New Car - Exeo? Something Else?

[silver1011]

Fair point. But really don't like the Octy hatch. I don't like the way it looks side on and when I took a pre facelift one out for a test drive a while back all I could see in the rear view mirror was spoiler.

I like my spoiler, not for the improved aerodynamics or asthetics but the fact that it means you can open and close the boot without getting your hands dirty, makes an ideal rest for the box you are carrying whilst you search your pockets for the keys and how when the idiot behind insists on driving three inches of your bumper it nicely obscures his Halfords special overly bright headlight bulbs!

[DaveyBoyWonder]

As well as being an rehashed a4, they're as ugly as sin. 15k is into new shape a4 territory now? or 330d tourings etc? theres a whole mountain of cars id rather have over an Exeo.

[Jockdooshbag]

Someone has said it already, they had a 52 plate car which the Exeo is based on. That's 11 years ago and it wasn't brand new then! You have to put a lot of toys on something that's based on a 12 year old design for me to be interested!

Never thought of this but to be honest if your car is going to be based on an old platform / design then the B7 audi platform is a good one to be based on, very solid car.

But you could surely argue that the octavia mk2 is currently a 9 year old design, doesn't have the toys as standard and didn't get a mid life reengineer like the Exeo did when it went to Seat. I'm not a Seat fan but driving a B7 and an Exeo is a different experience in terms of handling. :-)

Was the mk2 not based on the mk6 golf? I suppose this was only a alight re-hash of the mk 5 golf right enough but again this was a good place to start from anyway and TBH the mk5 golf can still hold its own against a lot of current cars.

Like someone else said though 15k can buy a decent 3 series from the E90 range or the current A4 range which would get my vote over an exeo but an exeo is a good car in isolation.

[slider]

Seat Leon?

See my post in auto tests section

[Jockdooshbag]

Seat Leon?

See my post in auto tests section

Id take an exeo over a leon any day of the week. One has the best interior of any car ive ever owned and the other has the biggest plastic slab of hideousness i have ever seen. Granted the leon is ultimately the newer platform but so what, what real world difference does this actually make??

[Yeti_Man]

Never thought of this but to be honest if your car is going to be based on an old platform / design then the B7 audi platform is a good one to be based on, very solid car.

Was the mk2 not based on the mk6 golf? I suppose this was only a alight re-hash of the mk 5 golf right enough but again this was a good place to start from anyway and TBH the mk5 golf can still hold its own against a lot of current cars.

Like someone else said though 15k can buy a decent 3 series from the E90 range or the current A4 range which would get my vote over an exeo but an exeo is a good car in isolation.

The FL Octy had no mechanical changes bar the engine afaik - the suspension etc were all mk5 and still are today. I liked the pre FL VRS alot and contemplated getting a brand new FL VRS a few months back (funnily enough, as a result of the Seat dealer 'losing' my order for an Exeo ST what was apparently waiting at the docks as a nice optioned up pre order) but decided I couldnt live with the looks - far too smoothed off and taiwanese looking to my eyes, plus I always thought if put the power down and handled far worse than the Golf GTI (by design I guess). I actually preffered the way the Exeo Sport Tech drove!

As you rightly say, the B7 platform is very mature now and if you look at the issues that come up with them on Seat Cupra.net they are very very reliable overall, the most reliable Seat by far Id suggest and I personally love the teutonic, solid feel of that interior - to me the B7 cabriolet interior (as thats what it is, not the B7 saloon/avant interior) is up there with the Mk4 Golf interior - exceptionally good for the class of car it went into.

[Hannibal]

Lots to think about. Thanks everybody. Had nver really considerd the latest Audi or BMW. Certainly assumed that serving on the Ulitmate Driving Machine would be expensive.

Looking at the online specs it seems that cars based upon newer tech have big savings in terms of weight and emmissions and some "toys" are standard that may have been options on older models. Some test drives will have to be the next step to see if the benfits of a newer platform show through.

[silver1011]

As well as being an rehashed a4, they're as ugly as sin. 15k is into new shape a4 territory now? or 330d tourings etc? theres a whole mountain of cars id rather have over an Exeo.

But £15K gets you a very nearly new Exeo.

If you want an A4, 3-Series or C-Class for the same money you'll be looking over three years old and 50,000+ miles.

[Yeti_Man]

But £15K gets you a very nearly new Exeo.

If you want an A4, 3-Series or C-Class for the same money you'll be looking over three years old and 50,000+ miles.

Totally agree - looked online at some last night (after reading this thread!) A couple of the Sport Tech's with 1300 and 1600 miles on the clock, pre reg'ed with massive savings sounds very good to me.

[Longdog]

I saw one of the face lifted Exeos today and I have to say that I like it, I owned a B7 S4, the interior was excellent and still looks good now, in fact one of the main grumbles of B8 A4 owners is that they prefer the B7 interior so I wouldn't let the fact that it's an old design put you off.

I never had any grumbles handling wise, so if Seat have improved it then it should be a pretty good drive. Space in the back and boot won't be as good as an Octavia and they do tend to eat front tyres.

In the end it'll come down to personal choice and whichever you go for I'd imagine you'll be happy.

[ruffday]

Well I wouldnt touch another BMW as an everyday car.

I ran a 118d for 2 years and 98,000 miles and wasnt that impressed Isoon went back to an Octavia.

