Mazda3 vs Seat Leon advice

thelad84

Hi All,

I am thinking of changing my car and looking at either a Mazda3 or Seat Leon.

Year 2008 - 2009.
Mazda3 - 1.6L Petrol
Seat Leon - either 1.4 TSI or 1.6.

I am looking for advice on either two and past experiences with either cars.
I suppose my main thing would be reliability.

Thank you in advance.

boardsuser1

Had a 1.6 Seat Leon, it was the best car I ever owned.

Avoid the 1.4 VW petrol engines, known for trouble.

I never had a Mazda so can't offer my 2c worth on them.

thelad84

KC161 wrote: »

Had a 1.6 Seat Leon, it was the best car I ever owned.

Avoid the 1.4 VW petrol engines, known for trouble.

I never had a Mazda so can't offer my 2c worth on them.

In the Leon what about the 1.9TDI?

Gryire

I have a Seat Leon 1.6 Diesel. Super car. Very efficient and plenty zip.

A friend had a Mazda and it did not feel as solid but lots of gadgets.

thelad84

Gryire wrote: »

I have a Seat Leon 1.6 Diesel. Super car. Very efficient and plenty zip.

A friend had a Mazda and it did not feel as solid but lots of gadgets.

Have you experience with the 1.6 Petrol?

boardsuser1

thelad84 wrote: »

In the Leon what about the 1.9TDI?

Haven't driven the TDI, basically the Passat engine as far as I know.

Gryire

thelad84 wrote: »

Have you experience with the 1.6 Petrol?

No, just the diesel.

GustavoFring

Had the 1.6 petrol Leon. It's very thirsty for what it is. The gearboxes can give trouble, bearing goes and is about a grand for a rebuild.

theteal

I have a 07 1.6 Mazda 3 saloon. Great car, rock solid. Only broke 50k miles over Xmas. Will drive it until it croaks which which should be quite a few years the way things are looking.

road_high

GustavoFring wrote: »

Had the 1.6 petrol. It's very thirsty for what it is. The gearboxes can give trouble, bearing goes and is about a grand for a rebuild.

Which one ?

bazz26

Interior design and quality is a real let down on the Mk2 Leon compared to the exterior imo.

brembo26

bazz26 wrote: »

Interior design and quality is a real let down on the Mk2 Leon compared to the exterior imo.

Agreed, the head unit and heater control unit area is just dull.

MTBD

I think it would be very hard to go wrong with a petrol Mazda. They are just very well built machines with very few niggling issues. The same cannot be said of the Seat/VW range which can be a it pot luck. Mazda will be nicer to drive too in my experience. Looks, interior styling, etc would all be much the same.

Also, I'd avoid any small turbo engine in this country. Oil servicing tends to be a complete after thought. You have no idea what condition the turbo is in unless you get a model that has been mollycoddled. I'd keep it simple and go for the Mazda.

Nuw

^^

I second what MTBD said. The only thing that you need to take in account is that the Mazda will cost more to insure (probably not by much, but it can matter).

TitianGerm

I've a 2007 Mazda 3 1.6 Petrol. Currently at 140k km and not one minutes trouble yet.

I'm actually going to change in the next few weeks/months.

thelad84

MTBD wrote: »

I think it would be very hard to go wrong with a petrol Mazda. They are just very well built machines with very few niggling issues. The same cannot be said of the Seat/VW range which can be a it pot luck. Mazda will be nicer to drive too in my experience. Looks, interior styling, etc would all be much the same.

Also, I'd avoid any small turbo engine in this country. Oil servicing tends to be a complete after thought. You have no idea what condition the turbo is in unless you get a model that has been mollycoddled. I'd keep it simple and go for the Mazda.

I see alot of diesels for sale but was told to stay away from any Mazda diesel have you experience with them?
My main thing is reliability I'm not to bothered with gadgets and extras. I drive a 01 corolla and that's pretty boring but never gave me a days trouble.

brembo26

If its the 1.6 diesel in the Mazda you refer too then the exact same engine is in Fords, Volvos, Peugeot, Citroen and I'm probably missing another one or two.

But yes they have had there fair share of expensive problems. Mainly due to poor servicing and only doing short runs.

I would personally avoid that engine myself but its not a Mazda designed engine so I wouldn't let it put you off the petrol models.

bazz26

I'd look at the Kia Ceed also, it's a bit more modern than the Mazda 3 and the diesel version would be less risky than the 3's diesel engine.

thelad84

bazz26 wrote: »

I'd look at the Kia Ceed also, it's a bit more modern than the Mazda 3 and the diesel version would be less risky than the 3's diesel engine.

I think if I was to go down that route I'd go for hyundai i30 I think it looks nicer and there essential the same car.

bazz26

i30s tend to be more expensive if the budget is tight.

JohnBoy26

The mazda 3 rusts badly underneath and around the arches. The leon hasn't got the nicest engine and the interior is very cheap looking.

Id look at other cars tbh.

thelad84

bazz26 wrote: »

i30s tend to be more expensive if the budget is tight.

The price is not to bad depends on the year.

thelad84

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

The mazda 3 rusts badly underneath and around the arches. The leon hasn't got the nicest engine and the interior is very cheap looking.

Id look at other cars tbh.

Hi Johnboy,
What would you recommend that can offer the same reliability as the Mazda? Budget of about 8 - 10 grand.

epopnomis

I have driven a 2008 seat leon 1.4Tsi car since new and cannot recommend it enough, have kept serviced and the only issue in nearly 10 years was a calipher needing changing... Nice bit of power at 125bhp too. 6 gears to keep the revs low and get 800km per tank of fuel...

thelad84

epopnomis wrote: »

I have driven a 2008 seat leon 1.4Tsi car since new and cannot recommend it enough, have kept serviced and the only issue in nearly 10 years was a calipher needing changing... Nice bit of power at 125bhp too. 6 gears to keep the revs low and get 800km per tank of fuel...

I suppose if you put any car in here you will find someone who has an issue with it. But good to know you have had a good experience with a Leon.

JohnBoy26

thelad84 wrote: »

Hi Johnboy,
What would you recommend that can offer the same reliability as the Mazda? Budget of about 8 - 10 grand.

A honda civic springs to mind. The 1.8 i-vtec petrol will do 40mpg and offers the same reliability as the mazda but the civic is also better built and doesn't rust like the mazda.

Or if you were happy enough with your corolla, another corolla, auris could be an option. Both the petrol and diesel versions are very reliable. These won't be as sharp to drive as the mazda though but they are more comfortable.

The i30 and cee'd aren't bad either although the interior on the first generation of both is not great in terms of how it looks imo.

maynooth_rules

thelad84 wrote: »

I think if I was to go down that route I'd go for hyundai i30 I think it looks nicer and there essential the same car.

Gotta disagree with this. I think the Ceed is nicer looking car than the i30, and a longer warranty

JohnBoy26

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Gotta disagree with this. I think the Ceed is nicer looking car than the i30, and a longer warranty

Well anything 08-09 is out of warranty now anyway, or almost out of warranty.

It's also worth noting that while the kia's warranty is 2 years longer it's also mileage limited. The hyundai offers unlimited mileage warranty.

thelad84

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Well anything 08-09 is out of warranty now anyway, or almost out of warranty.

It's also worth noting that while the kia's warranty is 2 years longer it's also mileage limited. The hyundai offers unlimited mileage warranty.

How does the Ceed or i30 hold up going up the years or miles?