Leon Cupra TDI (2004) Talk to me...

peterattheboro

peterattheboro

peterattheboro

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So just say for example that I were to get a new job which was a fairly decent commute and i'd be doing 25000 miles a year SDP&C...

I've been looking around for what car would interest me with a budget of around £7-8000.

Now I really like the old Leons (Cupra or FR) along with a remap as you get some decent performance and of course, decent mpg.

Would this be a good choice?

I don't want anything boring so 110bhp Mondeos/Vectras are out of the question.

330D is also on my list but may be a lot higher mileage than the Leon.

This missus likes Volvos with her being Swedish and it's a big car (which is a must) so the S60 D5 is also on the list.

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated :)
 
i really like mine
150bhp is enough for most things, but a remap wouldn't go amiss, and it makes it more economical too apparently

i'm averaging ~40 in town, ~50 on the motorway, but i have a rather heavy foot and i've got the haldex to lug around

i've not had a single problem with the engine; the pd150 is a very strong unit, albeit rather agricultural. solid interior, the only rattles comes from the sunroof.

although the leon isn't a bad place to be it's not all that big
so if you want a big car to sit on motorways, you'd probably be better off with a 330d or a D5
perhaps at the expensive of fuel economy
 
Long way to go in a hatchback.

Also not really sure how a diesel Leon is 'not boring' either. Surely you can think of something better?
 
Robbie G said:
Why? Surely it's the engine and chassis that matter over high miles, rather than how long the car is and how the boot opens?
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The crucial bit is how long the car is rather than how the boot opens (Although a hatch is compromised in terms of cabin noise) because the shorter the wheelbase the less decent the cars ability to deal with imperfections/bumps/etc in the road surface.

I've certainly found that wheelbase seems directly proportional to stability and comfort at speed even when other factors - such as suspension/wheel choice - are the same. ie 120d M Sport v 320d M Sport.

For that sort of mileage, I'd want something with a longer wheelbase. Small hatches are fine for short work - 20 miles here and there, popping into town - but for big miles you want a big car. When you spend a lot of time driving the ability to arrive at wherever you are going not feeling like you've just been sat in the car for hours is a major plus point that many don't seem to appreciate.
 
it's true, the wheelbase makes a big difference.
the leon's relatively short wheelbase and stiff suspension makes it fun for chucking around town and b roads, but it's not as settled on the motorway as bigger cars.
the leon isn't a bad motorway car at all, it's just motorways is what big german saloons are designed for ;)

which is why downsizing from a mondeo to a leon seems like an odd decision
 
Makes a difference to road noise as well - as you're further from the wheels.

Saloons also have more than a flimsy parcel shelf between the interior cabin and where the rear wheel arches are inside
 
A friend used to own a Leon and I really liked it and I was quite surprised at how quick it was when remapped....zzzoomggg the torkss!!

Also I think the Leon is the best looking diesel in my budget (not the plastic interior though ;))

I understand about the wheelbase and it makes sense.

So a 530D or S60 D5 would be a good choice it seems.

Need some more suggestions fellas :)

Thanks.
 
Depends on what you're after - I find my Zetec-S (which has suspension lower/firmer than standard but not as low and firm as the STs) a bit harsh and crashy on motorways for long distances. Probably still a better ride than a Leon, but it's not a wafty cruiser.

The S60 D5 is meant to be pretty good though
 
25k a year is going to kill the value, have you thought about leasing instead? Is it for work use at all, i.e claiming mileage?
 
Duke said:
25k a year is going to kill the value, have you thought about leasing instead? Is it for work use at all, i.e claiming mileage?
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Leasing with high annual mileage is hugely expensive - how do you think leasing works? You pay for the depreciation on the car *and* the lease companies profit margin. And the car is brand new, so those first 3 years of depreciation, which you pay for, are the worst.
 
You're going to be adding, what, 75k~100k mileage in your ownership - there's plenty of cars that are still valuable at 100k upwards
 
iaind said:
You're going to be adding, what, 75k~100k mileage in your ownership - there's plenty of cars that are still valuable at 100k upwards
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But he's going to need to buy a low mileage example to do that, and low mileage examples of the sort of car that isnt suddenly worth 20p with 6 figure mileage are expensive.
 
peterattheboro - for somethingcompletelydifferent, how about a Jaguar XJR with a LPG conversion?

Failing that, the S60 would be an excellent choice.
 
[TW]Fox;15311454 said:
But he's going to need to buy a low mileage example to do that, and low mileage examples of the sort of car that isnt suddenly worth 20p with 6 figure mileage are expensive.
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Depends what he's after and how important depreciation is. Value is all about perception - the general perception is that big saloons will handle mileage better than medium sized hatches. S60s around this price are on about 40k miles, so after 3 years its going to be on 110k ish - definitely not offputting on a car like that.

110k on a Leon might be quite offputting though.....
 
iaind said:
You're going to be adding, what, 75k~100k mileage in your ownership - there's plenty of cars that are still valuable at 100k upwards
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That's assuming that he buys a low mileage car, which will lose all of it's low milage appeal value.
If he buys a high milage car for £8k, it's not going to be worth anything with 200kmiles on it. Adding serious milage to a car is always going to be a reasonably expensive game, I would have thought that the best way to do it would be to find a good cruising car *cough*530d*cough* and run it into the ground.
 
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