Buying advice Cupra 290

[CRNeo]

After nearly 8yrs with my trusty mk2 Leon 1.6 tdi I'm considering moving up to a mk3 cupra 290 and am looking around to buy now (I'm doing much less mileage now maybe 6-8k per year so derv is starting to make less sense).

Not sure if there's a general "buying" guide thread or a "common issues" did have a quick search but was just wondering aside from the usual car buying checks one does if there's any specific mk3 or cupra things to look out for or any particular models.

I know the lux came pre-speced with heated seats? most seem to be leather which I'm not a fan of though, the buckets seem even less common as does the seat sound option (not sure if that's really worth looking out for?)

Otherwise I've seen a few regular spec 290, ideally I'd fancy one with ACC which most seem to have and and the virtual cockpit (is this really worth it?)

Was also wondering about maintenance and the interval/cost involved in cambelt and I know the thermostats can be problematic/costly too right? Water pump is electric on these? And I heard maybe a few things about the shocks can leak too?

Anything to worry about with the DSG? Are these 6 or 7speed?

TIA and if this is covered elsewhere already apologies and feel free to link me to somewhere else

 

[Mr Mustard]

No cam belt to be replaced, the engine has a cam chain. Personally I thought the virtual cockpit was fantastic. 7 speed wet clutch DSG, oil change (officially) at 80k miles I believe.

 

[SuperV8]

No cam belt to be replaced, the engine has a cam chain. Personally I thought the virtual cockpit was fantastic. 7 speed wet clutch DSG, oil change (officially) at 80k miles I believe.

Depends which 290. The earlier ones had 6 speed wet DSG.

 

[CRNeo]

Depends which 290. The earlier ones had 6 speed wet DSG.

Mostly 2018+ I've been looking at with the digi dash... which I think is the dq381 if my googling skills are working ok.

I guess that's a reason maybe to look at those over slightly older dry 6pd dsg?

 

[DEAN0]

Basically -
Pre face Lift 290 is 6 speed and VC was an option.

Facelift 300 is 6 speed - VC was an option at first - then became std

Facelift 290 is 7 speed and VC became std

Just be aware that the facelift 290 with 7 speed get the GPF in the exhaust.

 

[ViperSlider]

Basically -
Pre face Lift 290 is 6 speed and VC was an option.

Facelift 300 is 6 speed - VC was an option at first - then became std

Facelift 290 is 7 speed and VC became std

Just be aware that the facelift 290 with 7 speed get the GPF in the exhaust.

VC was never an option on any PFL , just to add an FYI

 

[Mr Pig]

After nearly 8yrs with my trusty mk2 Leon 1.6 tdi I'm considering moving up to a mk3 cupra 290..

That's quite an upgrade! ;0)

Have you checked the insurance?

I don't think the cars have any terrible issues but they are likely to throw more trouble at you because they are more complex and more highly strung. For me the big issue was finding one that had not been ragged. All the guys on here ever seemed to talk about was how to 'launch' their cars! Yes, you can do fun stuff like that but it knocks the crap out of the car. I felt it was safer to just not buy one but I relented and bought one last year. Didn't have it very long, didn't particularly like it.

So if you want one, try to find one that's not been 'boy racered', and good luck with that! Flies to a ****. Avoid anything modified, even slightly, and look for an atypical owner. Older family guy, woman etc. But for me the question is, why do you want one? In my opinion, it's not the best Leon. I've owned and driven a bunch of Leons and other Seats, heck my family own five of the things right now, and the Cupra is not my first choice. Yes, it looks kinda bad-ass and it goes very quickly but once you get over that it's not the most fun Leon for typical driving. That car, is the 1.4tsi FR. Shock horror Mr Pig! How can you utter such heresy? Bear with me.

Yes, the Cupra is stupidly fast. I mean really fast. It's not just that's it's fast on paper but it can actually put that power down in the real world in a way that's quite amazing actually. Soaking roads, it doesn't give a ****. That trick differential does its thing and off you go. It's addictive and fun but how often do you need acceleration like that in the real world?

The problem with the Cupra is that it only comes alive at bonkers speed, because that's what it's designed for. At sensible speeds it feels...ordinary. Yeah, well ok but why is the 1.4 FR better? Surely it's just less good overall?

It's complicated but in the real world the FR is more fun. It's all in the details. For example the suspension. I assume it's to compensate for the huge wheels but the suspension on the Cupra is too soft. Good turn-in but very little feedback, which is a huge problem. The independent rear offers potential but you can't take advantage of it because you don't know where the grip is. Rather than feeling poised it just feels uneasy near the limit. The upside is that the car is comfortable but those big wheels are very prone to damage. 19'' is one inch too big and just about everyone has cracked them. So in daily driving it feels ordinary, until you hit a pot-hole!

