The FR will hold its value well and as it’s keenly priced, it represents one of the better buys in terms of protecting your money. The diesel version builds on this further with impressive economy for a performance car of 47mpg (53mpg on revised cars with the 2.0 TDI CR engine). It’s also a group 12 insurance compared to the petrol which is a group 14 (based on the old 1-20 insurance groups).

The lower-powered models intrdouced in September 2011 fall in to group 16 insurance for the petrol version, and 20 for the diesel model. SEAT servicing is decent value, especially compared to Volkswagen prices, but dealers can be a bit hit and miss with customer care.

The Leon FR performs well on the eco front helped by the fact there is a diesel model. The 2.0 TDI CR 140 engine emits 125g/km of CO2 and returns 58mpg. The older version emits 134g/km of CO2 and averages 55.4mpg. From

Thanks to the use of Volkswagen components the Leon has proved reliable. There can be occasional niggles however and faults with glow plugs on diesels aren’t unheard of.