New Car - Exeo? Something Else?

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Another negative towards the Exeo... its got a stupid name 8)

[vrspete]

All down to personal preferance end of day

We have had our Exeo Sport Tech from new apart from a few small niggles cant fault it as said in previous posts.

Really u need to get out and test drive a few then make your decision from your own experiance.

[Jockdooshbag]

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

Unfortunately £££'s generally cant be taken out the equation or Co2 levels. For these reasons a petrol isnt even allowable for me before you even get to personal preference.

[JohnMcL7]

I went and test drove an Exeo this afternoon now and in a serious dilemma whether to change the Octavia VRS for it, the drive seemed quite smooth but the steering/gear shift felt a bit light and a bit isolated from the road compared to the Octavia which feels better connected. The rear seats don't seem quite as practical either as the bench doesn't fold forward so when the seats go down they sit at an awkward angle which I think would make it tricky to get the bike in as the Octavia just fits the bike in, the sliding luggage cover is pretty flimsy on the Exeo as well. However the spec was superb and makes my Octavia a bit spartan feeling, the Exeo cabin felt quite a nice place to be.

John

[Irvtheswerv]

I've got an Exeo saloon. imho the interior and overall build quality is miles better than the Octavia, there is no comparison and that's why I bought an Exeo. It is after an old A4 with a Seat badge.

HOWEVER before I get some righteous stick for saying that on Brisky....the market does not seem to agree with me. Exeos are hard to sell. I tried to sell mine a while back and there was no interest at all. ALL, REPEAT ALL the Seat dealers I took it to refused to take it in part exchange on the basis that they didn't want another one clogging up the forecourt and they were brutally honest about this.

I will be helpful and tell you I paid £11,700 for a 12 month old 143s saloon with 2,800 miles on it. I've had it remapped and it's a much better drive now. You will get a 12 plate 143 estate for less than 15 grand because people are not queueing up to buy them.

I have seen a 130,000 mile 09 plate for £3,299. Don't expect much when you come to sell if you do a lot of miles. But if they are so cheap to start with, what's not to like?

[JohnMcL7]

I've been toying with this decision all day and almost out of time as I plan to head back up north tomorrow and probably won't take the Octavia this far south again for a while. The garage didn't think it would take long to get the Exeo ready to go and swap over the Octavia so I could still get it done tomorrow morning. The Exeo is a bit of a strange car as it generally doesn't get great professional reviews but the user reviews are consistently very good and the car certainly felt very good inside, it may be a little dated but it all was solid and the platform seems generally well proven.

The car I looked at was a 60 plate Exeo ST Sport Tech 170 with 21,000 miles for £14K, I have seen one much nearer to me which is the same spec but six months newer and much higher mileage at 36K which is quite a bit for an 11 plate and it's from Arnold Clark who I doubt will give anything decent for the Octavia. There's a couple of 12 plate cars of this type but they start at just under 18K, the face lifted LED lights certainly look good but I don't think there's many other improvements. That is worrying about not being able to sell or part exchange the Exeo but I guess no surprise, on one side I think there shouldn't be any reason to need to sell the Exeo for a while as it does everything very well but then I may well not think the same in a few years time.

John

[slider]

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.

But ££'s are the whole point of almost every major purchase!

[Jockdooshbag]

I've been toying with this decision all day and almost out of time as I plan to head back up north tomorrow and probably won't take the Octavia this far south again for a while. The garage didn't think it would take long to get the Exeo ready to go and swap over the Octavia so I could still get it done tomorrow morning. The Exeo is a bit of a strange car as it generally doesn't get great professional reviews but the user reviews are consistently very good and the car certainly felt very good inside, it may be a little dated but it all was solid and the platform seems generally well proven.

The car I looked at was a 60 plate Exeo ST Sport Tech 170 with 21,000 miles for £14K, I have seen one much nearer to me which is the same spec but six months newer and much higher mileage at 36K which is quite a bit for an 11 plate and it's from Arnold Clark who I doubt will give anything decent for the Octavia. There's a couple of 12 plate cars of this type but they start at just under 18K, the face lifted LED lights certainly look good but I don't think there's many other improvements. That is worrying about not being able to sell or part exchange the Exeo but I guess no surprise, on one side I think there shouldn't be any reason to need to sell the Exeo for a while as it does everything very well but then I may well not think the same in a few years time.

John

I couldnt sell my BMW for love nor money so no car is safe buy trade in time. The only thing under your control is how cheap you can buy it for initailly so i would get the cheapest deal you can and dont worry about things you cant control in the future. Ithought a diesel BMW estate would be a doddle to sell on but i was so wrong. Ignore everything you read about predicted resale values as they are just that - predictions. They count for squatt.

