Shed Of The Week: Seat Leon Cupra 20VT
Yep, a Leon this good really is available for Shed money!
That was a twin-intercooler Cupra R with gorgeous 1-8inch wheels. This week's SOTW isn't. It's, well, a bit mysterious. It's being touted as a 'Leon 20V Turbo Cupra' with 210hp, but the 20VT was never that poky. That had a 180hp motor.
The only other thing that may or may not be connected to the odd naming and horsepower issues on this ad is that there's nothing coming up for the car on the MoT history check site. That's odd considering it passed its last one only a couple of months ago, with no advisories. You can't trust the internet of course. If you could, Shed would never have picked Mrs Shed off that dating site. But the absence of info does give you pause. (Following later investigation, Shed has managed to cajole his Amstrad into providing MOT info - apologies for any confusion!).
Still, assuming it is the 180 rather than the 210, that's nevertheless enough to take you well into the 140mph range, with average mpg figures in the mid-30s rising to over 40mpg on a relaxed motorway cruise courtesy of the high-geared six-speed 'box. Boil it right down and you're looking a very practical FWD five-seater that weighed around 1,300kg and handled very neatly. If you're planning on trackdaying it they're a bit marginal on braking, but generally speaking they're fun little cars with a nice sense of solidity about them.
So, a Leon 20VT in a smashing colour and with a long MOT - what's not to like?
Well, Leon rear doors have a nasty habit of not opening. It could be an errant cable behind the door card, but sometimes you can cajole them into action by using the same slapping technique as the Fonz used on the Happy Days jukebox. Or of course you could just go for the traditional PH method of smashing the back doors in.
Under the bonnet, coil packs were the first and most usual suspects for failure. There was a lot of argy-bargy about this between the Volkswagen group and its coil supplier at the time. Reduced turbo boost pressure was the clue. It's a historic problem, obviously, as any Leons from this era that are still successfully producing sparks today will be doing so thanks to coils that aren't made from Bakelite, asbestos or other dodgy retro materials.
Water gets in around the rear lamps and the door bottoms, and anyone who has had the problem of the rear washer pipe coming adrift on their Mk4 Golf will be delighted to hear that the Leon is similarly afflicted.
Some SEAT designer booby pointed the horn forwards with the result that they fill up with water in non-Spanish climes. Air mass sensors are known for going west and are not especially cheap to replace.
The current cambelt on this car is 36,000 miles old. This needs careful watching as a snap will comprehensively trash the motor. It's a four-year/60K replacement cycle and changing it (and the water pump plus associated belt drives) is a bit fiddly on these 1.8 20-valvers. That Extreme Blue paint is lovely but soft, not really an issue at the sub-£1K end of the market but worth mentioning if you're the fastidious sort.
The process of clarifying the MoT and power issues should knock a couple of hundred off the price, at which point you should be able to pull the trigger with a light heart.
Lovely car to drive, smooth and powerful with great acceleration.
MOT until August 2017, with the last MOT having no advisory notes
New cam belt fitted at 80503 miles. Excellent condition inside and out, lovely and clean.
Electric windows, mirrors, sunroof and front seats for adjustment, air conditioning, 6 x CD changer, leather trim, heated front seats, folding rear seats, child seat points (Isofix system), sports seats, power steering, steering wheel rake adjustment, steering wheel reach adjustment, traction control, central locking, alarm, drivers and passenger airbags, side airbags
MOT expires 3rd August 2017, no advisories on any test since the one in 2012, plus moderate but sensible mileages (about 8k per year) being recorded, which suggests it's in regular use not just parked on someone's drive.
We test drove the shopping trolley version of one of these years ago and owing to price / age difference, opted to buy a Ka instead. A decision I have regularly regretted since.
Rear door locks - can still be opened from inside but do not put child locks on! Small solenoid that releases the door catch gives up, yes banging it helps initially but it goes, had this on a Audi A3 SE, similar thing failed on my Ibiza and father's A4 tailgate lock/release.
Coil Packs - yep, my A3 TFSI & the Ibiza.
Door Seals - Father A4
Rear washer hose - Father's A4, Girlfriends Ibiza and 2 Fabias, my A3 SE and yes my Ibiza - probably better it pops off in the hatch trim rather than elsewhere in the car. helps by regularly making sure the washer jet aren't blocked by road grime/tree sap - never happened on the A3 TFSI though.
Always liked the Leon Cupra despite not owning one, really feel the wheels add to the discreteness of it.
Owned a 2004 Furby and rear washer was an issue. Just use a small cable tie and it'll never come off again.
Owned a 2004 Octy vRS and in 90K never had to replace a coil pack. Rear washer stopped working at some point.
All of the above could get wet at the bottom of the rear door seals.
The mess below was what I found after trying to track down an intermittent musty smell in our 2003 mk4 Golf that had been irritating me for months. Finally, during the repeated downpours in the run up to Christmas 2014, I noticed the rear footwell carpets were wet. The strip down revealed the extent of the issue. From the intermittent musty smell, and the rate of the leak when hosed from outside (a tiny drip), I reckon this had been leaking for months if not years before it revealed itself, and the water was being absorbed by the sound insulation. Only when that finally soaked through did it bubble up through the carpets.
After fixing the leak, drying the sodden carpets and insulation out over 2 weeks, and thorough cleaning, it did all recover (and stay dry). But a disgusting, smelly, mucky job that I never want to have to repeat.
The mess below was what I found after trying to track down an intermittent musty smell in our 2003 mk4 Golf that had been irritating me for months. Finally, during the repeated downpours in the run up to Christmas 2014, I noticed the rear footwell carpets were wet. The strip down revealed the extent of the issue. From the intermittent musty smell, and the rate of the leak when hosed from outside (a tiny drip), I reckon this had been leaking for months if not years before it revealed itself, and the water was being absorbed by the sound insulation. Only when that finally soaked through did it bubble up through the carpets.
After fixing the leak, drying the sodden carpets and insulation out over 2 weeks, and thorough cleaning, it did all recover (and stay dry). But a disgusting, smelly, mucky job that I never want to have to repeat.
Driving wise the Mk4 golf GTI got a slating the time, don't remember these being much better. Good daily driver but for a proper hot hatch better off looking for a Suzuki Ignis Sport similar to the one featured a few weeks past.
Check coilpacks for outstanding recall with SEAT. I got all mine replaced free of charge by SEAT despite never having been near a dealer since 2007.
After fixing the leak, drying the sodden carpets and insulation out over 2 weeks, and thorough cleaning, it did all recover (and stay dry). But a disgusting, smelly, mucky job that I never want to have to repeat.
Drying the carpets took a couple of days. They actually came up like new after a shampoo and vac, believe it or not.
Drying the insulation (a giant sponge) took 2 weeks in a heated garage.
And it didn't smell very nice.
All down to a tiny (really!) weep on the offside rear door bottom seal.
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