Honest John Long-term tests

SEAT Leon X-Perience 2.0 TDI DSG

Are you ready for an all-new X-Perience?

Bitten by the all-wheel drive bug, Dan has traded in his Audi TT for a another 4x4. This time an estate - the SEAT Leon X-Perience.

Date: 19 May 2015 | Current mileage: 545 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 46.8mpg

Estate cars are not the type of thing you boast about, are they? I mean, if you boasted to your mates down the pub that you’ve got a new wardrobe on wheels, they're unlikely to hang on your every word with baited breath. Not unless you're the designated driver and they're forced to listen in fear of you refusing them a lift home.

Thankfully, there's nothing boring about my new long termer, the new Leon X-Perience. Even the name is interesting, full of youthful razzmatazz, grammatical errors and all. No danger of your friends giving you the thousand-yard stare here, as you tell them you've got an estate that will - according to the SEAT brochure - provide 'state-of-the-art technology, and optimum performance with surprising versatility.'

So, what does any of that mean in English? Well, in short, the Leon X-Perience is a four-wheel drive estate, that's designed for 'soft-roading'. Think wintery roads, soggy fields and muddy farm tracks, rather than driving up a volcano or trekking across Iceland.

The Leon X-Perience does get some notable improvements over the standard ST estate, with raised suspension (15mm to be exact), reinforced bumpers, underbody protection and enlarged wheel arches. As a result, the Leon gets a beefier appearance, with larger wheels, black roof rails and larger bumpers.

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The X-Perience. SEAT’s latest soft-roader and also the name of a eurodance band in Germany...

The interior is also a lot nicer than the standard Leon ST, with leather trim, Alcantara upholstery and sports seats. The boot is big too, with 587 litres that can be extended to 1470 if you pull a lever and flatten the rear seats. 

The X-Perience is powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre diesel engine, available with 150PS or 184PS. I've opted for the higher output, linked to the six-speed DSG gearbox. On paper it'll return 57.6mpg while emitting 129g/km, but as always I'll be assessing the economy over the next six months.

Regular readers will know that I've been known to go spec-crazy with my cars, but this time I've resisted and just added a few options, in the form of a boot net, boot divider and adaptive cruise control. I've also upgraded the sound system, to add 10 speakers and a sub woofer. As a result my X-perience comes in at £30,615. 

So far the SEAT has been okay on the fuel, returning 46.8mpg, but I'd like to break the 50mpg barrier so will be trying out the economy driving mode to see how much I can squeeze out of a gallon of fuel. I'll also be trekking across the continent in my Leon to see how it fares as a family estate. Will 587 litres really be able to cope with everything I throw at it? Time will tell.

You gotta roll with it

The SEAT Leon X-Perience is giving Dan all sorts of fun, but sadly bodyroll isn't one of them.

Date: 2 June 2015 | Current mileage: 1024 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 47.3mpg

After more than 1000 miles, I've found a niggling problem with the SEAT Leon X-Perience. It's not with the economy, or the performance or the brown suede interior, which I actually quite like. The problem arises in tight corners, in the form of lots of bodyroll.

I guess I shouldn't be shocked that an estate car, on raised suspension, with four-wheel drive, rolls about. But I am a little disappointed. Even more so when I find my shopping has emptied all over the boot floor, because the boot net has slipped.

The problem isn't chronic enough to ruin the car, but I do find that everything that isn't nailed down will take flight, the moment you attack a twisty bit of road. To combat the problem I've packed all loose items into the glove box. I've also reattached the boot net to ensure it doesn't slip. However, things still find a way of moving around.

I've also had some complaints from my passengers about the brown interior, which I disagree with. For sure, the Alcantara (which is a posh word for artificial suede leather) is not to everyone's tastes, but I think the soft-touch finish works really well in the Leon. The seats are also comfortable, with plenty of upper and lower leg support, which makes long trips a painless exercise. 

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 Alcantara might sound like an Italian footballer, but it's actually artificial suede leather.

