Thinking of buying Leon FR TDI 150 - Thoughts??

[magicoi]

Hi guys,

I'm totally new here as you will see and my interest has been set on the FR 150 tdi. My current car (mk3 Cavalier CDX) has just blown its head gasket) and i dont want to spend any more money on it.

Anyway, as i said, i have been looking at the leon as i commute 20K a year so think a diesel is the way forward. The limited reviews i have found on the net make this car look pretty good. However, i need some real life reviews so if anyone can help me out i'd much appreciate it.

I have found a particular car, 54 plate, 40K on the closk for £10K. What do you think.....

Thanks in advance

 

[james_tiger_woo]

I bought one a few months back and I had an initial few problems with it which were related to the seller more than anything....

Other than that it's a good car - pulls nicely in most gears and revs quite well - if not a little smoky under acceleration....

It's nose heavy (it is a diesel after all) and feels like a good solid car (for solid - read heavy) but I've not been too impressed with it's handling - but then again the roads around me (badly surfaced Lincolnshire country roads) are terrible to drive on whatever car I've driven them with.

Economy depends upon driving style - I do half countryside driving and half motorway and I get about 47mpg overall. If I'm light (ish) footed, I'll get about 52.

I like it, but I wish it had a few creature comforts that I had on my previous car - ie an armrest and CD multichanger.

The price sounds ok - I paid £12k for my 05 plate with 14k on it.

Just make sure it's good full service history - I think it'll just be out of the 3 years 60k warranty though.

 

[magicoi]

Ok, thanks for the info!

I know what you mean about Lincs roads, i live in Bourne and travel to Nottingham every day so a few different counties / roads to travel on. They are currently dropping stones all over 3 stretches of my route so not happy !!

Shame its not still in the warranty period but i havent seen many ppl complaining about mechanical problems, other than owners of pre 2002 leons!

Cheers mate

 

[james_tiger_woo]

I've had some warranty work done already (valve problems) by the Scunthorpe dealership (very helpful) and that was without any service history

If you test drive it, make sure you take it on some twisty roads and see how it hangs on.

PS, oil consumption can be a problem - well, I've found that anyway - nothing problematic, but I do check weekly (I do 600 miles a week) - I get about 500-525 to a tank and never use supermarket diesel....

 

[jonjay]

I think you can find one with lower miles for a similar price to be honest.

In standard form the Leon Fr is a very good car.

1) Handling is v.good compared to a "normal" car but not great in hothatch terms. (get a suspension upgrade then handling becomes amazing tbh.)
2) Performance is brilliant, loads of torque and will suprise and beat a lot of cars on road.
3) Superb fuel consumption even when booting the car around.
4) Looks great
5) Interior is good quality.
6) Get a lot for the money!

 

[magicoi]

Lower miles, please tell me where to look!! (The one i found is trade and there is actually a bit of warranty left)

I have looked mostly on msn cars and a few other sites on net but not found low milage ones anywhere that werent out of my budget. Its an emergency buy!!!

 

[james_tiger_woo]

Autotrader is where I found mine - I found it and got it the same day - even paid by personal cheque (I look like an honest guy really!) and got mats and tax thrown in. (You could try looking for a Fabia VRs.....)

I'd agree with (1) above on the handling as mine's a bit soft (It's completely standard) - saying that I do live in Lincolnshire - but on a decently surfaced road it's not terrible.

The economy isn't brilliant when booting it around though (IMHO) - I did do a 20 mile journey on standard roads (no town driving) and got 42mpg. Saying that a petrol would have been more like 20 odd.....

And it is quick

 

[magicoi]

I think that 42mpg would be like a nice cold pint compared to what i'm used to!!

Ill see if i can see anymore in autotrader then!

 

[oldman]

welcome.
i have the cupra, same engine, just different outside stuff.
you can find them with cd changer, mine came with one (nice previous owner)

usual things apply, hpi check, test drive, water in footwells search will answer most queries

 

[magicoi]

Yeah, i had picked up on the footwell swimming pool issue!

I did have a look with search too and read the info on there but i dont think it can hurt to get fresh opinions!!

Thanks for all your comments guys. Think ill have to saddle up and get 50 miles South to drive the bugger now!!

Ride 'em!!

 

[baileyFR]

Get a TDI, with 150 BHP and 50+ MPG you won't go back to petrol!

 

[Fastbaz]

i have a fr 150 tdi just hit 20000 miles and have noticed the performance has increased seems more responsive engine has bedded in nicely hardly uses any oil and fuel consumption is really good i tend to do 15 miles a day in trafic in birmingham and get around 38/40 per gallon, on a run will get anywhere between 50 to 56 maybe a little more depending how fast you cruise at... on average with my daily driving and some short motoway trips thrown in i easliy get 520/ 530 miles to 52 litres of diesel. there are 2 minor irritations ... first it is very easy to loose traction in first second third and sometimes fourth in the wet a lot of torque going through the front wheels if you plant your right foot and the other thing already mentioned is the suspension you can feel the back end twitch in certain instances so i feel the suspension is a must upgrade front and rear then you would have a quick good handling diesel motor... i would buy another one again but would spend some money on tuning the suspension as a must.. all in all it is a good all rounder a family car, economical, looks a beast, goes well even better when remapped resonable build quality ... could do a lot worse... good luck

 

[Freewheelin']

My Cupra TDI has done 48k miles (bought from new) with no major issues....a few minor ones sorted under warranty.

Agree about the handling....OK standard but I changed to Koni coiloves and it transformed the car

I get around 40 mpg mixed driving.

Wandered in my local dealer to look at a 57 plate Cupra in a purple metallic they had ready for delivery on Saturday and I'm sure I saw an 05 FR for £9995 on the forecourt....no idea on the mileage. If the car you're looking at is from a dealer might be room to chip the price down a bit as it's slightly older.

 

[UncleFester]

If you want to tighten up that baggy rear end, get an AntiRollBar upgrade kit fitted or at least get one for the rear.

Still very happy with mine

 

[james_tiger_woo]

I get about 45-48mpg with mine which is not too bad - cruising at about 70 gives me about 52, but as I live in the sticks, 47 is about acceptable.

Wet handling is a bit of a mess IMHO and I can't justify the cost of suspension work (not yet anyway).

 

[UncleFester]

Honestly James, rear ARB will help enormously, if you're not bothered about ride height or stiffer suspension you'd probably get away with just an uprated ARB front and rear - there's not much wrong with the stock ride, it's just that the handling is sloppy.

 

[james_tiger_woo]

Thanks for that - I'll look into ARB. Any reccomendations (a search hasn't shed much light)?

 

[UncleFester]

Neuspeed are lovely but expensive, Eibach are cheaper and seem to work fine - either will be an improvement on stock, especially since you don't have any rear ARB right now.

Only thing to watch out for is clearance on the exhaust silencer, no problem for me as mine is a powerflow one which is about 1/4 the size of the stock item.

In terms of searching, remember the Mk4 Golf shares these components, give someone like Awesome Gti a call or pop a post in their section, tbh any 'tuner' shop should have them or be able to get them.

 

[jonjay]

I wrote a mini review for the Eibachs - I found they worked great, you really cant go wrong with ARBs.

 

[dan__smith]

Do it! You won't look back.
Even though I don't drive one, I've been in one and was very impressed!