• Hi Guest!
    You can help ensure that British Car Forum (BCF) continues to provide a great place to engage in the British car hobby! If you find BCF a beneficial community, please consider supporting our efforts with a subscription.
    There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Subscribers don't see this gawd-aweful banner
Tips
Tips

Seat Leon 1.4 TSi vs Mazda 3 2.0 Petrol

Share this page

I

Icru96

Freshman Member
Country flag
Offline
Hi
I am planning to buy a car and am confused between Seat Loen 1.4 TSI (2013 - 2017) and Mazda 3 2.0 Petrol (2014-2019). I went through multiple reviews and am still not able to make up my mind. My priority is to have a car that is fun to drive and has decent reliability. My budget is around ÂŁ7.5K. Would love to know your opinion. Cheers..
 
I have had a Leon in the past a TDI FR ( in uk) just a brilliant car. It’s the same base platform for similar model vw, Audi Skoda ( VAG group)
Good handling, comfort and interior. Very practical hatchback with good reliability.

sorry can’t compare with Mazda 3 as never driven one. But Mazda have a good name for reliability.
Try them both and see how you get on comfort wise etc.
 
I have a 2019 Mazda 3, 2.5 liter here in the US. I love the way it handles and the reliability. I also liked that it did NOT have a CVT transmission. My only complaint was that it wasn’t available in the US in a manual transmission.
 
Hamish Racing said:
Sorry was assuming manual.
fully agree DO NOT TOUCH CVT AUTO Vag group box

i made that mistake !!!!!! Sold on very quickly.
Click to expand...
From what I remember, the Mazda 3 was available in a manual transmission in Europe but not in the US.
 
A little different, I have a 2013 speed3 with 6 speed manual. I like the car a lot. Putting in my our stereo system, I was impressed by how the car was engineered. Parts came off in a logical manner. Taking turns in the canyons, the suspension keeps the car level.
 
Kind of a shame to hear that Mazda dropped manual tranmissions here in the US. I love the 5 speed in my 2011 Mazda2, but the shop that did the struts and motor mounts did say they it was rare to see one with a manual (and had to order the motor mount parts from Canada). Its only a 1.5L so its not real fast, but the handling and balance is far and away better than anything I expected.
 
I don't have a screen - just analog-looking instruments (which I prefer even though they are actually computer-driven). I do wish they had given me a temp gauge instead of just a warning light, and even more importantly an oil pressure indicator. I can "fake" a temp gauge with an OBD-2 interface, but the car apparently doesn't have an oil pressure sensor reporting to the on board system at all, so no way to read it. Otherwise the car is pretty much ideal for me, I don't want high-tech gadgets when driving. I love the way it drives and handles.
 
GregW said:
2011 was back when they were still doing "ZOOM ZOOM". The screen on my dash welcomes me with that.
Click to expand...
I love the Zoom-Zoom advertising campaign. Reminds me of the simplicity of early VW ads: straight to the point with one (repeated) word.
 
Frankly, with a used car, how the previous owner treated it is most likely going to be more important than any other factor. Both nice cars. I would suspect that the Leon may have on average younger drivers.
 
Back
Top