Another issue is the weight. Big engine, big brakes, fancy dif and all the other bits needed for that power means a heavy front end and it royally fecks up the balance of the car. The lighter, stiffer, simpler FR feels sharper, more darty and gives you more feedback about what it's going. With the right tyres of course and 18'' wheels. You don't have to drive like a maniac to have fun and you're getting mid forties MPG all day long and over fifty on a run.

The Cupra was designed to be a very fast car, and it is, but unless very fast is what you're doing it's a bit dull. One of the best drivers cars in the world is the Mazda MX5. Not that fast, not that much grip but small, light and lets you feel what's going on. Driving a slow car fast is more fun than driving a fast car slow.

 

[RUM4MO]

Just an observation regarding one of the comments, VW Group moved to only using dry DSG on lower powered cars probably for good reasons, so maybe hope that was a good plan and aim for the later 7 speed DSG.

Misting>weeping>leaking LHS front adaptive dampers seems to be just how it is with this size of car from all VW Group marques, though some people have avoided the big money hit and bought the same Monroe dampers from elsewhere than sticking with hugely expensive VW Group re-branded Monroes.

Water pump/Thermostat cracking/splitting/distorting issues, I'm not sure if VW Group ever engineered this problem away, possibly some aftermarket source now provides alloy housing but I can't confirm that.

Rear brake discs if still original can or do end up looking like something that is not fit for purpose, but they still seem to be okay at MOT time.

My older daughter has a May 2019 one and it does not seem to cause her any issues - yet, bought new and still only under 24,000miles, front LHS damper is what I'd call weeping or maybe even leaking oil now, I've replaced the rear brake pads once, but now I'm suggesting it's time for new discs and pads, maybe even a change away from having a silicate pouch in the reservoir and G13 in the cooling system to no pouch and G12evo. It "uses/losses" about 1/8 litre of coolant a year which no other VW Group cars in our family have ever done - where it is going I can't spot.

Edit:- oh, I forgot, the Haldex unit built into the front differential should get it's fluid changed every maybe 3 years, ideally you unbolt the pump and clear the screen/filter of debris as well.

Also my daughter's Leon Cupra has 18" alloys with winter tyres for half the year.

 

[Cubbington]

As Mr Pig says, if you buy one, make sure you get one that hasn’t been modified…I bought mine from a main dealer, thinking that it would be a better quality buy than from a back street dealer, however still had to sort out silly things like DSG paddles covered in superglue, where the previous owner had fitted paddle extensions badly, remains of additional badges, and frustratingly, a K&N panel filter, which I’d have thought the main dealer would have checked was standard before sale…

That being said, apart from consumables, the car just starts and drives; I’ve done 17k since picking it up last March and the only real niggle is infotainment system occasionally rebooting (which from experience owning a 2017 Octavia and 2020 Arteon, they all do that!), it’s just reliable…in the last year of having the Arteon, it went into the garage about 9 times mainly for software-based problems!

I’ve tried launch control four times, yeah, it’s stupid quick, but I don’t want to break the car, so have no reason to ever do it again!

I do have a feeling that whilst the previous owner did some crap aesthetic changes (IMO), they didn’t rag it, as it only needs tiny oil topups every now and then (1/2l in 10k miles), no smoke and nothing ‘broken’. I have the oil temperature permanently displayed in the virtual cockpit, so don’t push it until the oil’s up to temperature.

I agree with Mr Pig’s comments regarding the suspension, and always have mine set to sport, which feels like the best balance between comfort and driving correctly - comfort is way too soft and I can feel the difference in lengthened braking distances!

Mine doesn’t have ACC, but it’s on the list to be installed by East Yorkshire Retrofits when funds allow.
Try it and see if you like it - I love my estate, it’s rapid, can swallow loads of stuff, is comfortable and reliable, ticks all the boxes.

Give one a try, you certainly don’t ‘need’ the power and speed it offers, but if you feel you need to scratch an itch like I did, I doubt you’ll be disappointed

 

[Mr Pig]

Mine doesn’t have ACC, but it’s on the list to be installed by East Yorkshire Retrofits when funds allow.

I actively don't want ACC. ACC depends on the front radar sensor and if that gets' knocked out the ACC won't work. I had a Golf with a sensor issue and it was going to cost hundreds to fix it. At that time most dealers did not have the special jig to align and calibrate the sensor, they still don't, and the few places that do have it charged a lot of money to use it.

The problem is that if your ACC goes down for any reason it takes normal cruse control with it! And not having cruse control is very, very annoying. So I wouldn't fit it. You're taking a system which is inherently very reliable and making it less so.