I would own a seat exeo in a heartbeat. I have already assumed my VRS will be worth bugger all when i sell it but i dont care as it cost peanuts to buy so i have already benefitted.

Edited 13 February, 2013 by Jockdooshbag

[dieselV6]

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

I agree that recent diesels are quite upsetting compared to the 1.9/PD generation when it comes to increased fuel consumption in town and increased maintenance/repair costs. Old or new, diesels also offer consistenty worse refinement than a petrol engine of similar configuration.

However, let us not forget that diesel fuel is far less flammable than petrol and much safer in case of accidents/leaky injectors etc. (at least for the diesel car owner/driver, people skidding/crashing on diesel slicks may be of different opinion).

For longer trips, a diesel car still has 20%-40% more range on a tank of fuel. Provided you have enough power, diesel is more relaxing to drive on motorway as the rpms are lower and cabin noise is more acceptable at close to top speed (at least to my ear).

Putting the £££s back into equation, if you have to go abroad by car more often than once or twice a year, diesel is 20% less expensive than petrol there. And cheaper than in the UK too. If you time your fill-ups to arrive from UK to France on reserve, a fill up there instead of the UK puts 15 quid back in your pocket. Same for the way back. I worked out that, due to frequent travel abroad, in spring-autumn my Mk1 Superb drives about 50% of its UK mileage on French fuel ...

With all the dislike of more recent diesels that I can possibly muster following my 2012 Roomster 1.6CR's thirst for fuel while driving in town, a diesel car still works out 20%+ less expensive to run for me. I just wish VW Group had a 5-cyl diesel engine (2.5CR R5 TDI) with 200-220bhp in the Superb/Passat ranges to improve low rev refinement and allow effortless pottering around town at close to idle rpm as the V6TDI does. They can keep the 3.0CR V6 for the Audi/Phaeton.

Edited 13 February, 2013 by dieselV6

[Aspman]

If you want trade in pain try it with a petrol VRS.

I'd have thought the diesel element in the Exeo would be a big plus point. If you'r buying it with the intention of keeping it quite a while then it'll probably still make a good deal, but my guess is that it'll be butting up against the Koreans with their 5-7yr warranties at that price point.

There may be arguments about how easy it is to claim on those warranties but most people will take it at face value.

[Hannibal]

So today I test drove an Octavia and Exeo back to back so I thought I'd share my thoughts for anyone that was interested.

To start with, the test in the Exeo was a reasonable length and included a mix of dual carriageway and NSL roads, the test in the Octavia was much more of a blast round the block although I was able to get up to a reasonable speed and experienced (briefly) a mix of road surfaces. The Exeo was an estate with the 170bhp Cr engine in Sport Tech guise. The Octavia was a face lift hatch, with DSG.

I was amazed at how different the two cars were! The Octavia seemed like a natural progression from my current Fabia. It was obviously a larger and more planted car than I am used to with significantly less body roll, but a good number of the lumps and bumps from the road were still transmitted into the cabin. By contrast, the Exeo delivered a surprisingly smooth ride. It was very smooth and composed and would undoubtedly be an excellent motorway cruiser.

Under hard acceleration I was surprised that the Octavia seemed to offer more responsive performance and to be the generally quicker of the two cars. Although I didn't get to test it, I felt that the Octavia would have inspired faster cornering.

The Octavia was a car that, to me at least, was asking me to be driven. The Exeo on the other hand did not inspire this feeling, this was a car that wanted an altogether less urgent more relaxed approach. I'd almost suggest that the 170 engine was superfluous in the Exeo and the 140 version would suit the character of the car much better.

Today's test drive does leave me with a bit of a dilemma. Before today I was fairly well convinced that I'd be going for an Octavia (all be it after a lengthy search for a well spec'd one) as I had a genuine concern over the saleability of the Exeo a few years down the line. Now I'm not so sure. My daily drive is c20 miles each way, a mix of town and country, with some stop start traffic thrown in for good measure. This may reduce to only 10 miles in the near future. I also have to make quite a few long Journey’s. I'm in Cardiff but my family are in Essex and SWMBO's family are near Brighton. I have to Drive to the Lake District for work on a regular basis say every 6 weeks or so. I know which car would be better for the long journeys and which I'd probably enjoy more on a daily basis.

It's also worth noting that the Seats tend to come with a host of toys whereas the Octavia is somewhat poverty spec by comparison.

Hmmmmmmmmm

.

Edited 27 February, 2013 by Hannibal

[JohnMcL7]

Thanks for posting back, I'm in a real dilemma now whether to go for the Exeo or not as there's nothing inherently wrong with the Octavia but I did really like the Exeo, nice for a change and the spec was very good - as you say the tech spec makes Octavias look a bit basic particularly an older one like mine.

Handling is tricky as it's very subjective and there's no real definitive way to measure it, I have the Octavia estate (I notice it's a hatch you tried which I guess is probably a bit more nimble) and I don't like its handling as much as the Toledo mk II I had. That's not really a criticism of the Octavia though, the Toledo had a great responsive feel but the cost was a truly boneshaking ride which is a balance most people wouldn't want. With that in mind I was sure I wouldn't like the Exeo at all as it's gentler again than the Octavia but I actually thought it was pretty good, it was more gentle than the Octavia but the feel through the steering wheel still seemed quite good. I didn't have a chance to floor the car down a back road but the route I went on was fairly varied. The 170 gets the Audi variable speed power steering I believe which was also on the A3 Sportback I tried when considering the Octavia which I'm not keen on as it makes the steering feel too artificial at low speeds but it seems to load up ok at higher speeds.

I didn't expect to like the CR engine as again I preferred the crude PD 150 engine in the Toledo which was noisy and suffered a lot of turbo lag but was just a lot of fun when you put the foot down, the PD 170 engine in the Octavia is a bit more refined and the CR170 more so. However it pulled very cleanly and smoothly, no issue at all although it didn't help I think the Octavia was doing a DPF regen on the way there to the test drive.

John

[RapidRonnie]

Don't know if this is a repost but the SEAT A4 is about to go off-sale: http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/seat-exeo-to-be-dropped/265357

[JohnMcL7]

Yes, I think they've stopped manufacturing them now or are not doing any options although given the cars are pretty loaded as it is that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

John

['daiking']

Don't know if this is a repost but the SEAT A4 is about to go off-sale: http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/seat-exeo-to-be-dropped/265357

Replaced by the skoda rapid.

Oh, the ignominy.

[Dr Zoidberg]

I'd heard there was going to be a Mk2 Exeo that wasn't an old Audi. The Toledo isn't a replacement at all.

[JohnMcL7]

I'd say in practice the Exeo is going to be replaced by the Leon ST as the Exeo was a stopgap measure until Seat had something suitable in their range. Although the VW group cars all share a lot of parts, the Exeo is little more than a rebadged Audi and has very little in the way of changes so doesn't really seem like a Seat. I doubt there will be another Exeo, it's not sold well although I suspect if it did sell well that would have also sealed its demise as it would have then probably been stealing A4 sales.

John

[Dr Zoidberg]

The Leon ST looks pretty nice actually.

[Hannibal]

....... To further confuse matters I may have the option of an attractively priced Mazda 6 estate ( 2.2, 185) from my Dad! Doh!

[JohnMcL7]

The Leon ST looks pretty nice actually.

Yeah, the estate market seems to be changing a bit at the moment - I think Skoda really stand out for offering sporty estates as you can get the Fabia VRS and Octavia VRS in estate form but there's no Golf GTI Estate, Leon FR estate (or any estate), Astra VXR estate etc. and Ford have only just started producing a Focus ST estate.

Have they sorted the problem with the Mazda diesel engines and the fuel contaminating the oil?

John

[Chris]

I love the Mazda 6. They look awesome.

[Hannibal]

Yeah, the estate market seems to be changing a bit at the moment - I think Skoda really stand out for offering sporty estates as you can get the Fabia VRS and Octavia VRS in estate form but there's no Golf GTI Estate, Leon FR estate (or any estate), Astra VXR estate etc. and Ford have only just started producing a Focus ST estate.

Have they sorted the problem with the Mazda diesel engines and the fuel contaminating the oil?

John

Completely agree about the split on sporty estates. Some manufacturers just don't seem to be tuned into it.

Not aware of the fule oil issue?

[JohnMcL7]

It was an issue with the DPF design on the older diesel engines (some sites are saying the new one suffers it as well, some not), the idea is that the car can let a little bit of unburnt fuel past the cylinder and towards the DPF where it would be ignited by the heat of the exhaust and quickly heat up the DPF. The problem was that some of the unburnt fuel didn't go to the DPF and instead ended up in the oil which would gradually rise as it was increasingly contaminated until in extreme cases it would cause serious damage. I'd initially read about on a forum but of course you always read the worst on forums but when discussing the failed DPF sensor on the Octavia, my mechanic mentioned that he'd come across the issue with the Mazda DPF system as people had been furious at him because they thought he'd overfilled the oil.

John

[JohnMcL7]

Any further with your decision?

John

[Hannibal]

Not as yet. Financially the Mazda is a no brainer but I saw a 330d in budget recently - admittedly higher mileage than the other makes I'm looking at.

Work have just announced that we're going to be moving office in the next month or two, which may half my commute. I'm going to delay making a choice until I know the new office location as it could open up a lot more possibilities.