as they will their own car.
 

Crossthreaded

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Apr 16, 2019
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Personally I think that car is overpriced, doesn't have LED headlights, no navigation system, no Carplay/Android Auto, very basic MIB1 infotainment system.
Also noted on the photos that it has 18" wheels, not 17" as the description says.
Thanks for that. Makes me feel a lot better! As I think I said earlier he needs a vehicle with a good load capacity but also length due to the ladders so an old style estate is far better than the newer style "chunky" SUV. Just last night I found a 1.8 petrol Toyota Avensis estate for sale near us which is slightly bigger and longer than the Leon so an attractive proposition. I know nothing about Toyotas apart from them having an excellent reputation for reliability. However one of my oldest friends used to be a factory service agent for Toyota so I gave him a ring. Of course, like me, he's now retired so not up with the very latest developments in Toyota land but he said it would be a good bet. The 1.8 petrol engine, which this one has, has been around a long time and, after several upgrades, is now pretty bullet proof as is the rest of the car except for one thing. They have a motor driven hand brake. Apparently it consists of cables from the calipers at the wheels which connect to a motorized unit above the back axle. The motorized unit contains electronics which control it's operation and if it goes wrong - and apparently they do go wrong - it's expensive to replace. I just rang the local Toyota agent and got a very pleasant reception lady on the line. I asked about the hand brake and was not surprized when she said she couldn't tell me about that. However I was even more amazed when she said "hang on and I'll see if our chief Technician can speak to you" Of late I've found you never get to speak to "a man who knows" when you ring a main dealer. Well, what a nice bloke. We had a few minutes conversation about these cars and he confirmed that the 1.8 engine - which initially had a bad reputation for oil consumption and other problems, some had to have new engines under warranty, was all sorted out years ago and very rarely give problems now. The handbrake is indeed a problem. He says there seems no ryme or reason to why or when one might fail some go on for virtually the life of the car and some fail long before that. A £1500 bill to replace it which includes a session on the computer to code the new unit to the car would probably be "in the ball park". Trying to repair the old unit is seldom a lasting cure because of the electronic circuitry involved making complete replacement of the module really the only realistic repair which has any certainty of success.

So. Seems to be a bit of a "Russian Roulette" situation. He (No. 2 son) likes the looks of the vehicle but, as Dirty Harry famously said, "Do you feel lucky punk, well do you?"

What a shame
 
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BillyCool

Active Member
Jan 16, 2020
707
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Leicestershire, UK
Just so you know - an ST is not what I would consider a `full sized` estate. It's only about 28cm longer than the hatch.

An Octavia estate is a bit bigger but I can't give you any specific, real world experience of using ladders etc.

 
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Crossthreaded

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Apr 16, 2019
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Just so you know - an ST is not what I would consider a `full sized` estate. It's only about 28cm longer than the hatch.

An Octavia estate is a bit bigger but I can't give you any specific, real world experience of using ladders etc.

Thanks very much for that. We're basing the room available on my Ibiza ST which is just slightly too small. The rational, perhaps flawed? is that the Leon will be bigger in all respects?
 

BillyCool

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Jan 16, 2020
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Leicestershire, UK
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SuperV8

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May 30, 2019
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Thanks very much for that. We're basing the room available on my Ibiza ST which is just slightly too small. The rational, perhaps flawed? is that the Leon will be bigger in all respects?
I like RIDC website - for measurements:

Length of boot floor - back row of seats folded down or removed 1802mm

Length of boot floor - back row of seats folded down or removed 1921mm

So Avensis has 119mm more length to the back of the front seats. (4.5" in old money)

Length of boot floor - back row of seats folded down or removed 1478mm

Though the Leon ST has 324mm more than the Ibiza ST so nearly 13" more.
 
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Crossthreaded

Active Member
Apr 16, 2019
546
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I like RIDC website - for measurements:

Length of boot floor - back row of seats folded down or removed 1802mm

Length of boot floor - back row of seats folded down or removed 1921mm

So Avensis has 119mm more length to the back of the front seats. (4.5" in old money)

Length of boot floor - back row of seats folded down or removed 1478mm

Though the Leon ST has 324mm more than the Ibiza ST so nearly 13" more.
Looks like the Leon will be adequate i think

Looks that way!

Thanks Brian. My Ibiza is emocion red and I think it suits the car very well. Looks lovely with a nice polish on it.
 

BillyCool

Active Member
Jan 16, 2020
707
276
Leicestershire, UK

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