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Thinking of buying Leon tdi fr

Bigdahhh13

Active Member
Apr 27, 2017
9
0
Hi guys I am new to this whole thread stuff. I am in the market for a new car and I have been thinking about getting myself a seat leon 1.9tdi fr. I have found one on autotrader with 64k mileage full service history for £3000. Is this a good price and also what should I be looking out for when buying one. Common faults any info really that would help me in deciding to go for it or not. Thanks guys
 

supersticky

Active Member
Dec 16, 2010
1,014
46
taunton somerset
Common faults with mine were
• leaking door seals
• washer fluid pipes popping off
• central locking playing up
• check for turbo owl noise
And lookout for the dual mass flywheel and clutch.


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Bigdahhh13

Active Member
Apr 27, 2017
9
0
Common faults with mine were
• leaking door seals
• washer fluid pipes popping off
• central locking playing up
• check for turbo owl noise
And lookout for the dual mass flywheel and clutch.


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Thanks a lot mate. Will keep all in mind.


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supersticky

Active Member
Dec 16, 2010
1,014
46
taunton somerset
No worries bud, loved mine... Will get another one sometime . Also Check oil level and current quality as these are very very touchy on oil. Good luck with the car.

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Maria

my mid-life crisis car
Jun 22, 2016
143
20
South-West
Don't know if you'd feel safer buying from someone on here - I know I would - have you looked in the For Sale and Wanted?
 

Bigdahhh13

Active Member
Apr 27, 2017
9
0
Don't know if you'd feel safer buying from someone on here - I know I would - have you looked in the For Sale and Wanted?



I will have a look. The one I have found is from a dealer and sold with some warranty. But thankyou I will have a look


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Ginger Si

Active Member
Jan 31, 2017
14
0
Bury
Make sure you get a good test drive in it so it can get up to temp and that it pulls cleanly though the gears, many dealers won't let you floor it but that's the best way to make sure the turbo's alright and there's no issues with overheating. It also means you can check the gauges and thermostat is working
 

Bigdahhh13

Active Member
Apr 27, 2017
9
0
Make sure you get a good test drive in it so it can get up to temp and that it pulls cleanly though the gears, many dealers won't let you floor it but that's the best way to make sure the turbo's alright and there's no issues with overheating. It also means you can check the gauges and thermostat is working



Thankyou.


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chriswales6

Active Member
Mar 2, 2016
295
48
The mileage is low but I wouldn’t say that was a good price. Even if it’s one of the last TDI FR’s it’ll still be 12 years old and they’re not rare enough to command that sort of price. I’d say 2k at the most and it would need to be like new.

Generally the Mk1 Leon is a solid car, given the age you’ll need to check the normal wear items. If the general maintenance is kept on top of, they can keep going for years. But if you need to replace things like tyres, brakes, suspension or the timing belt soon after buying it could cost you another £1,000.

Apart from the normal Mk1 problems, the TDI 150 is rather fussy on which oil is used and can suffer camshaft wear. It’s normally not terminal but could still cost a few hundred pounds in garage bills. Also since the plastic and rubber in the car are well passed their best, the TDI FR’s are now commonly blowing boost pipes off the intercoolers. Again not a big problem but can result in a visit to a garage.
 

Bigdahhh13

Active Member
Apr 27, 2017
9
0
The mileage is low but I wouldn’t say that was a good price. Even if it’s one of the last TDI FR’s it’ll still be 12 years old and they’re not rare enough to command that sort of price. I’d say 2k at the most and it would need to be like new.



Generally the Mk1 Leon is a solid car, given the age you’ll need to check the normal wear items. If the general maintenance is kept on top of, they can keep going for years. But if you need to replace things like tyres, brakes, suspension or the timing belt soon after buying it could cost you another £1,000.



Apart from the normal Mk1 problems, the TDI 150 is rather fussy on which oil is used and can suffer camshaft wear. It’s normally not terminal but could still cost a few hundred pounds in garage bills. Also since the plastic and rubber in the car are well passed their best, the TDI FR’s are now commonly blowing boost pipes off the intercoolers. Again not a big problem but can result in a visit to a garage.



Thanks a lot for that. A lot of information. I'll take with me when viewing the car. Appreciate it


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Ginger Si

Active Member
Jan 31, 2017
14
0
Bury
Economy and tax were reason why I got mine plus the fact that it faster and more reliable than the Vectra I had.

The only thing I would say though is check out the insurance side of thing when it comes to petrol v diesel. With my current insurer to change to the petrol would £15 a month more expensive to insure, however if I cancelled, got a petrol (there were no cupra's available when I bought the fr) and went with Esure it would only cost me £15 less a month to insure a car that's a lot faster and has 30bhp more
 

Bigdahhh13

Active Member
Apr 27, 2017
9
0
Economy and tax were reason why I got mine plus the fact that it faster and more reliable than the Vectra I had.



The only thing I would say though is check out the insurance side of thing when it comes to petrol v diesel. With my current insurer to change to the petrol would £15 a month more expensive to insure, however if I cancelled, got a petrol (there were no cupra's available when I bought the fr) and went with Esure it would only cost me £15 less a month to insure a car that's a lot faster and has 30bhp more



Yeah I have looked into that. Cheapest quote I have found was £450 to insure it which is actually good from what I've had before. Was £570 on my BMW 320i m sport. So it's looking good so far. Seeing the car tomorrow


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chriswales6

Active Member
Mar 2, 2016
295
48
Economy, tax. Been looking at a lot of reviews from people and most recommend the diesel version.


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Speaking of Tax that has just reminded me - Personally I would NOT recommend buying a diesel car in the next few months and certainly not one made before 2006.

There will be an announcement soon about the so called 'Toxin Tax'. The current thinking on it is diesel cars made before 2006 may be tax so heavily that they become usable as a daily driver.

I'm keeping a close eye on it since I have 2003 TDI and if the worst does happen then I wouldn't be able to use it and it'll be worth nothing since no one would want to buy it.
 
Last edited:

masterfrodo

Active Member
Jul 29, 2016
266
8
Hopefully I will be ok, as I live in rural Cornwall. I couldn't afford to buy a new car, and for the 2k that is the max I would want to spend on another car I couldn't find anything close to the economy and performance of my Cupra tdi
 

Bigdahhh13

Active Member
Apr 27, 2017
9
0
Just an update. Saw the car today. Everything was perfect apart from the yellow paint work was quite faded in places and looked different shades all over the car. Which is a shame because it drove excellent and everything else was good. Just didn't seem worth buying with the faded paintwork and would cost too much to have resprayed


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Bigdahhh13

Active Member
Apr 27, 2017
9
0
No, not worth anything like 3k with bad paintwork



It's. It that it had bad paintwork. Where it's yellow and 12 years old the sun had faded it in places and just looked uneven. But yeah not worth £3000 with needing a spray. If was £2500/2600 I would have got it and paid to spray it. But he wouldn't drop any lower.


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