Seat Cupra ST 300

[Snax]

I've been after a new car for about a year and a half (budget up to £35k) ; the difficulty has been marrying my desire for something fast and fun with the fact that I mountain bike and need enough room to carry stuff!

Having driven
- Octavia vrs estate
- superb estate
- BMW 140
- ford focus rs
- GT86; and now
- Cupra ST 300

I think we have settled on the Cupra. It is going to be about £28k new and seems to tick all the boxes of
- fast
- enough space
- nice sound system

Am I missing a trick here? Any seat or Cupra horror stories?

 

[DereksDontRun]

Quite a mixed bag of cars... 3 estates, 2 hatchbacks and a GT86 (which makes the "enough space" questionable)...

I had a M135i - could (just) fit 2 bikes in back with seats down and both wheels off. Was a bit of a pain, but do-able. Now I've got a Octavia VRS saloon - lots more space and I don't need to remove the rear wheel. I think the Octavia estate is the same dimensions, so the only benefit for the estate is the void of space above the hatchback opening. As I understand, the gen3 (2013+) VRS can be remapped to 300-315bhp quite easily as it's the same ea888 engine as the Golf GTI performance, but the manual clutch struggles with the torque so dsg is probably better if you want to go that route.

Superb 4x4 could be an idea? 280bhp... but, as I understand, it's not the best driving experience - more refined wafting than hot-hatch stiffer suspension.

if you want an estate then there's a Golf R estate and Focus ST estate that's not on the list.

 

[200sols]

You will find horror stories for any car out there. If you've test driven that many and its taken this long just buy the car you like otherwise in 18months time you will still be looking

 

[DereksDontRun]

thinking about it, theres the i30n Fastback that's also got a hatchback rear, so probably more spacious than the hatchback.

 

[FerretBoy]

I got my golf R estate for just over £30k with a bunch of options new via drivethedeal. I'd be after a few more k off the ST if I where you. It's basically the older revision golf R.

 

[Snax]

Thanks all

Yeah the superb 4*4 272ps was a marshmallow. V comfortable but not thrilling.

The GT86 can just about fit a bike in but ultimately not practical as a family car rather than a weekend car.

I liked the 140i and will revisit if I can't get the Cupra.

The golf r seems to have leapt in price. Their list is £37k, so they drop to £33k on most sites.

What do you mean re older revision of the golf r? I thought it had same engine and 4*4 set up?

 

[TheVoice]

Worth checking out the forum here:
https://forums.seatcupra.net/index.php?forums/leon-mk3.309/

The new Leon is getting announced later this year and probably released next year (although the Cupra will have that utterly awful Cupra badge). Presumably if you've been after a car for 18 months already it won't be practical to wait even longer, but it may mean you can get some more money knocked off. There's been an abundance of lease deals across various Leon trim levels recently so that might even be something worth considering too.

 

[Snax]

Where do you go to for lease deals?

We live in London so for most of the time, the car is one big depreciating asset sitting on the drive. However we need to drive to Dover and Dorset a lot and at my early middle aged status, I can't face doing that in a 13 yr old corolla anymore!

The dilemmaof burning money for convenience or suffering and saving the cash has been an 18m problem

 

[FerretBoy]

What do you mean re older revision of the golf r? I thought it had same engine and 4*4 set up?

I could be wrong but I thought the ST was basically the golf R Mk7, current golf R is the facelift, referred to as 7.5. My information could be out of date though, does the ST have the digital dash and 7speed DSG?

 

[Snax]

I could be wrong but I thought the ST was basically the golf R Mk7, current golf R is the facelift, referred to as 7.5. My information could be out of date though, does the ST have the digital dash and 7speed DSG?

It definitely has the digital dash and is 7 speed

 

[Kenai]

As it's due replacement imminently (you may even find some build combinations get declined now, few stories of this for the Octavia, various models are being slowly removed from order books) I'd be wanting some hefty discounts on a new car at this point in time. You'll be buying one of the last cars of this generation.

 

[Axeboy]

Ive got one, fwd manual. I manage my bike in the back without wheel removal although its a little tight I'm well used to it now. Lease was decent, around £220 on a 6+23 at 10k miles but that was a year back.

Came with the digital dash but Im not fussed about it, wouldn't be bothered with a normal set of dials but it came with it anyway.

 

[Martynt74]

If you're just wanting something nicer than your old Corolla have you considered buying a 2-3yr old car?

You're probably then only spending £15k and it's not going to have the huge depreciation hit of a new car whilst still being a much nicer place to be.

 

[Snax]

If you're just wanting something nicer than your old Corolla have you considered buying a 2-3yr old car?

You're probably then only spending £15k and it's not going to have the huge depreciation hit of a new car whilst still being a much nicer place to be.

I did think about that - having a warranty is appealing to me. I assume you only get 1 year once you buy second hand

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

Why not just put a Thule rack on the roof? Whole lot cheaper than a new car. Whilst I appreciate the bike gets wet in the rain, also means that you don't put a muddy bike inside your shiny car.

 

[Meaker]

I did think about that - having a warranty is appealing to me. I assume you only get 1 year once you buy second hand

Depends, if it's a Hyundai or I think kia too you get the original warranty regardless.

 

[Nasher]

The warranty sticks with the car, not the owner. You can transfer some extended warranties as well (I know with Toyota you can).

 

[fastwunz]

Anything Alfa Romeo related that might suit?

 

[sandys]

I drove the Cupra Ateca recently and found the 300bhp engine to be a laggy mess, satelitte delay on the throttle, didn't sound good and the drive very understeery, not sure if that's the extra weight or the DSG marring the experience for me (not an Auto driver) but it was quite disappointing, so have a good test drive you might find it comes off the list.

 

[chroniclard]

I drove the Cupra Ateca recently and found the 300bhp engine to be a laggy mess, satelitte delay on the throttle, didn't sound good and the drive very understeery, not sure if that's the extra weight or the DSG marring the experience for me (not an Auto driver) but it was quite disappointing, so have a good test drive you might find it comes off the list.

Well, it is a big old barge with a hot hatch engine.