VAG 2.3 V5 any experiences?
Discussion
Particularly in Seat Toledo guise? I'm after a sub £2k 4 door car and spotted a few of these well under budget.
They all seem to have a fair few toys and leather interiors.
Is it a good engine, how do they cope with mileage, most seem to be over 100k and my main concern is fuel consumption. Low to mid thirties I can live with anything less and its a no go.
What are the Toledos like, my train of thought is that its a Leon with a boot, which is a Mk4 Golf, so I conclude it won't be very inspiring to drive but built well and hopefully a nice place to be?
My main criteria for the car itself is that a 2 year old can be fitted in and out of her car seat in the back without too much hassle and the boot must be a reasonable size.
Any input would be great, thanks.
They all seem to have a fair few toys and leather interiors.
Is it a good engine, how do they cope with mileage, most seem to be over 100k and my main concern is fuel consumption. Low to mid thirties I can live with anything less and its a no go.
What are the Toledos like, my train of thought is that its a Leon with a boot, which is a Mk4 Golf, so I conclude it won't be very inspiring to drive but built well and hopefully a nice place to be?
My main criteria for the car itself is that a 2 year old can be fitted in and out of her car seat in the back without too much hassle and the boot must be a reasonable size.
Any input would be great, thanks.
I had a couple of V5's a few years ago.
Sound great not particularly quick, IIRC there was a 150bhp and a later 170bhp, these were VW's I had so not sure which engine SEAT used.
No quicker than the good old 18T but much thirsier, I used to get low 20's mpg wise with a mix of driving.
The cars were a Golf and Beetle BTW.
The only plus point to them is the sound IMO!!
Sound great not particularly quick, IIRC there was a 150bhp and a later 170bhp, these were VW's I had so not sure which engine SEAT used.
No quicker than the good old 18T but much thirsier, I used to get low 20's mpg wise with a mix of driving.
The cars were a Golf and Beetle BTW.
The only plus point to them is the sound IMO!!
I ran a diesel Toledo as a work hack for a few years, was very comfortable, well built and cheap to run! Not sure the V5 will be as cheap but still the same applies.
One thing to watch out for though is the water ingress through the door cards which is a very common issue,in fact im sure most of the early cars suffered from this (along with the rest of the VAG group during this period) but it can be fixed, many guides on www.seatcupra.net on how to fix this.
One thing to watch out for though is the water ingress through the door cards which is a very common issue,in fact im sure most of the early cars suffered from this (along with the rest of the VAG group during this period) but it can be fixed, many guides on www.seatcupra.net on how to fix this.
I had a Toledo 1.8 20v, pretty good boggo motoring, and not bad looking either if you get it nice and shiny.
Something to watch out for is water in the rear footwells. The doors are of a particularly crap design which wasn't fixed until much later on by VAG (IIRC the Toledo was the first car built on that platform, with Mk1 Leon, Mk4 Golf, Mk1 Bora etc coming after it was proven) and can allow water to gather in them, which then spills over. Telltale signs are squidgy/dodgy carpet in the rear footwells and a fusty smelling cabin.
Some more info
Something to watch out for is water in the rear footwells. The doors are of a particularly crap design which wasn't fixed until much later on by VAG (IIRC the Toledo was the first car built on that platform, with Mk1 Leon, Mk4 Golf, Mk1 Bora etc coming after it was proven) and can allow water to gather in them, which then spills over. Telltale signs are squidgy/dodgy carpet in the rear footwells and a fusty smelling cabin.
Some more info
Edited by Graebob on Thursday 22 July 19:27
Yes, used to own one. Try and find a 170 20v model - they all had alcantara/leather + sat nav as standard too. You'll get low thirties ave MPG without too much trouble.
Sounds a lot better than the 1.8 lump, in fact the 1.8 sounds crude by comparison and the 1.8 isnt a bad engine. The turbo charged 1.8s are quicker though.
Boots are big, rear seat legroom isnt too hot if you've got the front seats back. Compared to the Leon I think it was slightly higher build quality (different factories I think?)
Sounds a lot better than the 1.8 lump, in fact the 1.8 sounds crude by comparison and the 1.8 isnt a bad engine. The turbo charged 1.8s are quicker though.
Boots are big, rear seat legroom isnt too hot if you've got the front seats back. Compared to the Leon I think it was slightly higher build quality (different factories I think?)
V5 is very thirsty and not hugely faster than a 1.8 20v, mine had a decatted exhaust, which really freed the engine up and would keep up with a V5 owned by someone I knew, pulls nicely through the revs and makes a fantastic noise but not worth it at all.
I thought my Toledo looked pretty smart the way I had it(it got crashed into and I messed up getting it fixed) and it was nice inside but it was a never ending misery of things breaking. Back seats arent much use if those in the front are 6 foot. Loved the red dials, done about 40,000 miles over two years in it and thought it was very comfortable and the standard speakers are pretty good if you put in a good head unit. Not a huge amount of storage space inside and a very low sump with soft suspension means its easy to hit the sump on the road.
Mine handled safely but not terribly fun, made a nice noise with filter and exhaust. List of things that went wrong on mine (I did drive it really hard though)
MAF which caused the cat to fail(before I fitted a filter before anyone says anything)
Water leaking into the rear footwells (carried out all the fixes yet it still did it)
Rear subframe bushes
Hazard light unit failed so no indicators
Diff spitting a rivet out and cracked gearbox casing
Ignition problem which caused the valves to get burnt and needed the head rebuilt.
ABS sensors failed intermittantly which ended up me driving with no ABS
Replacement gearbox doing exactly the same thing.
Dash lights all failing then deciding to start working again.
Engine mount failing at about 60,000 miles.
Then it decided to clog up the oil pick up pipe (I had been using good oil every 7,500 miles or so), made a ticking noise so I pulled the pan off to check the bearings and the whole sump had clogged up, common problem apparently.
I think there was other problems too but cant remember now.
Not convinced of VAG reliability but had a good laugh in that car and plenty of good memories.
I thought my Toledo looked pretty smart the way I had it(it got crashed into and I messed up getting it fixed) and it was nice inside but it was a never ending misery of things breaking. Back seats arent much use if those in the front are 6 foot. Loved the red dials, done about 40,000 miles over two years in it and thought it was very comfortable and the standard speakers are pretty good if you put in a good head unit. Not a huge amount of storage space inside and a very low sump with soft suspension means its easy to hit the sump on the road.
Mine handled safely but not terribly fun, made a nice noise with filter and exhaust. List of things that went wrong on mine (I did drive it really hard though)
MAF which caused the cat to fail(before I fitted a filter before anyone says anything)
Water leaking into the rear footwells (carried out all the fixes yet it still did it)
Rear subframe bushes
Hazard light unit failed so no indicators
Diff spitting a rivet out and cracked gearbox casing
Ignition problem which caused the valves to get burnt and needed the head rebuilt.
ABS sensors failed intermittantly which ended up me driving with no ABS
Replacement gearbox doing exactly the same thing.
Dash lights all failing then deciding to start working again.
Engine mount failing at about 60,000 miles.
Then it decided to clog up the oil pick up pipe (I had been using good oil every 7,500 miles or so), made a ticking noise so I pulled the pan off to check the bearings and the whole sump had clogged up, common problem apparently.
I think there was other problems too but cant remember now.
Not convinced of VAG reliability but had a good laugh in that car and plenty of good memories.
Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff