Leon Cupra R

[lang24]

Morning guys n girls

I am Looking at Seat leon Cupra R 225 around 2003-2005 shape budget of 6k Ive seen a few and there is one right on my doorstep! only its a dealer and the description of the car is telling me to keep looking and forget it,:confused: the car is 2005 silver with 58k on the clock up for £6400 3 owners but here the bad bits recent service includes cambelt, water pump, battery, clutch and a turbo!! a clutch and turbo before 60k indicates to me a hard life!! just wondered what opinions other people have on it?

Cheers

[Cuprabob]

I had a MK1 LCR back in the day when they first came out and did around 80k miles over the 3 years I owned it. It was a great can and as far as I know it's still going strong.

From that description you give it sounds to me that the car has had a hard life so I would walk away as there are many well cared for examples around.

They all suffer from common faults which blighted all the variants based on the MK4 Golf. Get yourself over to seatcupra.net and do your research.

Things to look out for are radiator fan controller faults, damp carpets due to pollen filter housing or door seals, coilpack failures, temp sensor failures

[DanG]

These are easily and cheaply remapped too, potentially putting additional stresses on some of the parts youve mentioned and meaning its not had an relaxed life. That said, if its had that work done to it, its probably sorted a few of the future issues.

Although, lets be honest the Cupra R was never going to be driven sedately....

One observation would be that for that amount of money, you're knocking on the door of Mk 5 Golf GTI territory - which we all know is the fastest car available - and a nicer place to be than the Seat IMO.

[Mook]

I'd walk away from that one. It's a real buyer's market for anything at the minute, and you should be able to pick up a peach for that kind of money - one that's been properly maintained

[lang24]

Cheers guys im glad it wasnt just me thinking that, when i questioned the dealer about it he just said "its one of those wear and tear items i suppose!!" working for mercedes for 8 years i can only assume its had the mother of all thrashings from cold start etc. but as u guys have said there are some decent ones out there. What sorta mileage would you look out for cos ive seen a few around 80k with full service histories and looking standard (no coloured induction pipes and k&n jobbies) but instinct tells me to hunt for something with less mileage? again thanks for the advice.

[Mook]

I'd look at something that's covered 10-15k miles a year, so an 06 car would be anything between 50k and 75k. Use that mileage as a negotiating tool re getting the cambelt, tensioners and water pump changed

[Cuprabob]

I do a relatively long commute (60 miles each way) so my cars rack up the mileage but are not really stressed that much as they tend to be cruising on a dual carriageway or motorway. Mileage to me is just a number, more important IMO is to have a fully documented history and the condition of the car. Regular oil changes on these is a must.

One thing I was surprised with my LCR was the rate at which it went through the Brembo brake pads. As said above I'm not hard on brakes and managed to still be on the original pads and discs after 5 years / 84k miles in my R32 but on the LCR I couldn't get anymore than 20k out of a set of front pads. Never tried them but I'm told Ferodo DS2500 are the pad of choice for these.

A great fun car to have and grossly underrated IMO and much better than the Golf MK4 of the same era.

[Andrew]

I've still got my LCR.

I've had all sorts done to mine, including the clutch at about 60-70k (although I seem to recall this was done simply because the slave clutch cylinder went so it was a "might as well while we are there" sort of job - clutch and slave cylinder weeping isn't uncommon), numerous brake pads (as CB says above), the water pump (not an uncommon failure, often they do the belt at the same time) and things like CV joints and hubs. It did have a time when everything seemed to be going wrong and I'm a pretty tame driver really - it rarely gets above 5k rpm!

Mine has done 105k now and it has been perfectly reliable for the last 3 years or so. Front tyres are a bit of a regular item - expect about 15k out of them or so, depending on how you drive it.

I do love mine although am considering perhaps chopping it in next yer for something uber economic since running two cars of good performance is a bit of a luxury that isn't really needed. That said, on a long run I can get 32mpg out of it - round town only 23 or so. It also has masses of space for bikes, sports kit etc. I don't have to take the wheels off the bike in order to get it in the back, just driop the back seats and shoehorn it in.

I've had REVO put on mine as well as Mintex pads and discs, a Miltek and some KONI suspension. It is meant to chuck out 270hp but I'd be surprised if it was given its age (2003) and use. Oh, and the best mod, a Becker stereo that looks totally OEM (and I mean totally - you would never know it didn't come with the car) and adds Bluetooth and iPod.

Feel free to ask any questions you might like.

[lang24]

I have done some reaserch on the LCR and thats why its become the main contender, my background on cars isnt long at all started off in a 1993 1.2 corsa then i picked up a mint 2001 vectra 1.8 16v sxi which ive been running the past 6 years and put 70-80k on it so my annual mileage wont be astronomical but im looking for a car to serve me a few years that packs a punch for the money im spending and isnt too bad to run i dont mind the fuel costs so long as wen i put my foot down it shifts. ive looked at skoda octavia vrs and test drove a normal cupra with a stage 1 revo remap running 210bhp and that was fun but im thinking the LCR has 225 standard and is only £30-50 dearer to insure than than cupra and it looks much better IMO repair costs and servicing isnt a problem as i do my own servicing and have a good friend that specialises in VAG. but after recieving good welcome feedback from this forum i thought it would be worth seeing wat the opinions of other owners were like. just need to find one and experience the joy myself!

[Tipex]

Last months PPC magazine had a buying guide on the Leon, if you like, I can probably scan it and email it to you, providing my son hasn't got his hands on it yet.

[Andrew]

As a guide - decent tyres wll be over £100 each (I have Assymetric 2s at £117 each - PSS are £145). Brake pads are about £150 for the front set. Front disks and pads are about £350-£400 IIRC.

Petrol (V Power) is about £86 a tank and expect anything from 300 to 450 miles from that.

[lang24]

Last months PPC magazine had a buying guide on the Leon, if you like, I can probably scan it and email it to you, providing my son hasn't got his hands on it yet.

If u could do that id be very greatful thankyou Tipex, Andrew all these parts are wear and tear items that will require replacing at some stage as i said i do pretty much all the service/repair work on my cars so those prices dont scare me lol. thankyou though for your information im a bit more clued up on what to expect.

[Andrew]

Fair enough. Actually, even I used to do the front pads myself - they really are easy on the Brembos. Make sure you buy a couple of coil packs too as they tend to go. Out of the 4 originals I've only got one left - the rest "went" and were replaced by the RAC.