[Paul007]

Seat Leon?

See my post in auto tests section

Used one of these too - an FR and very good to drive but that suspension set up isn't one I could live with. Absolutely like granite.

[vrspete]

We have a 60 plate exeo sport tech 143 as our family car had it from new

Brilliant car fully loaded all the toys we had a bit of extra discount as my friend is sales manager at our local branch.

The 143 can be a bit gutless at times especially in the higher gears but then that could just be me as ive not long sold my 530+ bhp Rs4'd S4

My only other gripe is im 6'3" and with the seat back there is limited leg room in back.

I would say my 09 Vrs Tsi is more spacious inside than the exeo but u wont go wrong with one really pleased with how ours has been

I would say Sport tech worth the extra money as u get Some nice kit Bose sounds great...

Any more info feel free to ask

[Hannibal]

Thanks. Just the sort of opinion I'm looking for. Will hopefully be booking some test drives in the new week or so.

I'm looking for 170 bhp versions. I'm not tall and don't really carry passengers so not worried about rear space. Boot size is more important (coming from a Fabia). Happy to look at an Octy too but really would like Xenon's which appear quite rare.

[silver1011]

Thanks. Just the sort of opinion I'm looking for. Will hopefully be booking some test drives in the new week or so.

I'm looking for 170 bhp versions. I'm not tall and don't really carry passengers so not worried about rear space. Boot size is more important (coming from a Fabia). Happy to look at an Octy too but really would like Xenon's which appear quite rare.

Go for the L&K, these have xenon's as standard.

If you are adament you want the 170bhp engine then your choice is limited to the vRS.

At least it is easy to tell if the vRS has xenon's as they only have headlight washers if they have factoy fit xenon's.

[vrspete]

Exeo...Boot is good size easily fits our buggy in and some shopping u lose the height as a saloon

Vrs... As hatchback massive boot

The 143 cars remap up to pretty much the same as the 170's do not sure if there is much price differance between the 2.

I didnt bother with the zenons or the led rear lights on the Exeo nor does my Vrs have Zenons

My Impreza uk300 does to be honest i prefer normal lights as always found them to be better at night

Ive had alot of cars over the years just personally never been that struck on zenons

[JohnMcL7]

Interesting thread, I've seen a couple of 11 plate Sport Tech plate cars with 35K on the clock for under £14K with the 170bhp engine which seems pretty good value for money depending on condition, the miles are obviously a bit high (more than my car has done!) but on the other hand that's not necessarily bad for a diesel with DPF. I'm planning going down south next week anyway so may be worth a look although reading on the Seat forums the CR170 engine doesn't seem particularly economic in the Exeo. People cite the Exeo being heavier than the Leon as the cause but looking at the figures it's not that much heavier, I guess it's not going to drive as well as the Octavia though.

John

Edited 5 February, 2013 by JohnMcL7

[bryan]

Dont know if you got a car yet but this looks good

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/skoda/octavia/used-skoda-octavia-2-0-tdi-cr-vrs-5dr-dsg-lincoln-fpa-201302045188260?logcode=p

[stever750]

I had an exeo wagon for a few days recently, and didn't like it. Engine more at home in something with a John Deere badge on it, and it was just way too busy and cluttered fascia. Steering wheel too small, seats too hard. Nothing much in it that felt "special", but to be fair, the diesel power just isn't for me.

[Hannibal]

Dont know if you got a car yet but this looks good

http://www.autotrade...88260?logcode=p

It does, but I don't want a white car. Or a yellow one. Not really fussed on race blue either............... Difficult to please or what!

I had an exeo wagon for a few days recently, and didn't like it. Engine more at home in something with a John Deere badge on it, and it was just way too busy and cluttered fascia. Steering wheel too small, seats too hard. Nothing much in it that felt "special", but to be fair, the diesel power just isn't for me.

Surely the same engine as is a host of other VAG cars though?

[Yeti_Man]

Surely the same engine as is a host of other VAG cars though?

It is, so I dont really understand where this post is coming from. Its also marginally better surpressed in the Exeo compared to some other 140tdi applications Ive experienced.

[JohnMcL7]

The way I read the post was the person preferred petrol to diesel and certainly if you're looking at a second hand Exeo there are very few petrols - currently on autotrader there are 9 petrols vs 336 diesels. On mk 2 Octavia VRS's it's 115 petrols vs 340 diesels.

John

[stever750]

It does, but I don't want a white car. Or a yellow one. Not really fussed on race blue either............... Difficult to please or what!

Surely the same engine as is a host of other VAG cars though?

Indeed, but it's the only VAG version I've driven.

That said, engine mounts, acoustic isolation material etc all change the sonic (both aural and transmitted via the contact points) signature to a degree. I'm just glad I didn't get a diesel vRS

[Paul007]

^ each to their own, but you don't know what your [wallet's not] missing.

[stever750]

^ each to their own, but you don't know what your [wallet's not] missing.

I do (see my thread on buying the latest vRS), and it's not. BTW, have got between 37 - 41mpg on the last few long distance (50+ miles) journeys, bearing in mind I'm doing around 400 miles a week. That's on winter tyres and a non standard ahem bhp. 95% of my mileage is business at 20p / mile.

If you take ££s out of the equation, then the petrol is the obvious choice on many levels.