Need some basic facelift vs non facelift info

[DannyGT]

Well, I'm planning on buying 2.0 fr 184hp, it has to be a diesel so it's pretty much either non facelift 184hp (which i'm planning to put on stage 1 later) or facelift 150hp, and it has to be a manual.

In general, all of the 184hp versions (non facelift) which are on market are around 200k km and 11.5-13k €


Now, what I would like to know is if it's worth paying roughly 3-4k extra for a facelift? El. handbrake doesn't really matter for me, android auto - I'm not sure if I need that considering the fact that I can just connect with a bluetooth for music and I don't really use my phone for anything else while driving... or is there something behind android auto that I'm missing?

Also, I would like to know wssup with keyless entry and start&stop system on both facelift and non facelift? Does it come as standard on some trim/engine level or what?

 

[H Rafiq]

I’d go for pre-facelift. I have a pre-facelift Cupra 5f, and don’t miss the facelift changes. I’d rather not have KESSY (thefts), I love the physical handbrake, you can get AA and CarPlay from factory on pre-facelift models. I wish I had a VC sometimes, but the analogue dials are perfectly good. I’d save your money and go for a pre-facelift. More money for maintenance/repairs etc then!

 

[DannyGT]

I’d go for pre-facelift. I have a pre-facelift Cupra 5f, and don’t miss the facelift changes. I’d rather not have KESSY (thefts), I love the physical handbrake, you can get AA and CarPlay from factory on pre-facelift models. I wish I had a VC sometimes, but the analogue dials are perfectly good. I’d save your money and go for a pre-facelift. More money for maintenance/repairs etc then!

I'm not* really worried about thefts, and to be precise it's not that much about keyless entry how much I'd like to avoid putting key in the ignition to turn the car on.. that's pretty much all.


Regarding all the other stuff... irrelevant, I'm maintain car on my own without mechanic or dealership (excluding timing belt and some bigger repairs... won't bother taking out engine in my garage..)

To be clear, I'm buying 135kw FR because of engine&specs and overall design, I have 6L FR (so basically full equipment, excluding on board computer which is for 1.9 engines and heated seats) 59kw which is great.. but after 6 years of driving it that car doesn't offer me anything anymore.. not planning to sell it, just need a second car for weekends, some longer travels and whenever I want to go for a drive... and it's not like I have any other manufactor to look for... 4 cylinder bmw no way, and I can't afford to buy or maintain 6 cylinder... I could buy 6 cylinder e46 but that's just way too old and in bad condition in general. Audi doesn't offer rwd, and fwd it just has to be a hatchback...

 

[Mr Pig]

We've had two pre-facelift and two facelift cars. The facelift car is nothing more than a cost cutting exercise dressed up to make you think you're getting something new. Nothing of substance is better.

New bumpers. Big wow, plastic is cheap. Note that on the older car the Cupra got a special bumper. The facelift Cupra uses the same bumper as the FR with a black grille surround to make it look different. Bigger touchscreen? Saves money by losing the direct access buttons and proximity sensor. Leather on the sides of the seats is now only leather on the outside edge with black cloth replacing the leather on the inside.

And you can go through the whole car like that. You're gaining nothing. The screen might be different but the infotainment system is exactly the same as the 2016 car. But the biggest con is the electric handbrake. Looks trick but it's a pain in the arse and nowhere near as intuitive and useful as a manual handbrake.

Given the choice, pre-facelift every time.

 

[ViperSlider]

I would have preferred a FL but I couldn't pass up my PFL 290 due to the spec, mileage, condition etc. Plus all of the aesthetic FL changes can be fitted to a PFL anyway, even things like the EPB or VC can be retrofitted* so if you did commit to a car long term but then decided "Oh, I wish I had that" then you *could* add them to your car if you didn't want the bother or changing the entire car for 1 feature/function.

*I've over-simplified it as there would be a lot involved with adding EPB or VC as in my example but it can be done.

In your first post you answer your own question really, you're not concerned with the changes the FL had so the extra costs can't be justified for your needs. I love AA and wouldn't be without it but it suits my wants and needs, if you're happy with just BT streaming and don't want/need things like Google Maps or visual YouTube Music (or alike) on your dash screen then it's a useless feature for you.

Some say the FL is quieter as Seat added for road noise reduction, personally I don't analyse the road noises in my cars, I'm too busy either listening to my engine or loud music to notice.

Just to add that the FL FR and Cupra DO have different front bumpers specific to their spec and don't share the same bumper. That is just factually wrong.