The SEAT has spent most of its life on the motorway, with these past two weeks involving lots of trips to Heathrow and Gatwick. As a result I've become quite at home in the cabin, with the navigation proving to be rather useful, with traffic alerts and detours. The adaptive cruise control is also good, with adjustable settings to let the car know how close or far away I want to be from the vehicle in front. 

On the downside, the plastic trim and switchgear feels flimsy and cheap - not befitting a car that costs £30,000. However, it's only a small niggle, in what's otherwise an impressive car. I've even started to get use to the bodyroll, although I've managed to lose a fair bit of loose change, with it all falling out of my pocket every time I take a tight bend.

On the plus side, the 2.0-litre engine is sprightly, with the 0-62mph dash taking 7.1 seconds, which isn't bad for a family estate that's designed to go off road. Admittedly, you need to engage sport mode, via the in-car driving profile, to get the best out of it, but the Leon will shift along with gusto and the four-wheel drive system does a good job of keeping traction.

The fuel economy has been decent, with 47.3mpg. If truth be told, I've not used the economy driving mode all that much, so will put it to use to see how close I can get to 50mpg, but I doubt I'll ever hit the official 57.6mpg. With a family holiday to France coming up, I'm intrigued to see how the Leon X-Perience will cope with a full load of people and luggage. 

A continental X-Perience

They say you shouldn’t take your work on holiday. That clearly doesn’t apply to Dan, because he’s taken the Leon X-Perience on his hols.

Date: 16 June 2015 | Current mileage: 1689 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 42.1mpg

Do bus drivers really take their buses on holiday? I've never seen it, but maybe I'm missing something. Perhaps bus drivers have a reputation for upsetting caravaners by dumping 25 tonnes of coach in front of their pitch. Or maybe they regularly trump the Germans for spaces by the swimming pool by reversing their bus into the outdoor seating area. 

I only ask because my driving breaks are always labelled as ‘busman’s holidays’ by my friends. Yes, I know I drive for a living, but why should that prevent me from doing something I love with my time off?

As you might have guessed, I love driving and I will always choose the automotive option if I get the chance. Hence last week I used my SEAT Leon X-Perience as transport for my weekend away in Belgium. The destination was Ypres to take in the local sights, sounds and frothy beverages. 

Being an estate, the Leon X-Perience is perfect for driving holidays. Not only is it large enough for four adults (my family) but it also has a large 587-litre boot. This means it will take a couple of large suitcases and leave plenty of spare room for the stopover at the local hypermarket. 

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The Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing in Ypres: dedicated to the British and Commonwealth soldiers whose WW1 graves are unknown

Ypres is only an hour's drive from Calais and is well worth a weekend visit due to its connections with the UK and the First World War. From 1914 - 1918 the small market town was the subjected to fierce fighting, with it standing in the path of Germany's sweep across Europe.

The job of defending it was given to British and Commonwealth soldiers, who succeeded in making it one of the few Belgium towns not to fall. Sadly the cost was heavy, with the town reduced to rubble and 300,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers dead. 

The town was completely rebuilt after the war and is now a replica of the medieval town that stood before it, complete with narrow streets, single lane alleys and the tightest of parking spaces. However, despite the Leon's estate dimensions, it had little trouble navigating Ypres' maze of streets and fitting into the narrow parking spots. 

The town is paved with bumpy cobbled streets, yet the Leon's four-wheel drive and raised ride height soaked up the bumbs  and even drew praise from my passengers. Indeed, the Leon is a comfortable car to ride in, although it does roll heavily in tight corners, which can send loose items flying if you carry too much speed through a bend. But I'm tailoring my driving style to reduce this as much as possible.

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"Is there room for one more box?" Dan's family take full advantage of the 587-litre boot

Before the holiday the SEAT was returning a reasonable 47.3mpg, but the full load of passengers and luggage knocked the economy down to a smudge over 42mpg which is a long way short of the claimed 57.6mpg. I tried to counter the drop in economy by filling up with performance fuel for the 300 mile trip back and using the Eco driving mode, but it only pushed the economy up by 1mpg.

