Altea FR 12v Socket Issue / Roadtest

[Logan 5]

I replaced my LCR with an Altea FR several weeks ago. One of the reasons for this was because I do loads of outdoor activities and the LCR had became unsuitable. With the low clearence I was always having to abandon it, plus I was starting to need more space for my gear.

So here goes then the first trip away in the Altea FR - Lake Ullswater July 2009.

Good points ;

With the Altea FR fully loaded up it drove superb. You couldnt feel all that extra weight, it didnt effect the handling or acceleration at all.

Offroad performance in wet muddy conditions, again this was superb. No problems with getting stuck or grounding the vehicle

All in all I just couldnt fault it - ALL EXCEPT ONE POINT !!!

Bad Point ;

The 12v sockets !!! With the Altea FR you get two sockets, one in the front console and one in the rear seating area. Now I have owned several Seats and this has never been an issue. When the keys are removed from the ignition the sockets have ALWAYS remained on, however with the Altea FR this wasnt so. As soon as the keys came out I lost power in the sockets. Now I know I should have checked this before my trip but i just presumed it would work. I was very happy that the vehicle had two sockets as i needed to charge my mobile phone, camera, gps locator etc .

So my question to you guys is ;

Anyone know how easy it is to switch these sockets to work all the time regardless of the keys being in the ignition???

 

[Craig Senior]

Can't see it being too big a problem to re-wire them, just a case of finding a constant live.

I had an extra socket wired behind the dash in my XL for my TomTom. This socket is always live but as I didn't do it I'm not sure where it's fed from.

 

[Logan 5]

Cheers Mate. What made you go for the XL? That beast is huge. I might have been tempted if they did a FR version.

 

[Craig Senior]

Cheers Mate. What made you go for the XL? That beast is huge. I might have been tempted if they did a FR version.

I was tempted by the FR but decided on the XL with the Sports pack in the end.

Mainly went for it for the extra space. Boot is about 18cm longer so the bike goes in without folding the seats.

I also prefered the way it looks. The extra length balances out the height in my opinion.

 

[Logan 5]

Yeah I see your point. I like the chrome roof bars that come with it too. What engine did you go for? 170bhp Diesel?

 

[Craig Senior]

Yeah I see your point. I like the chrome roof bars that come with it too. What engine did you go for? 170bhp Diesel?

I got the 140, the 170 pushed it a bit far over budget.

Happy enough with the 140 though. Doesn't feel much slower than the 150bhp TDI Leon I had before it and it avoids the Particular filter that the 170 has which I think would have caused me problems.

 

[Logan 5]

I vaguely remember someone saying something about the 170bhp diesel having a problem. Something to do with having to fit a drip tray to prevent something dripping onto something else causing damage.

So you know what im rambling about?

 

[Craig Senior]

I vaguely remember someone saying something about the 170bhp diesel having a problem. Something to do with having to fit a drip tray to prevent something dripping onto something else causing damage.

So you know what im rambling about?

I mean the particlate filter in the exhaust which is fitted to the 170.

They can get clogged and throw fault codes quite easily. I was told that they needed motorway blast regularly to clean them out.

My car spends most of it's time around town so didn't want problems. I bought a Derv for the weekends not the commute.