The rest I neither agree nor disagree or would take too long to explain but I have never thought of as manual handbrake as "Intuitive" seeing as it's.... Manual lol

 

[DannyGT]

In your first post you answer your own question really, you're not concerned with the changes the FL had so the extra costs can't be justified for your needs. I love AA and wouldn't be without it but it suits my wants and needs, if you're happy with just BT streaming and don't want/need things like Google Maps or visual YouTube Music (or alike) on your dash screen then it's a useless feature for you.

As long as I can change a song (being streamed from my phone) either on steering wheel or somewhere on multimedia I'm perfectly fine without AA, I have aux (from factory) on my Ibiza and MF steering wheel, however I have to change song manually with some 3rd party device (phone, smartwatch or bluetooth adapter - steering wheel commands work only for normal radio and for songs on CD)

 

[DannyGT]

We've had two pre-facelift and two facelift cars. The facelift car is nothing more than a cost cutting exercise dressed up to make you think you're getting something new. Nothing of substance is better.

New bumpers. Big wow, plastic is cheap. Note that on the older car the Cupra got a special bumper. The facelift Cupra uses the same bumper as the FR with a black grille surround to make it look different. Bigger touchscreen? Saves money by losing the direct access buttons and proximity sensor. Leather on the sides of the seats is now only leather on the outside edge with black cloth replacing the leather on the inside.

And you can go through the whole car like that. You're gaining nothing. The screen might be different but the infotainment system is exactly the same as the 2016 car. But the biggest con is the electric handbrake. Looks trick but it's a pain in the arse and nowhere near as intuitive and useful as a manual handbrake.

Given the choice, pre-facelift every time.

Not looking for cupra... but yeah pretty safe to say I'm going with pre facelift, basically looking for something like this https://www.njuskalo.hr/auti/seat-leon-2.0-tdi-fr-135kw-oglas-44687055

 

[H Rafiq]

I think I’ll go pre-facelift 1.8 TSI DSG once my Cupra 280 dies. With CarPlay at least, and maybe sunroof and heated seats.

 

[H Rafiq]

Not looking for cupra... but yeah pretty safe to say I'm going with pre facelift, basically looking for something like this https://www.njuskalo.hr/auti/seat-leon-2.0-tdi-fr-135kw-oglas-44687055

That’s a 2L TDI…

 

[Mr Pig]

Just to add that the FL FR and Cupra DO have different front bumpers specific to their spec and don't share the same bumper.

Yes they do. My wife's 2017 FR and my 2018 Cupra were sat side by side, they were even the same colour, and trust me. the bumpers are the same. They use different grilles and inserts to make them look different but the actual bumper is the same.

Just jumped out and took a picture of my wife's bumper to show you. The black surround on the grille makes it look bigger, the lower plastic inserts and slots cut under the grille make it look different but the actual bumper is exactly the same.

One positive on the facelift I did omit, the headlights are better. Not sure about low-beam but high-beam on the facelift is definitely better than the fairly terrible high-beam on the older car.

 

[LeylandVCDS]

Yes they do. My wife's 2017 FR and my 2018 Cupra were sat side by side, they were even the same colour, and trust me. the bumpers are the same. They use different grilles and inserts to make them look different but the actual bumper is the same.

Just jumped out and took a picture of my wife's bumper to show you. The black surround on the grille makes it look bigger, the lower plastic inserts and slots cut under the grille make it look different but the actual bumper is exactly the same.

One positive on the facelift I did omit, the headlights are better. Not sure about low-beam but high-beam on the facelift is definitely better than the fairly terrible high-beam on the older car.

To be honest, the halogen lights on my current 19 plate are far superior on both dipped and main beams than the factory LEDs of my previous 64 plate SE Tech.

 

[Mr Pig]

To be honest, the halogen lights on my current 19 plate are far superior on both dipped and main beams than the factory LEDs of my previous 64 plate SE Tech.

The LED lights are not that great. Lights were better years ago in my opinion.

 

[ViperSlider]

slots cut under the grille

So, not the same bumper....

Whilst there are more differences on the PFL bumpers, the FL bumpers are still different from FR to Cupra, albeit with the same styling. It's the same to state that both the Leons in your picture are the same car, although they have some differences they are the same because they are both Leons... Which they aren't. Doesn't matter if they have 1 difference or 1000 differences, they are different. Same goes for the bumpers.

You can literally identify which car in your pic is the Cupra (bottom) from the bumpers... That says it all really.

 

[Mr Pig]

So, not the same bumper....

Whatever.

 

[DannyGT]

That’s a 2L TDI…

i'm talking about 2l tdi since the beginning...

 

[SuperV8]

150 vs 184
184 has alloy front knuckle vs cast iron on the 150
independent rear suspension vs beam
bigger brakes 312 vs 288
bigger diameter dampers
different gearing
stronger clutch
bigger turbo