Economy aside, the Leon X-Perience is performing well and its plush interior did plenty to appease the tired legs of my passengers after a long weekend of walking around Ypres. My family also managed to take full advantage of the large load area, with copious amounts of wine and beer. 

Even with a (very) full load, the 2.0-litre diesel engine pulls strongly, although it does get a little noisy when pushing through the higher revs and there's also a hint of vibration, which i'll keep an eye on. Yet, there are small criticisms on what has otherwise been an excellent few weeks for the practical and versatile SEAT. 

Windscreen woes with the Leon

Keeping the windscreen clear in the Leon is proving to be a pain, with the wipers and washers being ineffective against summer grime.

Date: 30 June 2015 | Current mileage: 2012 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 45.8mpg

"The Leon X-Perience is ready to help you make every day an experience to remember". At least that's what it says in the glossy SEAT brochure, which is filled with images of long sweeping roads, forests and a sharply-dressed 30-something-male carrying a mountain bike over his shoulder. Why is he wearing a jacket to carry his bike? Does he know how difficult it is to get chain oil stains out of suede? Evidently not.

He also doesn't know how annoying it is to get a lungful of windscreen cleaner either. I've been forced to use the squirty stuff on a weekly basis to keep the Leon X-Perience's windscreen clear. Why? The wipers and washers aren't very good. In fact, they're rubbish for clearing dead insects and summer road muck.

I noticed the windscreen smears during my drive back from France, but put it down to a lack of washer fluid in the reservoir. However, after refilling it and adding copious amounts of cleaning fluid back in England, I discovered that the wipers and washers are next to useless for clearing dead insects. The water jets struggle to cover the large windscreen and the wipers simply smear what's left into the glass.  

I've tried all of the usual tricks - cleaning the wiper blades, using even more cleaning fluid and repositioning the washer jets - but nothing seems to do the trick. The wipers work fine in the rain and clear the stuck on grime after an hour of constant use, but that's not much consolation on a hot summer's day when the screen is covered in insect shaped blotches and you end up washing the stuff off by hand.

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 The Leon's wipers struggle to clear the windscreen in the dry with ineffective washer jets

Windscreen washer woes aside, the Leon X-Perience has otherwise impressed with its decent economy and plush cabin. Fuel economy is improving after my trip to the continent, with an average of 45.8mpg. However, I've been driving on my own for much of the last few weeks, which would suggest that my previous average, of 42.1mpg, was a better reflection of how the Leon performs with a full load of passengers and luggage. 

Unlike my previous cars, I resisted the urge to go tick box crazy with the options this time. As a result the Leon only has a handful of extras, which include an upgraded sound system, divider net and adaptive cruise control. 

The sound system is good, with a nice, clear sound that's complimented by a decent bass in the boot that can be as thumping or as tinny as you like. The adaptive cruise control is also useful, especially when travelling through areas with average speed checks. Simply set the speed and the radar system does the rest, applying the brakes or throttle to maintain a set distance to the car in front.

The divider net, however, is not so useful. It costs £155 and is fiddly to use because you have to lift it and then pull out the side bars to attach them to special holders in the ceiling of the boot. Thing is, more often than not, the divider slips out of your hands or traps your fingers between the bar and the holder. I've discovered that you can do a better (and less painful) job by simply raising the rear head rests. Voila - a guard to prevent items from toppling over into the seats and no damage to your fingers.

Are you SEATing comfortably?

Its interior might be a boring shade of brown, but the Leon X-Perience shines brightly when it comes to providing comfort for four.

Date: 13 July 2015 | Current mileage: 2683 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 46.0mpg

Does anyone like the colour brown? I only ask because interior of the Leon X-Perience is quite literally covered in the stuff. Of course, SEAT doesn’t call it brown. Instead, the interior is described by SEAT as 'sophisticated' with Alcantara upholstery. But between you and me, it's brown.

Very brown in fact, with some grey dabs of leather and plastic here and there. To be fair, the colour scheme doesn't bother me all that much, but it has become a bone of contention with most of my passengers because, more often than not, they hate it. 

