Used Seat Leon (2013-present) long-term test review

Does the Seat Leon – our 2018 Used Car of the Year winner – still make for a great used purchase? And how does the cylinder deactivation technology fitted to its 1.4 EcoTSI engine work in the rea...

Used Seat Leon long-termer at dealer
  • The car 2017 Seat Leon 1.4 EcoTSI FR Technology
  • Run by Max Adams, used cars reporter
  • Why it’s here To find out if our 2018 Used Car of the Year still represents a stonking used purchase
  • Needs to Cope with the daily commute and occasional long-distance trips, as well as establish whether the fuel-saving tech makes financial sense against the cheaper 1.4 TSI 125 model

Price when new £25,245 (including £1885 worth of options) Value on arrival £15,194 Value now £15,392 (dealership price) Mileage on arrival 5583 Mileage now 10,795 Official economy 57.6mpg Test economy 48.5mpg


12 November 2018 - Illuminating

I’m really appreciating the full-LED headlights on our used Seat Leon now that the nights are drawing in and the commute home is getting darker. Not only do they consume less power than a traditional halogen-bulb set-up, but they illuminate the road much better than my dear old Volvo does. This is particularly useful if you live out in the sticks where deer like to appear at the side of the road, threatening to jump out in front of you.

Used Seat Leon (13-present) long-term test review

However, if you’ve read Claire Evans’ story about how much replacement bulbs are, you might have second thoughts about LED lights. Being a sealed unit means there are no ‘bulbs’ to change; so if it fails, you’ll need to replace the whole headlamp at a cost of hundreds. Still, being LED means it should last the life of the car and I’d rather have the benefits of brighter headlamps than one using dim old halogen bulbs, even if they do cost a fortune to fix.

Used Seat Leon (13-present) long-term test review

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