I had my Cupra suspension in Sport all the time too but even then I felt it was too soft. I think the problem was two-fold. Firstly they wanted the car to be comfortable in daily use but still look mean. So you've got those 19'' wheels but the only way to run those and have comfort is to soften the suspension. And adding adjustability is a band-aid as you can only adjust the damper. The spring is fixed so you need to use a soft enough spring to allow the comfort you want. To me the balance they chose just isn't right for sports car. It's not so much that it doesn't have the grip, it just doesn't tell you enough about what it's going to do. Push the Cupra close to the limit and it scares the **** out of you as you're never certain of what that back end is going to do. The front's not so bad, it'll just be thinking of running wide, but the back isn't as dialed as a good independent system should be. It's not a bad car, don't get me wrong, but it's not as focused as it should be.

 

[nd-photo.nl]

I have a somewhat different experience as I had a Mercedes CLS55 before my ST280. Big supercharged V8, very well built, big heavy car with air suspension and then I sold it an bought the Cupra.

Full story in my RR thread: https://www.seatcupra.net/forums/threads/nd-photo-nl-s-seat-leon-st-cupra-280.477591/

I really like the Cupra! Even though it "only" has 280bhp, it feels very fast. The CLS55 had 476bhp 700Nm, but almost weighed 2000kg. With 400kg less weight and quite some power, the Cupra feels nimble and very fast (and more modern).

I love the fact that its comfortable, as I use it as a daily driver.

 

[Cubbington]

Similar experience to @nd-photo.nl with a car weighing about the same as his CLS, but with only 150bhp...an Arteon PHEV which was underpowered, underbraked and overweight (the last last bit sounds like me!)...and it was on 19" wheels!

So for me, the Cupra feels really agile, powerful and stops when it needs to.

I hear what you're saying @Mr Pig , and we've both had different experiences and chosen the cars we both like most, and I'm glad for you that you've found you prefer the cheaper-to-run (let's be honest about it!) FR

 

[Mo_86]

I've come from a E60 535d with dyno'd 360hp to now a 190 tsi leon and it feels so much quicker to 40mph.
The car also feels light and nimble and the faster steering helps loads too.

 

[Mr Pig]

I hear what you're saying @Mr Pig , and we've both had different experiences and chosen the cars we both like most, and I'm glad for you that you've found you prefer the cheaper-to-run (let's be honest about it!) FR

Yeah, I'm not saying the Cupra is a bad car, far from it. I think they're great value and I would not expect them to be overly expensive to run long term. For the performance on offer, the fuel economy is actually pretty good.

For me, driving is all about the experience. The interaction with the car and the road and I think the FR is better at that in most real world driving situations.

 

[andy2max]

Cupra 300 owner here. I definitely get some of the points Mr Pig makes, it doesn’t take long and your doing silly speeds, I do find it’s quite hard to push much as it’s just to quick (I’m aware it’s still not the quickest thing out there by todays standards) As far as the weight I’ve never noticed but I haven’t driven a 1.4 Fr to compare. I find the handling good, loads of front end grip in roundabouts, but I doubt I’ve ever gotten towards the limit of that grip to experience what Mr Pig mentioned. My favourite conditions for my Cupra are slight damp, slow roundabouts trying to power out feathering the throttle trying to stop wheel spin and not let the traction control cut in

 

[Mr Pig]

Cupra 300 owner here. I definitely get some of the points Mr Pig makes, it doesn’t take long and your doing silly speeds, I do find it’s quite hard to push much as it’s just to quick (I’m aware it’s still not the quickest thing out there by todays standards)

They're pretty quick. I think the trick differential makes all the difference. Years ago a 200hp front wheel drive car was pushing it.

 

[andy2max]

Definitely, when I was a kid my dad had a Nissan Primera Gt with 150bhp? I used to think that was really fast. I can’t imagine something like an RS6 etc speed wise, not really any point using one on the road

 

[Mr Pig]

Definitely, when I was a kid my dad had a Nissan Primera Gt with 150bhp? I used to think that was really fast.

I had one of those and it was a great car. The power figures don't tell the whole story. It was geared so that you could keep it in the (relatively narrow) power band quite easily and while it wasn't that quick off the mark, once moving it could shift.

The suspension tuning was also very good. A bit harsh at low speed but once over 40mph it just klicked. Gave you so much feedback you could do whatever you wanted with it. Oddly for a front wheel drive car, it was quite easy to slide the back out! Terrible front seats though ;0)

 

[ViperSlider]

Ignoring the fact that mine is in the main dealer awaiting a new engine, I own a PFL ST 290 so will ramble about it a bit...

Recent vehicle history: 2014 VW T5.1, 2014 Audi A4 B8.5 AllRoad, 2011 Audi A4 B8 Avant - all 2.0 TDI - before that, classic BMWs (34) for a decade.

I bought mine unintentionally as it fitted my broad needs when looking for a car, I wasn't looking for a Cupra, or even a Seat, I just wanted a VW Group MQB vehicle, 2.0 petrol estate with a pan roof as must haves with DSG and quattro as nice to haves. Found my MY2016 ST 290 Black listed without pics but the spec sold me. What are your must haves and nice to haves?

