New Car Needed. Advice Welcome!

Tobes

Tobes

Tobes

Soldato
Joined
27 Mar 2004
Posts
6,698
Location
Devon
Hey, I don't some round these here parts often but would like to read some other opinions on what I should be looking at getting.

So a brief background on the cars that I have owned. Polo Fox (tried to learn to drive in this...), Rover 200, MGF and I'm now on the last wheels of a 206. Gearbox is going, year old clutch is slipping and a section of the exhaust is coming apart. Passed it's MOT 3 months ago and they said it would last another year :p

With my past cars basically being run arounds I'm wanting to splash out on a car that's going to last me for many years. I would like to treat myself to something fun to drive, some nice tech/toys but still being a car which is practical if I were to start a family int he future.

I will be straight up and say I have my eyes firmly on a used 15/16 Seat Leon FR. I was also looking at the Civics but they just look ugly. Also thought about the Mazda 3 but it doesn't seem to have the same polish as a Leon. Audi A3 seemed a little boring and not something I could see myself in.

My budget is... well I will drive my 206 into the ground. So every month longer is lasts me is more cash towards a new car even though I'm not really expecting it to last 2 more. But right now its's around 14k. So this could increase.

My work commute is just over 10k miles a year alone but this could drop if I were to get one closer to home so I'm not too sure with regards to petrol/diesel. In an ideal world I would just own a Tesla but I will never have that kind of money.

With regards to what I want in a car is a bit tricky. I'm probably focusing on the small points rather than the overall picture. Alcantara seats are nice, cruise control for the boring motorways, I would love Android Auto compatibility but it seems like for my price range I'm just missing out on cars that have it. The colour, is it something I can be fussy about or should I not exclude a car just based on it's colour?

Current car cost's quite a bit to run with £230 yearly tax and MPG is terrible but no doubt due to it at the end of life. So pretty much anything is going to cost less.

I'm not sure what more to add really. I'm pretty open to feel to ask me questions if it helps me in the right directions. Thanks :D
 
I had a brand new Leon FR hire car in Germany, lovely car. Possibly a bit small though if you are thinking family in the future.
 
I was choosing between the Mazda3 and the Leon FR earlier this year, and after my parents bought the Mazda, I bought the Leon. The Mazda is a nice car but the Leon felt that bit more special, was better-specced overall and had more toys, settings, technology etc. I've had it almost 6 months now and I love it.
 
Uther said:
I had a brand new Leon FR hire car in Germany, lovely car. Possibly a bit small though if you are thinking family in the future.
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Not that it maybe makes a difference but me and my misses are quite short people and I like to drill into her head to pack light so I'm hoping it should be fine. By family I'm pretty sure.... hope it would be the one. I'm quiet conscious that it's a bit bigger than my 206. For some reason I keep thinking about it's rear haha.

TheVoice said:
I was choosing between the Mazda3 and the Leon FR earlier this year, and after my parents bought the Mazda, I bought the Leon. The Mazda is a nice car but the Leon felt that bit more special, was better-specced overall and had more toys, settings, technology etc. I've had it almost 6 months now and I love it.
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Ah that's good to read. I'm not the biggest fan of the headunit as it looks like a tablet stuck to the dash and it's idea of a feature is a heads up display which is a piece a plastic which flips up. Just needs a lot more polish.
 
The Leon's driver information screen is a lot more useful than the Mazda's HUD thing. You can have it show pretty-much anything and switch between different views really easily. I tend to have mine showing a digital readout of speed, but the scroll wheel on the steering wheel lets to switch between fuel consumption, oil temp, coolant temp, range etc, then you can change sections to show currently playing media, phone info (when connected), or directions when using the navigation.

As for size, I'm reasonably tall so having the driver's seat back does intrude on the rear legroom (more so than in my old Mazda3) but as you've said you're short that shouldn't be an issue at all. The boot is still a decent size, and there's always the ST variant if you need more room but personally I'm not a fan of the looks.
 
I had a Leon FR as a hire car last week. Don't go for the 2.0 diesel. Unpleasant vibrations and noise in the cabin with plenty of torque steer.
 
Another vote for the leon here, good looking cars, nice inside, good equipment levels for the money and they generally have decent seats in them.
 
flinco said:
I had a Leon FR as a hire car last week. Don't go for the 2.0 diesel. Unpleasant vibrations and noise in the cabin with plenty of torque steer.
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It's not that bad, but yes I'd opt for the 1.8 TSI or 1.4 TSI.
 
Manual or DSG. I've got the manual, but the DSG seems ideal. Unfortunately there just weren't any around up here when I was looking.
 
Yeah I can see the appeal of manual for a weekend car for example but for everyday commuting DSG/Auto is the norm I guess
 
I'm not too clued up on DSG. I quite enjoy driving and don't tend to do too long trips. Does it take some of the enjoyment out of it?

Also repair wise is it more expensive to fix should anything go wrong with the gearbox?
 
Sorry to bump. Went and test drove a 2017 1.4 EcoTSI manual and really liked it.

Got a quote from the dealer as well as optional extras. Things like GAP insurance (cheaper elsewhere), maintenance and servicing.

I'm pretty new to this so obviously my next step is to get quotes elsewhere. I just wondered if there is anything else I should be looking out for or should have in my mind before I agree to purchase?
 
Was that the refresh model? Maybe looking at the SC FR 1.8 to replace my company car when I change jobs, will probably go and test drive next week. Online deal sites seem to expect c£4.5k off list.
 
Yeah. Electric Handbrake, Full LED lights, Bigger infotainment screen, wireless charging for phone. Although that last one seems to be only if you get the connectivity box which isn't as standard. What I don't get though is Android Auto / Apple Car Play have to use a USB cable. So Full Link is stanrd but doesn't actually work unless you get the connectivity box :s

Annoyingly it's enough for me to want the 2017 model over the 2016.
 
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