Personally, I think my moany family members are doing the Leon a disservice. The seats are comfortable and supportive with lots of head and leg room in the front and back. Yet, whenever someone experiences the X-Perience they don't comment on the comfort, instead they ramble on about the interior colour. Good job I upgraded the Leon's sound system to drown out their moans. 

Actually, on the subject on in-car entertainment, I've found the Leon to be rather easy car to get along with. The colour touchscreen is responsive and lets you swipe through the menus with a flick of the finger. The digital radio (fitted as standard) is clear and simple to program, although the five-inch display is a little small for my liking. Indeed, when using the navigation (again, fitted as standard) it can be difficult to pick out side roads, which means you can sometimes miss a turning.

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The screen may be small, but the Leon's infotainment system is easy to use and program

Being an SE Technology model, my Leon gets a few extra toys that include a media system which stores music on a hard drive, along with the aforementioned navigation with 3D maps. Both are useful, although I find that the media system is surpassed by my iPod, which I listen to via the Bluetooth connection. 

To get the best from the media system you need to copy your CD collection. However, this can take an age because it has to do it one CD at a time. I simply cannot see the point of spending an hour of my life copying my CDs when I can simply pair my iPod and use it via the steering wheel controls in just a few seconds. 

The DSG steering wheel paddles are another feature of the Leon that feel decidedly out of date. I know there was a time (about five years ago) that everyone loved the idea of pretending to be Lewis Hamilton with Formula One style gear changes, but like an old Christmas cracker the novelty has worn off. 

I understand the idea of gear paddles on a Ferrari or Lamborghini, but are they really necessary on a family diesel estate? Perhaps if the X-Perience had a programmable four-wheel drive system and a second low ratio gearbox for tackling steep off-road slopes I'd sort of understand, but the Leon has no such 4x4 gadgetry, which makes the inclusion of paddles all the more baffling.

Heading off the beaten track

Dan tests the Leon's soft roading credentials and discovers that muddy roads can leave a nasty mark.

Date: 27 July 2015 | Current mileage: 2900 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 46.4mpg

In a world that’s filled with SUVs and crossovers, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there’s little need for four-wheel drive estates. Indeed, at a BBQ last week, the Leon X-Perience raised that very question when a friend asked, “why not buy an SUV?”

A valid question. After all, almost everyone in the UK appears to own an SUV or be in the process of buying one. And who can blame them? SUVs are rather useful, with a raised driving position, spacious interior and macho image. Why would anyone want anything else? 

The answer for me is rather simple: money. There are thousands of SUVs in the UK, but only about five of them ever go off road. And even then, half of those are lost on their way home from Ikea. So what's the point of paying extra for a car that’s designed for going off road if you're never going to use it? 

SUVs are miles behind the standard family hatch on ride quality and refinement. They're also a lot more expensive to run, maintain and fix. In theory this is where the SEAT Leon X-Perience shines - it’s spacious, comfortable, economical and also capable of heading off road, should you get lost. 

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     18-inch wheels are nice to look at, but susceptible to stone damage off-road

Over the past few weeks the Leon has been returning 46mpg and I've even ventured off the beaten track to see how it copes with muddy farm tracks and fields. Admittedly, this is at the lower scale of soft-roading, but It did everything that was asked.

The trip involved several miles of heavily rutted tracks and the Leon's raised ground clearance proved useful, avoiding raised stones and tree stumps, while the cladding did a decent job of protecting the lower panels from scratches. There was one occasion where I thought it might get stuck in deep mud, but the four-wheel drive system did a good job of diverting power to the other wheels to pull it out.  

My excursion did raise one problem though, namely with the 18-inch alloy wheels. You see, as nice as they are to look at, they are not very suitable for rutted roads. In fact, after inspecting the Leon, I found some marks on the outer rims, with stones being the most likely cause. 

The X-Perience can be specified with the smaller 17-inch wheels - standard on SE trim - and I think these are the better option as they're not as low profile as the 18-inch alloys. However, flash wheels aside, the Leon is more than up to the task of tackling the lowest scale of off-roading. Time will tell if it's as suitable for winter roads., but I have quite a long wait to test that out though.

