A Seat Leon and two emigrants
As I had already described a few months ago, I spent a good chunk of my free time looking for a new car. The whole thing was driven by new needs and, above all, by my personal dissatisfaction with the first car I ever owned: a Seat Ibiza Ecomotive.
I have no problem admitting my "diva" side when it comes to this sort of thing. If my money allows it, I want a top-of-the-line car with all the bells and whistles I can reasonably get. The more safety features, the better. I do not mind the beeps and alerts so much as long as they are justified, which is not the case with the Hyundais my wife's family insists on buying every five or six years.
None of that was part of the old Ibiza, which was also far too small for someone who needs to carry more than two members of the family around on a daily basis. Larger shopping trips were always a painful mission if more than one person was involved. Not to mention that a baby stroller barely fit inside that tiny boot.
It was time to move on and, above all, give up on the idea of a car as something purely personal. And to start understanding why Germans are so fond of their "station wagons".
For a long time I had been "courting" the Ibiza's bigger and longer brother, the Seat Leon. Besides being larger even in its hatchback version, it was also more modern and more powerful. But the main thing, as far as I was concerned, was that its infotainment screen was positioned much better than those of its competitors from the same generation.
It may sound silly, but that ended up being the decisive factor in my choice. The cars that came closest to the Seat Leon in this respect were the various Mercedes-Benz station wagons, whose value for money was far beyond almost every Leon I saw on the market. Some cheaper options from brands that now sit under the Stellantis umbrella were not particularly encouraging considering what I had read about their technical problems. They were also extremely ugly, both inside and out, compared with the Leon.
With my target decided, the long search began. I did not restrict myself to the domestic market because, living in a small and protectionist country, dealerships and even private sellers can afford to charge prices well above those found elsewhere on the continent. So much so that in some cases it is actually worth swallowing the cost of transport and taxes just to import a car from Germany.
That was my intention, and I used up some of my phone credit contacting dealerships over there. I thought I might have some success with the whole endeavour, but perhaps already knowing that the conditions in my country of residence were anything but favourable, they too seemed determined to stick a knife into my stomach/wallet and slowly twist it in search of more money.
I was already preparing to give up on the search and simply live without a car. After all, it is hardly an essential item for someone who works from home and mostly uses one to drive to a park, a beach or a relative's house on weekends. For that, my wife's Hyundai, despite belonging to the great illusion that is the crossover/mini-SUV category, was already enough for us.
Then I came across an advert from a private seller here in the burgh, albeit around 100 km away, which is quite a distance by the standards that prevail around here, selling a top-of-the-line Seat Leon with excellent mileage and what could fairly be called a German price.
My desperation was immediate. I messaged the seller as soon as the advert went online and, after getting no reply, messaged him again the next day. Still nothing. I thought, "another deal lost", and moved on with my life.
Then, on the third day after my initial contact, I received a phone call from a number I did not recognise but that did not look like spam, a rarity these days. On the other end, a man with a deep yet gentle voice asked whether I was still interested in the Seat Leon.
And off we went on a family trip to buy a new-ish car.
The opportunity itself could be explained by the reality faced by many young Portuguese people, because immigration is not always the solution. The car was originally from Switzerland, where its former owner had been living as an emigrant. After some initial success in his working life there, however, COVID arrived, followed by a desert of job opportunities and, consequently, money. That forced him to return home.
Had this young man not been an emigrant returning to his country of origin, he would have had to pay thousands of euros to legalise his car in Portugal. There is, however, a special regime for situations such as his, and the fees he paid were negligible compared with what I would have had to pay had my German adventure actually gone ahead.
But if things were difficult in Switzerland when it came to work, they were even worse in Portugal. His return did not work out, and going back to life as an immigrant became inevitable.
A car, however, comes with plenty of costs. Even more so a Seat Leon station wagon for someone with a wife but no children, at least not yet. So the car was left behind in search of a new owner, with an uncle and his mother-in-law responsible for eventually arranging the sale.
This was not the first time the car had been advertised. But with every new listing, the former owner's financial situation became tighter, and the price fell accordingly. Until eventually it found me, willing to buy the car on the spot because I knew an opportunity like this would not appear again anytime soon.
At least when it comes to buying and selling cars, Portugal is not an entire universe of bureaucracy. Which is fortunate, because breathing inside a government office in this country will eventually result in some sort of fee being charged to the taxpayer.
Happy with the purchase, I brought the car home. It has also become our everyday car despite consuming more fuel than its counterpart owned by my wife, since modern child seats are not exactly objects known for their mobility and easy interchangeability.
I am also pleased with my choice because the car's design has one foot outside the box occupied by most vehicles from its generation. Being an FR model, its lines are slightly more aggressive, as is its engine.
Inside, I was blessed with leather seats and a sunroof that comes in very handy whenever entertainment is required. I also enjoy the interior lighting, with details running through the doors and dashboard in several different colours, although the classic combination of red and black is difficult to beat.
I have a feeling it will be a faithful companion for quite a few years...
... although I already have another target in mind for my next courtship.