SEAT Leon 2.0 TDI Sport: final report
Arrived: Dec 2008
List price (including options): £18,197
Average economy: 37.1mpg
The SEAT Leon Sport has been -
A very impressive companion for the last eight months, albeit a slightly painful one. We have accumulated around 8,000 miles in the Leon, which might seem a pretty average mileage, but when you consider that most weeks a shiny new test car arrives, adding 1,000 miles a month to the SEAT's clock tells you how in demand it was.
The Leon has proved a proper useful workhorse for the two kids of the Nichol house in particular - Sammy, two, and Mya, nine months - both of whom loved its sharp steering, strong brakes and pedals spaced perfectly for some heel-and-toe work on the track. Especially Mya, who's been knocking seconds of her lap times recently.
Obviously that's not true, but over the last eight months the Leon has been a lovely reminder of why the good old five-door hatch is still almost faultless transport for a young family. An MPV, or one of the myriad of family crossovers coming to market, might have given us a touch more space, but would any have been as entertaining to drive? The kids aren't in the car all the time after all.
We're loving the -
Fact that the Leon is going back just as all its warning lights are starting to flash. With 9,558 miles on the clock it's due its first service, which seems a disappointingly short interval, though a quick call to the local (and very helpful) SEAT dealer for an estimate revealed it would cost just £128.60 and could be done the same afternoon. Nice. The crack in the windscreen that was there when we collected the car is getting noticeably bigger now too, and probably is about ready to be repaired.
It would be a waste of Internet space to go through what we've enjoyed about the Leon yet again, but it'll be genuinely missed for its combination of driving enjoyment, relatively low fuel bills (though it has predictably failed to live up to its 50.4mpg combined consumption figure) and ability to swallow up a landfill's worth of rubbish.
But not so impressed by -
A handful of niggles and a ride so punishing that I can't stop banging on about it. However, important people at SEAT tell me that the facelifted version has resolved the issue, so we're collecting a brand new Leon TDI FR shortly and will confirm or deny the claim in a few weeks. We hope it has been, because a softer Leon would be a much, much better all-rounder.
The niggles then? Well, I've already reported on most of them, but those that spring to mind are the rattle from the centre air vents, which is getting progressively worse; the boot lining that's coming away; an under-seat USB port for music that never really worked properly, only reading a fraction of the songs loaded onto the dongle; and poor visibility (the windscreen pillars are massive). It's also got an awkwardly shaped boot with a high lip, though that's not something I really noticed until recently, so it's obviously not a massive issue.
We're looking forward to -
Saving some money and having the feeling return to our backsides, because we've already taken delivery of the Leon's replacement - a Volvo S40 DRIVe. Not the newest model on the block - and in no way exciting either - but for a family on a relatively tight budget it should suit us just fine. Even more so than the Leon, a Volvo saloon is traditional family transport at its most old school - and I'm expecting to get up to 20mpg more from it.
However, I'm not going to lie - the Volvo might have a softer ride and be cheaper to run, but I'm fully expecting the odd pang of yearning for the Leon whenever I find myself alone in the Swede on a decent road. And probably when I'm trying to overtake someone too, but that remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