Driving back from collecting it I noticed the ST felt a lot more balanced than I expected, not to say it IS well balanced, just that as it's a FWD estate, it drove much better than I thought it would. The diff makes a huge difference and with a small coding tweak, made much better. However, it is (well, mine is) still a "near as dammit" 300bhp FWD car so it has all the failings that set up has when really pushed... Torque steer, wheel hop... But when you adjust your driving to suit the cars capabilities, it's masses of fun to drive.

Focussing on your comments of VC and ACC... VC is a facelift only option so if you decide you do want that, you will then also deal with GPF/OPF (depending on where you read about it) the petrol equivalent of a derv DPF. Just an FYI.

ACC... Mine doesn't have it but it will... I have a radar and ABS module here to get it up and going in the near future (need rear ABS sensors too) as I want to add it to the cars spec... Side note, I want to add every possible factory option to mine and a load that weren't available for the Leon, thanks to the beauty of MQB and it's Lego like quality when it comes to retrofits but I digress...

ACC is good but does have it's failings as mentioned above. I'd weigh up on if you could use normal cruise where you would expect to use ACC... If you can then I'd ignore ACC.

The SUB8/Black packs come with the buckets, could be worth narrowing your searches to that spec, you will often find them with a fair few options.

I have Seat Sound and considering it's not externally amped and has the tweeters not separately wired, it sounds great!! I wouldn't be without it and in spite of my plans to rip out the infotainment system entirely, I have no complaints with the MIB2 system with Seat Sound. Could happily live with it but it's also easily retrofitted so can add it later on if you find a car without it but meeting your other needs.

Servicing... That depends on if you're on a fixed (10,000mile/1 year) or flexible (20,000mile/2 year) schedule. Either way, not crippling but worth using good quality stuff... OEM filters etc.

Tax costs are worth checking too. MPG wise I get high 30s to low 40s depending on my mood. These cars aren't bought for economy obviously but just some real world feed back.

 

[andy2max]

Ignoring the fact that mine is in the main dealer awaiting a new engine, I own a PFL ST 290 so will ramble about it a bit...

Recent vehicle history: 2014 VW T5.1, 2014 Audi A4 B8.5 AllRoad, 2011 Audi A4 B8 Avant - all 2.0 TDI - before that, classic BMWs (34) for a decade.

I bought mine unintentionally as it fitted my broad needs when looking for a car, I wasn't looking for a Cupra, or even a Seat, I just wanted a VW Group MQB vehicle, 2.0 petrol estate with a pan roof as must haves with DSG and quattro as nice to haves. Found my MY2016 ST 290 Black listed without pics but the spec sold me. What are your must haves and nice to haves?

Driving back from collecting it I noticed the ST felt a lot more balanced than I expected, not to say it IS well balanced, just that as it's a FWD estate, it drove much better than I thought it would. The diff makes a huge difference and with a small coding tweak, made much better. However, it is (well, mine is) still a "near as dammit" 300bhp FWD car so it has all the failings that set up has when really pushed... Torque steer, wheel hop... But when you adjust your driving to suit the cars capabilities, it's masses of fun to drive.

Focussing on your comments of VC and ACC... VC is a facelift only option so if you decide you do want that, you will then also deal with GPF/OPF (depending on where you read about it) the petrol equivalent of a derv DPF. Just an FYI.

ACC... Mine doesn't have it but it will... I have a radar and ABS module here to get it up and going in the near future (need rear ABS sensors too) as I want to add it to the cars spec... Side note, I want to add every possible factory option to mine and a load that weren't available for the Leon, thanks to the beauty of MQB and it's Lego like quality when it comes to retrofits but I digress...

ACC is good but does have it's failings as mentioned above. I'd weigh up on if you could use normal cruise where you would expect to use ACC... If you can then I'd ignore ACC.

The SUB8/Black packs come with the buckets, could be worth narrowing your searches to that spec, you will often find them with a fair few options.

I have Seat Sound and considering it's not externally amped and has the tweeters not separately wired, it sounds great!! I wouldn't be without it and in spite of my plans to rip out the infotainment system entirely, I have no complaints with the MIB2 system with Seat Sound. Could happily live with it but it's also easily retrofitted so can add it later on if you find a car without it but meeting your other needs.

Servicing... That depends on if you're on a fixed (10,000mile/1 year) or flexible (20,000mile/2 year) schedule. Either way, not crippling but worth using good quality stuff... OEM filters etc.

Tax costs are worth checking too. MPG wise I get high 30s to low 40s depending on my mood. These cars aren't bought for economy obviously but just some real world feed back.

Sorry to hear yours needs a new engine, can I ask what happened to it?