46.4 reasons to be content

After more than 3000 miles, the SEAT Leon has decided to stick to 46.4mpg. Nothing more, nothing less.

Date: 10 August 2015 | Current mileage: 3292 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 46.4mpg

Three months and 3000 miles have passed since I took delivery of the SEAT Leon X-Perience and over the past few days I’ve found myself musing the traditional 'mid-term report'. What have the highlights been? Is there anything that annoys me about the car? And, most importantly, how much does it cost to run?

Well, to answer the important question first, the Leon X-Perience is quite affordable at the pumps, returning 46.4mpg, which is 11mpg short of SEAT’s claimed 57.6mpg. This means the X-Perience is meeting around 80 per cent of its official fuel economy figure, which is about average for all new cars according to Real MPG.

During the first few weeks I was getting up to 47mpg, but back then I was using the Leon to simply transport myself to work. Since I've put it to use as a family hauler in the UK and beyond and found the economy rate to flatten at 46.6mpg. In fact, it's been stuck at that figure for the past month and no amounts of frugal driving or performance fuels has managed to change it. 

If I'm honest, I would say I'm content with the fuel economy, especially when you factor in the 184PS 2.0-litre diesel engine. The four-cylinder engine is a tad noisy for my liking, but it has plenty of poke for overtaking with 380Nm of peak torque. The DSG gearbox has also impressed for the most part, but it does have an annoying habit of holding a gear under heavy acceleration, which means the engine emits a deep shrill when you try and accelerate away from a busy junction. 

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     Fuel economy and handling gains can easily be improved thanks to the driving mode selector

I've also found the Leon's steering to be a little overpowered, returning little in the way of feedback or feeling. Thankfully the driving mode selector has proved to be a simple fix by allowing me to combine the Eco engine mode with the Sport steering setting. It has transformed the handling without compromising the all-important economy.  

I'm usually sceptical about driving modes, because while they are great in a Porsche or Mercedes-Benz, they rarely do anything of note in a standard family car. Yet, with the SEAT the driver profile system, I’ve found it bucks the trend.

Unfortunately the Leon has another annoyance that cannot be fixed by the push of a few buttons. In fact, it catches me out almost every week and I've had to start apologising to my passengers for swearing each time it does. What is it? It's the location of the electric window buttons.

Like most cars, the Leon's electric window controls are on the driver's door. Yet, for some unknown reason, the button for the driver's electronic window is rather low down the arm rest, which means you usually miss it. I’ve lost count of the number of times I've lowered the rear window by accident and words cannot express how annoying it is. Perhaps it's time to put a swear jar in the Leon? 

Navigation nightmares in the Leon

After two weeks of airport runs, Dan has grown to dislike the Leon's hesitate navigation system.

Date: 24 August 2015 | Current mileage: 3807 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 46.4mpg

Everyone hates a backseat driver. “Turn left...no right...no you’re going the wrong way, you need to turn around!” Sadly, these words have been echoing around the Leon’s cabin for two weeks and given me a less than pleasant X-Perience. (see what I did there?)

Is it my girlfriend shouting at me or my mother on the way to the shops? No, it’s actually the Leon’s navigation system, which struggles to make up its mind the moment the traffic updates kick in. What’s worse, I’ve had two full weeks of it and I’ve been forced to turn the thing off just to get some peace and quiet. 

The problem lies with the automatic traffic updates, which are suppose to reprogram the navigation to avoid tailbacks. In theory, this is brilliant because it means you should never get caught up in traffic ever again. In practice though, this is a nightmare because the navigation device gets confused and changes its mind every 30 seconds. 

I think the issue has been exasperated by the M25, which is stationary at the best of times. Indeed, over the past two weeks I’ve been making lots of trips to Heathrow and Gatwick, but the moment the Leon sets foot on the M25, the navigation goes a bit mad.

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   The navigation has been mute these past few weeks, thanks to the steering wheel volume controls...

