The Leon’s DSG gearbox is state-of-the-semi-manual-art but, like all of these robo-cog systems, if you’ve got any semblance of mechanical sympathy it’s still troubling. The way it slips the clutch as you move off from a standstill sounds painful, sometimes even smoulderingly expensive, and I wince at the way it occasionally changes up with a right old thump, even under fairly gentle acceleration. Largely it’s a good system, but if you pride yourself on considerate clutch control you’ll sometimes wish it was your left leg in charge rather than R2-D2.

I’m still convinced that DSG doesn’t work quite as well in the SEAT as it did when I first tried the system in an Audi TT V6. Maybe it’s because the ’box just doesn’t get on so well with the torque-tastic diesel engine. Or maybe VAG Kommand simply won’t let its Spanish branch office have all the latest software updates. I mean, the Leon doesn’t have Golf-style damped grab handles, and that can’t be the only way in which SEAT is forced to dumb down and know its place in the VW pecking order of perceived quality and price.

Except, thanks to a minor accident this month, I’ve discovered that buying a SEAT doesn’t always mean saving money over the equivalent Volkswagen. One of my BBC colleagues was getting some stuff out of the Leon’s boot and managed to smack the head of a tripod into one of the rear lights, punching a big hole in the plastic cover over the lamps themselves. Yeah, cheers for that, Alex.

So I rang my local SEAT dealer who told me you can’t buy covers alone and I’d need a whole new lamp cluster, price £52.63. Then, just out of interest, I called a Volkswagen garage to find out what the equivalent part would cost for a Golf. And the answer is £42. ‘Just get the VW one,’ said Alex, having just offered to pay for the damage. ‘I’m sure it’ll fit.’ Nice try, but no. Although, if there’s such a thing as German-spec DSG software, I bet that goes in straight off. And that’d have to be worth a try, if only for the sake of that poor slipping clutch.