Leon Cupra - Buying tips

[DamianBlades]

Hi, I am really thinking about getting a Leon Cupra and was wondering what things I should know about buying one.

I am looking to spend about £2500 - £3000, Colour preferably black, mk1 or newer. Is this realistic or do I need to spend more?

Also re-mapping. Yes/No? and how much?

Thanks DB

[Cupramax]

Think you'll struggle to find one for that money unless its a very early one and likely to have been to the moon and back. Have a look through the classifieds on here to give yourself and idea.

Its basically a mk1 A3 underneath and uses the A3 dash and of course all the usuall 1.8T problems occur, coil packs are a likely issue, water pump (due to the impellars breaking up) and timing belt need changing after 60k. Service history is important as the turbo likes fresh oil of the correct grade to prevent blockages in the turbos oilways so dealer service is good as its likely to have had the correct oil. Also I'd avoid a modded one even if its got what you want, its likely to be thrashed. I'd find a standard one and mod to your own needs.

Remaps, well, where to start. The world and his grandma can tune this engine. A few are Revo,AmD,APR,Custom Code,Oettinger,Superchips the list goes on and on, cost from £300ish.

[missing the VR6]

As above but get the water pump changed when you do the belt as the cambelt has to come off to change the water pump. Given your budget I'd factor in the pump and belt change due to the likely age of the vehicle, not a particularly expensive job, I paid about £250 from a very reputable garage in Gillingham who work on much better cars then the t plate A3 turbo I had.

[blueg33]

My wife has 2002 Mk1 Leon Cupra which we plan to sell. I was thinking circa £2500-3000 max its done 70,000 miles and has service history.

One coil pack has failed and been replaced, a spring has broken and been replaced (broken springs are common apparently). Turbo has been fine, a vacuum hose had a smll leak but that was fixed by our indy for a couple of £'s, the clutch on the alternator also failed which is also fairly common.

Great cars, pretty quick, handle well for a front drive hatch and good spec, ours has leather, electric seats, climate etc. It is a really nice car to drive, we will struggle to replace it with something larger that is as fast and handles as well.

Edited by blueg33 on Tuesday 19th January 06:42

[Yorkshirepud]

I'd say 3k is realistic for a prefacelife (<2003) Mk1 Cupra 20vt 180bhp. Have a look on seatcupra.net/forums for all the advice you'd ever need.

[tegwin]

Watch out for damp carpets.. the internal door seals tend to leak.... easily fixsed, buut a good haggling point!

[cuprabob]

Damp carpets is also caused by perished seal on the pollen filter housing.

Also look out for the common fan problem. Cooling fans should run low speed when A/C is on otherwise they pulse and can blow a fuse. As said before plenty of good info. on seatcupra.net

[Cupramax]

cuprabob said:

Damp carpets is also caused by perished seal on the pollen filter housing.

Or the fact that whoever replaced it at the service didn't fit the rear flap of the seal properly. This will equate to an indoor swimming pool in the passenger footwell.

[cuprabob]

Cupramax said:

cuprabob said:

Damp carpets is also caused by perished seal on the pollen filter housing.

Or the fact that whoever replaced it at the service didn't fit the rear flap of the seal properly. This will equate to an indoor swimming pool in the passenger footwell.

Very good point

[blueg33]

cuprabob said:

Cupramax said:

cuprabob said:

Damp carpets is also caused by perished seal on the pollen filter housing.

Or the fact that whoever replaced it at the service didn't fit the rear flap of the seal properly. This will equate to an indoor swimming pool in the passenger footwell.

Very good point

ok so how should it be fitted? How does one tell if its fitted wrong...apart from paddling?