Last week, on a trip back from the airport, it told me to turn off the motorway, only to then to declare that I needed to turn around and re-join the motorway 15 seconds later. In that trip I got stuck in Uxbridge for 30 minutes because there was nowhere to turn around, due to the huge line of traffic I had just joined. What's more, even when I did eventually re-join the M25, the navigation decided to tell me to turn off again. 

In the end I turned off the navigation and made my own way home, but there appears to be a distinct problem with the way the navigation operates with traffic updates. Head away from London and the Leon's navigation works relatively fine, with good vocal commands and impressive accuracy when using just postcodes. 

However, navigation aside, the Leon has been running well, with 46.4mpg fuel economy and lots of comfort on long trips - which is just as well. I've also been putting its usefully large boot to good use by helping a friend move house. Indeed, in this regard, the Leon is excellent and practical, with 1470 litres being more than enough to take a stack of shelving units or a few large cases. 

Obviously, I'm showing my age here - no one in their 20s would get excited about moving furniture - but it's a big plus point in Leon X-Perience's favour as it's an extremely practical car. What's more it doesn't cost the earth to run. 

Storage wars

With as much as 1470 litres of bootspace on offer, the Leon X-Perience has proven to be a useful addition to the Powell household.

Date: 7 September 2015 | Current mileage: 4273 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 46.4mpg

My girlfriend always has something to say about the cars I get on test. The comments are not always complimentary - or repeatable here - but she does always find a judgement to make, even if it's simply how much she hates the exterior colour or trim of the seats. Thankfully (for the Leon) she has been mostly positive.

You see, over the past few weeks, the SEAT has been helping my other half move into my flat and its 1470 litres of bootspace has won it a golden star with my girlfriend, thanks to its ability to carry her worldly belongings. Indeed, I didn't think it was possible for one person to own so much stuff. Nor did I believe that most of it would fit into just one car. 

What's more, given Cambridge's narrow roads and small parking spaces, the Leon's parking sensors have been buzzing with jubilation as the SEAT has slipped through its narrow roads and into the tightest of parking bays. Okay, maybe I’m overreacting about the jubilation - cars don't buzz with happiness, do they? - but you get my point: the Leon X-Perience has been extremely useful. 

One of the Leon's biggest advantages is found in the shape of the boot, which has a large opening and a low loading floor. This makes it considerably less hassle to load up. What's more, with a flat floor, it's easy to flatten the seats, remove the load cover and slide items right back to the back, touching the driver's seat. However, I do have one reservation, namely the rear body-coloured bumpers that are susceptible to light scratches as you push items over them. 

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  The Leon's large load area is easy to access, thanks to the low floor and wide boot entry. 

We have saved a few quid on the move though and even fully laden the Leon remains easy to drive. Sometimes fully loaded estate cars can feel sluggish in the corners and wallowy under braking, but the SEAT manages to retain its sharp handling characteristics. The interior proved durable too, with no damage, despite the fact that I thought I had bounced a two-seater sofa through the roof when I hopped over a set of steep speed bumps at a pace that can only be described as brisk. 

The Leon is also economical, with the average MPG sitting in the mid-40s and diesel prices continuing to hold at £1.08 per-litre. In fact, I'm saving around £10 on a tank of fuel, with prices 10 pence-per-litre less than they were when I took delivery of the SEAT back in May. 

On the downside, the navigation is still poor when you activate real time traffic updates and the windscreen wipers are almost useless at clearing the screen of dead insects and road grime. I also find the electric window controls to be poorly laid out, which means half the time you hit the wrong button and lower the rear windows instead of the driver's one. 

However, these are relatively minor grumbles against an otherwise easy to use, economical and practical estate car. What's more, with the nights closing in and the temperatures dropping, I will finally get to see how the four-wheel drive system handles on wintery roads. No doubt my girlfriend will have something to say about that too...

X marks the spot

With winter fast approaching, Dan discovers the benefits of a family estate with the added capability of four-wheel drive.

Date: 21 September 2015 | Current mileage: 4701 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 47.2mpg

It might only be the first few days of autumn, but in typical British fashion the weather appears to have skipped a season and nosedived straight into the depths of winter. Although this has prompted much despair in my little corner of East Anglia, it has also allowed me to put the Leon to task on wintery roads. 

