Should I buy an Audi or Seat?

[Leicesterdave]

This is a tough and easy question to answer at the same time.

I'm looking at A4 allroads- I found a 12 plate with 115,000 miles for £8,500...
And I found a SEAT "X-Perience" on a 15 plate with 79,000 miles for £9,100...

The SEAT "X-perience"... I'd never heard of it until last week.. It's essentially SEAT's allroad. This is one:

Is 3 years newer
Is quicker (7.1 to 60)
More economical (official 57 mpg)
1 owner
Less miles
DSG (which I prefer as I currently have a BMW with a silky smooth ZF gearbox)
Has more equipment:

Satnav
Electric seats
DAB
Leather seats
LED lights all round
Premium tyres all round with decent tread on them

The Allroad to my eyes is nicer looking but:

3 years older
Slower (8.9 to 60)
Thirstier (official 46 mpg)
3 owners
Cloth seats
Manual
High miles ( doesn't bother me too much as motorway miles clearly but nevertheless)
No satnav
Halogen headlights
Budget tyres

Now, as I've typed this, it even seems more ridiculous to consider the allroad but it just has that appeal to me. I guess we all know what that is- there's just a feel good factor with german cars that you simply don't get with other cars. Much as SEAT is a VAG group car it just doesn't feel the same.

My other half feels I'd be mad to go for the A4- would I??

Edited by Leicesterdave on Wednesday 15th May 06:20

[anonymous-user]

Nearly £9k on an A4 with 115k miles and budget tyres sounds like a bad joke.

[StescoG66]

Depends if you value the product or the badge.............

Personally wouldn’t touch that allroad.

[loskie]

even better look at an Octavia Scout

[A1VDY]

loskie said:

even better look at an Octavia Scout

+1
A better looking car over either plus you won't have the stigma with that Audi badge..

[Leicesterdave]

Had a Mk1 Scout- styling wise I do find them extremely dull. The SEAT does look sporty at least.

[stevemcs]

I’d go with the seat.

[Nickbrapp]

I had the same issue

Audi A3, TDI manual, 140BHP, 65k on the clocks , no optional Extras £15,000

Seat leon 2.0 TDI DSG 184bhp, 40K on the clock, ACC, pan roof, LED headlights VS the Audi Xenon, seat sound, sat nav, half leather half suede seats, tech pack, titanium pack (different wheels, and mirror caps) £12k

Bought the seat and loved it.

You can see where they have saved money but it’s really not important, stuff like in the leon the glove box and doors aren’t lined with rubber so stuff moves about, in a A3 it doesnt, there’s gas struts in the bonnet of a A3 the leon makes do with the usual stalk thing to hold it open

IMO the leon is the better car

[p4cks]

Audi will have slightly better quality plastics within the interior, everything else becomes subjective.

Go with the SEAT

[Rich Boy Spanner]

I appreciate cars are in some respects to some people an emotional purchase, but on any rational decision making level it would have to be the SEAT.

[Fiisch]

We have a Seat Leon (17 plate), 1.2 Technology. It is the dullest most miserable piece of sh*te I've ever driven.

It's also probably the best car I've ever owned. It's actually faster to 62 than my first "hot hatch", it's economical, practical, spacious for that class and well equipped. Had it from new on PCP for relative peanuts, and it's been brilliant.

My God it is dull though

[Rawwr]

Leicesterdave said:

there's just a feel good factor with german cars that you simply don't get with other cars.

Interesting.

[Julietbravo]

Nickbrapp said:

I had the same issue

You can see where they have saved money but it’s really not important, stuff like in the leon the glove box and doors aren’t lined with rubber so stuff moves about, in a A3 it doesnt, there’s gas struts in the bonnet of a A3 the leon makes do with the usual stalk thing to hold it open

IMO the leon is the better car

Having owned Seat, Skoda and Audi, Nick is right - I think that the Seats and Skodas sometime use combinations of old and new VAG technology to keep the cost down; not that that is a bad thing - we did huge mileages in the non-Audis with tremendous reliability. We were looking at A6's recently and the Sales Manager was very candid and said that they are struggling to justify the price differential; 'the bonnet stays up on it's own' is not cutting it, and internet shopping makes objective comparisons between marques much easier.

[ninjag]

Rawwr said:

Leicesterdave said:

there's just a feel good factor with german cars that you simply don't get with other cars.

Interesting.

lol I was thinking the same but then there's more than one way to feel good with an Audi Allroad.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAhR1MLGYNU

[Terzo123]

I had an new a3 with the 1.4 act engine. Ran that on a lease for 3 years. I now have, well the wife does, a seat leon with the exact same engine.

Yes the Audi has the nicer interior, and "quality" feel. But the Seat drives just as well, is miles cheaper and has loads more toys as standard.

Both are great cars, it's just down to what you place value on.

[p4cks]

Terzo123 said:

I had an new a3 with the 1.4 act engine. Ran that on a lease for 3 years. I now have, well the wife does, a seat leon with the exact same engine.

Yes the Audi has the nicer interior, and "quality" feel. But the Seat drives just as well, is miles cheaper and has loads more toys as standard.

Both are great cars, it's just down to what you place value on.

I also ran the same engined Audi and have been looking at the equivalent Leon's and there's not a great deal of difference - other than the price

[Nickbrapp]

p4cks said:

I also ran the same engined Audi and have been looking at the equivalent Leon's and there's not a great deal of difference - other than the price

There’s really very little between the golf A3 and leon, the facelift leon got a electric handbrake like the other 2, closing the gap ever morre, the golf has ACC as standard but the others don’t.

I have a A3 saloon now, which replaced the Leon, my sister has a new Ibiza, with the same engine, the mk3 leon screen and entertainment system isn’t as good as the A3, but the new leon gets the same as the Ibiza and many other new VAG cars and it’s miles ahead of the A3 one, which I find takes a age to start up when you get in the car,

The A3 interior is a lovely place to be with the aluminium vents etc and the seats are more comfrsble than the Leon but not massively so, I also really liked the Leon’s interior, it had a couple more rattles than the A3 but the Leon was 3 years old vs a brand new A3.

If I was Op i would go for the Leon, halogen headlights for starters is a no no, and that shape A4 the MMI is from the original b7 so won’t get Apple car play and will be dog slow now, the Leon system is better.

[Prizam]

Rawwr said:

Leicesterdave said:

there's just a feel good factor with german cars that you simply don't get with other cars.

Interesting.

[Wooda80]

I was in a similar position when I had to buy my own car for the first time in a number of years.

Wanted a Golf but for what I wanted to spend the age and spec of the VW was unappealing. Same money got me a newer Leon with the same engine, DAB, Nav, 18s and LED headlights.

I can see where the extra money goes on a Golf of the same age and mileage, and no doubt the same applies to the Audi too, but it's just a question of which things you prefer.

[clarkee200]

Passat Alltrack is a good middle ground. I have a 2013 model and its been a great wagon with better interior than any Seat I have ever been in.

10k should get you a 2013/14 car with loads of options and about 60/70k miles.

Not many of them around either