Faults:

Nothing at all!

Hope to keep it up this way for years to come... (there is a Greek saying that goes like "a good day can be spotted early, from the morning")

General Comments:

Finishing a summer tour of 2500 kilometers in the northern Greek mountains, and the picture is becoming clear: On the first part of the trip, I tested the car on a very difficult journey from Igoumenitsa to Alexandroupoli (west to east border approx. 850 km) through all the Pindos mountains, passing an endless line of trucks, having second and third gear up high, 4500 - 6000 RPM, without noticing even the slightest sign of "complaint" or "disapproval" from the Leon. It just kept on climbing the mountains and passing the trucks, without giving me any grounds for second thoughts about its build and reliability.

The second part was from Alexandroupoli back to Athens; approx. 900 km mostly on freeway. Anyway, keeping an average speed of 140 - 150 km/h, it took my back and waist only one stop for lunch to keep up happily with this distance-muncher. Needless to say that the above is a totally noise-free travelling speed.

Reaching the 7500kms service, the car is in perfect shape, never "grinch-ed" or "made a sound", the engine sounds more "free" and the smile grows bigger on my face every day...

Faults:

Driver's seat is not well fixed, producing minor movement when braking or leaning back.

Front doors produce various 'squeaks' when driving over bumps.

Rear seat easily folds back (does not lock in place). Dealer was unable to fix it. I did it by thickening the metallic fitting of the back seat lock with plastic tape. Problem now is eliminated.

Driver's door mirror does not fold in as far as the passenger mirror (this is normal as the driver's is much bigger than the passenger's one).

Gear shifting is not that smooth. Sometimes, you may be unsure whether you shifted from one to two! Shifting from two to three, and upwards is OK.

Passenger's seat-belt socket is too close to the central console so it produces noise when no passenger is in and the seat is positioned back.

Too difficult to keep these wheels clean!

Paint-work seems to be very poor especially in my case (deep blue).

A plastic cover of one hinge of the bonnet was broken.

Unacceptable front screen wipers. Dealer doesn't replace them!

Seat logo of the engine plastic cover has mysteriously disappeared.

The 'door open' indication works only for the boot and the driver's door. What is the point (kid's safety!)?

Poor cassette deck quality and too complicated to use the stereo. Compact disk player quality is perfect though.

Poor visibility in the back.

General Comments:

I don't think that the problems above are really serious. I am sure that in the future editions they will disappear.

Car is really fast. 6 speed gearbox is superb.

You don't feel any power loss even with 4 passengers, with the air-conditioning switched on climbing a mountain. The torque is huge.

It is quite comfortable (but not a Peugeot).

Back seats could be roomier for the knees.

The quality is really high.

Handling is very good, but a stiffer front suspension would be preferable. But please do not switch off the ESP! Especially in roads like Greek ones!

The only thing I would ask for more is engine power after 5000rpm (chipping!).

Respect the accelerator (it is really difficult, I know)! Otherwise the gas station man will adore you!

Pirelli P6000s are a very bad choice for this car.