The first test came last Friday when I unexpectedly drove through a heavily flooded section of the A14. This alarming mishap happened at junction 30 - where the A14 turns east, away from the start of the M11. As I was driving along the dark, unlit section of A road, in the driving rain, I was unable to spot the fact that the entire outer lane was covered in three inches of water.

Blissfully unaware that a major section of one of Britain's busiest roads was transformed to a swimming pool, I drove into it at 50mph, resulting in two plumes of water covering the car. Thankfully the four-wheel drive Leon remained steady and composed thought out - which is more than can be said for its rather sweary and alarmed driver. I'm not sure I'd be saying the same thing if I hit it in a rear-wheel drive car and I'm not sure I'd be saying anything at all ever again if I was on a motorbike...

Living in Cambridge, I've come to grow an intense dislike for the A14, as the local government doubles the size of the city and does little to expand or improve the surrounding infrastructure. The A14 between Cambridge and Huntingdon has been ignored for years, which results in misery for thousands of commuters every day. Anyway, rant over. The watery experience at least gave me a taster of what the Leon X-Perience can do in adverse weather conditions. 

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 The Leon's LED headlights are useful, but not as bright as you might think

The onset of autumn/winter has also allowed me to utilise the Leon's LED headlights, with the shorter evenings making my drive home a much darker experience. Regular followers of Our Cars will note that my previous long termer - an Audi TT - also had LED headlights, so I was feeling quietly optimistic about seeing everything on the road in the winter months. Sadly, the SEAT system isn't anywhere near as good as the one employed by Audi.

The most notable difference is the brightness, with the Leon's LED headlights appearing darker and less reaching than the Matrix system used by Audi. Both headlights use around 20 LEDs, but the SEAT system simply doesn't work as well, which is disappointing when you factor in the fact that this Leon X-Perience sits in Audi territory with a list price of £30,000. Why doesn't it use the same headlights?

There is some positive news, with fuel economy improving to 47.2mpg. I have to admit to being a little confused, because economy sat at 46.4mpg for months and now it has started to improve, despite the fact I've not changed my commute or fuel type. The extra miles per gallon are welcome through and the Leon remains an efficient family car, with £35 being enough to cover my weekly commute from Cambridge to Peterborough.

However, as I write this, Volkswagen have hit the headlines for all of the wrong reasons with a so-called "emissions scandal". Details are scarce. but it’s being reported that the company has used a cheat device to lower nitrous oxide only - or NOx - which is extremely harmful. Will this scandal spread to SEAT or simply be limited to Volkswagens? Time will inevitably tell.

Volkswagen emissions scandal: Is my SEAT Leon affected?

Volkswagen emissions scandal has been stealing the headlines, but will it affect Dan's SEAT Leon?

Date: 5 October 2015 | Current mileage: 5020 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 47.4mpg

It's been a terrible few weeks for Volkswagen. First it admitted to knowingly cheating emissions regulations tests in the US, then it conceded that the scandal would affect 11 million vehicles worldwide, including 1.2 million here in the UK. Needless to say, it's been a PR disaster for Volkswagen.

Since the news broke two weeks ago, the problems have continued to mount up, forcing Volkswagen's CEO, Martin Winterkorn, to offer a public apology and then his resignation. However, as a SEAT driver, I want to know one important thing - is my Leon affected by all of this?

As many of you will know, Volkswagen group consists of several car manufacturers - Audi, SEAT, Skoda and Volkswagen - but not all of the cars have been implicated in this cataclysmic collection of lies. It's apparently limited to EA189 diesel vehicles with EU5 2.0-litre or 1.6-litre TDI engines only.

My Leon has a EU6 2.0-litre TDI, but like many drivers I wanted to double check that my car wasn't one of the cars affected by the 'scandal'. But how do you do this? It's not like you can lift the bonnet and see a label with EA189, is it?

