seat leon/vw golf

[B757-236GT]

I know this is a model railwayvforum but im thinking of getting a newer car. Ive found a nice 1.6 petrol seat leon but i dont know what it does to the gallon and i never trust manufacturers figures. Motoring forums havent much help as they get bogged down in details. Does anyone here have one (or a vw golf 1.6 petrol)  and can tell me what they get.

Thanks

Richard

[ParkeNd]

I know this is a model railwayvforum but im thinking of getting a newer car. Ive found a nice 1.6 petrol seat leon but i dont know what it does to the gallon and i never trust manufacturers figures. Motoring forums havent much help as they get bogged down in details. Does anyone here have one (or a vw golf 1.6 petrol)  and can tell me what they get.

Thanks

Richard

I am now on my second new petrol Golf but it is the new spec 1.4 TSI with turbocharger. It has two personalities. You can drive like a saint using cruise control in which case it achieves 52 mpg according to the trip computer by the end of say a 50 mile trip. Or you can use it's performance in which case it uses all of it's 127 bhp and returns about 40 mpg. I do a bit of both types of driving. A full tank lasts about 450 miles.

However the older 1.6 engine is quite a lot less powerful and probably is good for about 38 mpg overall. Good cars though.

[Calnefoxile]

Rich,

Don't get the petrol one, get a diesel one.

You know my car is the Golf Estate 1.6 tdi Bluemotion and I can get upwards of 60mpg on a long run. I'm averaging 550-600 miles per tank.

Oh yeah and the Golf is fabulous I don't want to get rid of it, but as it's a company car and nearly 4 years old, I have no choice.

It looks like I may be getting a Vauxhall Ampera as a replacement. Not sure what that's going to be like, but suffice it to say, I won't be able to cart HHC around anymore :-(:-(

Cheers

Neal.

[Dancess]

Don't get petrol just look for a diesel if economy important. Golf now looks overweight (like me) compared to the Leon which has a younger image. I have a 2L Volvo S60 diesel which produces 163bhp and have just come back from SW France on 3/4 tank of fuel averaging 55mpg cruising at 80mph. Diesel only the equivalent of £1.06/L there so one good thing about France.
In the end it depends what sort of motoring you do.

Dan

[apsheehan]

Ive had a 58 reg Golf 1.6 Match Fsi petrol for 30 months. I get about 40 mpg, but I do short runs of town driving and you should get more on long runs, but I don't think its to bad. When I bought it I was told that the diesels are a good idea if you do a lot of miles for economy (obviously) but can have problems if they don't do long distances most days, something to do with the fuel filters. But this could have been car salesman BS. I'm very happy with the car overall, its comfy and well built, although the after sales service I (and friends) have had from the local VW dealer has been useless (8 months to get the I pod dock working!). If you get one, find a good independent garage for servicing, he can still stamp the service history.

Regards,

Andrew

[jonclox]

but can have problems if they don't do long distances most days, something to do with the fuel filters. But this could have been car salesman BS.

I was warned off of diesels by 2 independent garages for that very reason when I last changed my car. I only do short distances normally so took their advice although I really prefer diesels

[Newportnobby]

Time was when diesels had to be serviced more frequently than petrols - don't know whether that is still the case?
However, diesels generally have greater longevity than petrol.
Cue lots of stories................

[Rob H]

DO NOT buy a diesel engined car unless you're doing more than average mileage, the particulate filter will get "clogged" up unless the engine gets a good motorway blast every week and the cost is mind blowing.
Why on earth would this be "salesman's BS", its damn good advice, do a Google search for "particulate filter".

[d-a-n]

What is your avaerage mielage and what age 1.6 Golf/leon are you looking at? In Golf terms, I'm assuming it'd be a mk4 or 5...

Diesel is great etc but only if you're doing more than about 15k a year. There are lots of things present on a diesel engine which can go wrong, particulate filter, turbocharger, intercooler, fuel pumps etc which are EXPENSIVE. A petrol engine won't give the same mpg, but the expensive parts like turbos and I/Cs generally aren't there (so they can't fail on you!)

[oscar]

DO NOT buy a diesel engined car unless you're doing more than average mileage, the particulate filter will get "clogged" up unless the engine gets a good motorway blast every week and the cost is mind blowing.
Why on earth would this be "salesman's BS", its damn good advice, do a Google search for "particulate filter".

Depends on the engine. I have a 2005 Audi A3 140 Tdi and it doesn't have a DPF.....
I only do about 6-7000 a year, it's a dsg and soooo relaxing to drive; it has paddles if you want to pretend to be a boy racer! My trips are mainly town and the moors, it rarely gets into top gear but returns a consistent 45 mpg, brim to brim on the trip meter. 

[Rob H]

http://www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/fuels-and-environment/diesel-particulate-filters.html

This article by the AA explains in simple terms why it would be inadvisable to buy a diesel engined car if you drive low mileage.

"Depends on the engine. I have a 2005 Audi A3 140 Tdi and it doesn't have a DPF.....
I only do about 6-7000 a year, it's a dsg and soooo relaxing to drive; it has paddles if you want to pretend to be a boy racer! My trips are mainly town and the moors, it rarely gets into top gear but returns a consistent 45 mpg, brim to brim on the trip meter. "

Your car was built prior to 2009, every diesel engined car built since 2009 has to have a particulate filter by law !

Hope this helps,

Rob.

[dodger]

DO NOT buy a diesel engined car unless you're doing more than average mileage, the particulate filter will get "clogged" up unless the engine gets a good motorway blast every week and the cost is mind blowing.
Why on earth would this be "salesman's BS", its damn good advice, do a Google search for "particulate filter".

Quite agree diesel particulate filters are trouble unless you are constantaly driving hard. Repairs are generally at least 1.5K. I know form the personal experience of family.

My daughter swears by her petrol 2.0L Golf R.

Dodger

[Rustybear87]

Hi mate I cant say on the mileage of a 1.6, but I can vouch for build quality etc as I own a bora. One of my friends use to have the old 1.8 turbo engined audi a3 which did about 30mpg, mine is a1.9tdi pd130 with a remap and averages 50mpg-mixed driving. Very cheap to run, and as long as youre willing to spend a bit on servicing and replacing tbings that need doing the car wont let you down. Look after it and itll look after you!

[Tdm]

Plenty of Golfs and Seats in Tenerife, but the car that now people appear to be buying more and more is the Skoda (which are owned by VW hence quality has improved leaps and bounds in recent years).

Skodas now come out top in User Satisfaction surveys and are no longer the laughing stock they used to be, but because of their past reputation they tend to be much cheaper than say an equivalent Golf. Just a thought.

Tenerife Taxis which used to be mostly Mercs are now being replaced by Skoda Octavias & Superbs, and Taxi drivers wouldn't choose a car that is going to be unreliable.

[oscar]

Your car was built prior to 2009, every diesel engined car built since 2009 has to have a particulate filter by law !

So buy a pre - 2009 car without a dpf! Mine'll do me for at least the next 10 years.