SEAT Leon 1.6 > Reviews (6)

When we were looking round for a new car our main prioirty was reliabilty and practicality. Top of our list was an Audi A3.

Being part of the VW group we also decided to look at the Golf and eventually the Seat. Basically the engine and gear box are exactly the same in the 1.6 version for all 3 cars. The Golf has a different interior but the A3 and Seat were identical, with the exception that the Audi had a leather steering wheel with 4 rings in the middle!! Even the switches and dials were the same.

I come from Yorkshire and we're a bit tight here so I did a bit of digging. The Audi cost over £5,000 more new. But when I looked at 3 yr old models (the approx time we intend to keep the car)the Audi was only £2,500 more expensive. I know future values aren't guaranteed but I thought it was at least a guide.

So having driven the car for 6 months now, what do I think? The car is typically German. Bland inside, but very functional. If you like your ICE it has an 8 speaker sound system plus I got them to throw in a 6 disc CD changer, this fits in the glove box which is really convenient (and must be better than the boot) but it does take up a lot of room. Has some natty features also, such as the radio gets louder, the faster you drive to cut out road noise, not that there is much.

The car feels solid on the road and the steering is very precise. The gearbox feels very good and the fuel consumption is on a par with cars in it's class. Personally I think the looks are striking, but that comes down to personal taste at the end of the day.

Other features that I particularly like are air con (never had before and wouldn't have a car without now), remote central locking, it even locks itself if you forget to, the car automatically locks all the doors when you set off driving so car jackers can't open the door and snatch things of the seats when you're at traffic lights, the airbag in the front can be turned off by key and the steering column is adjustable in and out, as well as the usual up and down.

The car is great for round town driving, but if you do a lot of motorway driving I would consider stepping up to either the 1.8 petrol or 1.9 Turbo diesel as I have found it a little underpowered on a couple of occasions, particularly when carrying 4 adults.

I've had no mechanical problems so far, but I did have a piece of door trim come loose. On taking this back to the dealer they fixed it there and then on the spot, but bear in mind every dealer is different.

Overall I've been pleased with the car and would certainly advise anyone looking for a car in this class to give it a look. If you aren't afraid to haggle (the only think I don't try and do a deal on is the weekly shopping at Asda!!!) then you can also get a good discount. The full retail price of my car, with all the extras I added, should have been £11,495 and I got it for £10,100.