Should you buy a SEAT Leon Estate?

As the SEAT Leon has historically been positioned as the stylish and sporty alternative to the Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Octavia, the estate version has always seemed an odd fit, because as we’ve been repeatedly (and wrongly) told, estates aren’t very cool.

However, that has allowed the Leon Estate to carve out a slightly different niche to the Leon hatchback – more practical than the Volkswagen but not as boxy as the Octavia, it’s a great all-rounder for the price, offering something of the sun-soaked Spanish styling of the hatchback in a more useful bodystyle.

It’s the futuristic interior that sets it apart from the Ford Focus Estate rather than the amount of fun you’ll have behind the wheel still, although the Leon is really good to drive. If you want even more driver involvement then you’ll have to go next door from the SEAT dealer and buy a Cupra instead

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What we like

We’re in danger of repeating ourselves here, but the steering and handling are excellent, making it a fun load hauler. The Focus just pips it for driver involvement, but it’s a close-run thing. The luggage area is impressive in its size and usabiity as is the passenger area.

What we don’t like

We could do without the touch-sensitive controls for the climate control and stereo, but accept that you do (eventually) get used to them.