1.9 TDi S

A very reliable car that's a real pleasure to drive!

Having always driven Audis I found myself struggling a bit for cash so after a lot of research opted for this second hand Seat Leon, which I was told was now basically a VW/Audi anyway, but at a lot cheaper price!
(Or as a Seat salesman told me - VW/Audi are just very expensive Seats!)
Having read several reviews I knew there were some issues - ride being too firm, road noise, turbo whine.
However my own experience is that the ride firmness is absolutely fine, it gives you nice stability and helps make it a pleasure and fun to drive, without being uncomfortable on long journeys.
There is definite road noise but it's not a major issue with the radio on and it has been helped a bit by fitting Champion tyres.
The turbo was a bit of a worry to start with as I realised it was making the dreaded 'police siren in the distance' noise, which I'd read on many forums was a 'guaranteed' warning sign that the turbo was about to blow up. I took it to Seat and the guy there said no worries, it sometimes happens in the manufacturing process that it's minutely out of balance but will not be a problem. I wasn't convinced of course... but 2.5 years and 25000mls later he's been proved right, it hasn't altered at all, no problems and just that very faint police siren noise which is actually quite a nice sound when you hit the accelerator!
The brakes are absolutely brilliant - far better than any Audi I've ever had.
MPG is fantastic - I drive fairly carefully so usually get over 60mpg no problem.
What I love about it though is the extra power that immediately kicks in when you're overtaking. Sitting behind someone at 30/40 mph you can very safely shoot past them quickly with great acceleration in 4th gear - or 5th gear if you're at 50mph+
What have I had to get repaired?
Well nothing really apart from replacing the timing belt and water pump as per the servicing schedule - I shopped around and got this done for £320.
Faults?
Nothing really - parcel shelf clips broke. It once didn't start because a vacuum hose had slipped off the air filter. I've noticed that if left on a slope and not started for 2 or 3 days it then takes a couple of minutes to get going rather than the usual instant fire - presumably the diesel must drain down or something.

So, would I recommend it and would I buy another?
I absolutely love it, so yes, definitely!

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