Leon Cupra

gary the great

Am thinking of buying one ot replace my Alfa 147. Couldnt find much on a search. Woudl liek to hear from people that have owned one, drivien one and what the general consensous on them is.

They seem to be going for resonable money over in the UK, i have €5k to spend and think i could pick up a decent enough one with that money.

Few questions...

Is insurance mad on them? Quinn wont quote me on their site, its sunday and i cant ring them (25, with 1 year ncb)

Hows reliabilty generally?

What are they like to drive? Only Seat i ever drove was na Ibiza and I really hated it. Not mad on the interior on the Leon though it has to be said, but they look deadly and a nice engine in it.

Anything else? Am just starting the look for a new car (dont even know why im selling the Alfa, i love it, but just want a change). Have also considered an Is200, newer shape accord and even the Mazda RX8 (but this is probably a little out of budget to both buy and maintain)

EPM

I dont know what kind of cupra you'd get landed for 5k. A performance car going cheap can often be a false economy. They are usually driven hard be weary. On the insurance side, it could be very tricky indeed. Just a suggestion, but you might get insured on a diesel leon fr. They had 150 brake but look very similar. Have a good look on seatcupra.net for some advice too. There's a for sale section too so check it out.

The leon's are generally pretty reliable and most faults are shared with other VAG cars

Neilw

I have a leon cupra myself. They are a nice car to drive and not too expensive to run.

For 5k you would prob only get a pre facelift model which does not look much different to a standard 1.4.
There a few things to look out for, they are prone to water leaks from inner door seals and sometimes from a seal in the bulkhead thats not sealed properly.
Check the carpets front and back for dampness.

Coil packs go the odd time. Other then that they are reliable, the 1.8t is a strong engine and should last well once serviced with correct oil. Make sure the t-belt and water pump are changed at 60k or every 4 years.

Get one and get a remap, it transforms the car

gary the great

Yep the prefacelift is what im going for, a 00-01 type model.

Insurance is going to be the problem, ill see what quinn have to say 2mrw. Dont mind it lookign like the standard leon, therte a nice enough motor.

I can deal with damp carpets and coils, thanks for the info.

Lookin forward to taking one for a spin and probably buying one to.

HashSlinging

Posted this on the other 5k thread, one of the seatcupra.net forum users is selling theres..

Neilw

HashSlinging wrote: »

Posted this on the other 5k thread, one of the seatcupra.net forum users is selling theres..

Looks ok bar the wheels, they look horrible on that car, spokes are too thin and don't suit it. You can pick up genuine cupra starfish alloys for about 200 sterling. Nice with the leather seats too.

LarWright

gary the great wrote: »

Is insurance mad on them? Quinn wont quote me on their site, its sunday and i cant ring them (25, with 1 year ncb)

Hows reliabilty generally?

Last first..., I'd say that reliability is good, essentially being a VW Golf under the skin, but if you're going for a 00-01, bear in mind, it's 8 or 9 years old, and there is bound to be a few problems, purely because of the age.

First last..., STAY AWAY FROM QUINN (IMHO) for car insurance on so called "performance" cars. 3 years ago, I had 2 years NCB, was 24 at the time, was paying €2500 on a 1.6 Astra. Bought a 2.0 turbo Astra and Quinn wanted an extra 2 grand to cover me until my renewal (which was only 4 months away). I called (don't do it online, as that never works properly on higher powered cars when you're mid 20's) insure.ie, Mike Murphy. Got a quote, fully comp, of €2200 on the OPC. Granted, I lost 8 months no claims on the Quinn Policy, but in the grand scheme of things, saved a fortune in the long run. Eventually my insurance came down to €1400, €950, and now (with Arran Insurance) it's €650 on a new 2.0 Turbo Astra.

Sorry for going off on a tangent from the original question re the car, but that's my opinion on your insurance options. Just call Mike Murphy and Arran (they'll be in the Golden Pages etc....)

deaglan169

i have a seat leon sdi but have always wanted a cupra have test driven a few of my friends which are the diesel cupra/fr etc... and there unreal as mentioned before have the usual faults water leaks etc.. also i had prob with relay 109 a common fault but can be fixed by urself in a matter of minutes other than that there a sound reliable car,on the insurance side im currently paying 1k on my sdi with 2 years NCB and im only 22, i asked out of curoisity on a cupra diesel 210bhp and quote was identical 1k:eek:

The Real B-man

deaglan169 wrote: »

i have a seat leon sdi but have always wanted a cupra have test driven a few of my friends which are the diesel cupra/fr etc... and there unreal as mentioned before have the usual faults water leaks etc.. also i had prob with relay 109 a common fault but can be fixed by urself in a matter of minutes other than that there a sound reliable car,on the insurance side im currently paying 1k on my sdi with 2 years NCB and im only 22, i asked out of curoisity on a cupra diesel 210bhp and quote was identical 1k:eek:

Nice to know when i can get rid of my Ibiza for a Leon! :pac:

Neilw

deaglan169 wrote: »

i asked out of curoisity on a cupra diesel 210bhp and quote was identical 1k:eek:

Bit optimistic on the 210bhp diesel there , highest power diesel mk1 leon was the 150bhp, even with a good custom remap it wont see 200bhp. Bigger turbo time for that sort of power.
There are 210 and 225bhp cupra R leons but these are petrol cars.

deaglan169

i could have sworn there was a 210bhp diesel im most prob wrong because i think you drive a cupra yourself neil but it will pass a college lecture googling it:D