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Some good news for SEAT and Dan this week, his Leon isn't affected by the emissions scandal

After dragging its feet for the best part of a week, SEAT eventually added a section to its website - found here - that allows owners to check the status of their car. All that is required is the VIN number - found in the front windscreen, in the bottom corner, starting with "VSS". Simply tap this into the website and in theory it will tell you if your car has an emissions cheat device.

As suspected, my car is free of any cheating toys. If my car did have such a thing - and from what I can tell, most EU5 1.6 TDI and 2.0 TDI models do - then I'd be required to take it back to the dealer for a 'specialist service' to remove said device. SEAT say this service will be free and the UK government has also said it will not charge more VED, should the removal of the so-called ‘defeat devices’ changes the level of emissions, whether NOx, CO2 or otherwise.

It's believed that there are around 700,000 SEAT cars fitted with illegal software to cheat the NOx emissions test, but it's unclear how many cars in the UK are affected. If you're subjected to problems, then don't forget that we're here to help. Simply send HJ your questions or contact us via Twitter or Facebook to send us your experiences.

Aside from the emissions saga, the Leon has continued to quietly impress, with marginal improvements in fuel economy and a firm footing in the awful weather. I will be handing it back in a few weeks, but I'm pretty sure that it would be unstoppable in the snow and ice on winter tyres. Perhaps SEAT could organise it for me when they've sorted out the emissions mess?

The end of the X-Perience

It's the end of the road for Dan and his SEAT Leon X-Perience. Will it be a happy or sad parting of ways?

Date: 19 October 2015 | Current mileage: 5641 | Claimed economy: 57.6mpg | Actual economy: 47.4mpg

My six months with the Leon X-Perience is over and after 5641 miles I’m handing the keys back and drawing my final conclusions over SEAT’s all-wheel drive estate. Since taking delivery in the spring, I’ve used the Leon to motor over fields, country lanes and – over the past few weeks – slosh my way through the autumn wind and rain. 

When the Leon X-Perience arrived I was sceptical about all-wheel drive estates. After all, I live in central Cambridge and - unless the Cam river bursts its banks - I am unlikely to ever to need to cross a muddy marsh or wet field to get home. Yet, over the past six months, the Leon has flexed its four-wheel drive muscles and on one occasion save me from a 50mph trip into the central barrier of the A14. 

The 'Leon saved my life' story relates to a few week weeks back when the A14 slip road into Cambridge flooded. At the time it was dark and raining heavily, which prevented me from seeing the huge black puddle that had covered the dark slip road. As a result I ploughed into the water at 50mph, with the Leon's instrument brinicle lighting up with yellow and red lights as the traction control and all-wheel drive aids jumped to prevent me sliding off the road and into the barrier.

Thankfully the four-wheel drive and traction control system found traction within a half second of the car aquaplaning to the right, thus enabling to wrestle control back and continue on my way. I'm not convinced it would have been the same story if I was in a rear-wheel drive estate. Since then the sweaty palmed experience has given me a newfound appreciation for all things four-wheel drive. 

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                 The Leon X-Perience hasn't put a wheel wrong during its time with Dan 

I've also found more money in my wallet over the past six months, with the Leon averaging 47.4mpg. I know the official figures claim 58.9mpg, but anything that gets close to 10mpg of the claimed economy is good in my book and pretty close to the Real MPG average of 80 per cent. 

I do have some concerns about the navigation system in the Leon though. Over the past six months I've found the automatic traffic updates to provide baffling redirects. The system is also prone to changing its mind two or three times at short notice, which again can leave the driver somewhat confused. However, dodgy directions aside, the Leon has been a good motoring companion.

During my 5000 odd miles, I've taken it all over the UK and northern Europe and found the 587-litre boot to be perfect for holidays. I've also used the Leon to move furniture, which again was a painless experience thanks to fold flat seats and removable parcel shelf.  

So, would I buy a SEAT Leon X-Perience for £28,870? Yes and no. Yes, I would buy one, but no I wouldn't get the 185PS version of the 2.0-litre diesel. Instead I'd opt for the 150PS engine, which starts at around £25,000 and is just as much fun to drive with four-wheel drive as standard.