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SEAT Leon gets an update

SEAT Leon - Gets updated for 2009 [ad#ad-1] The SEAT Leon has been around for a few years now, and SEAT has decided it’s time for a facelift, so a revised Leon gets a debut at Geneva next month before appearing in showrooms in the Summer. SEATs, on the whole, are perceived as a cheaper alternative to a Golf, which is not a bad summation. Slightly cheaper materials, particularly noticeable on the interior plastics, differentiate the Spanish sibling from its German counterpart.

Watch the sad, final moments of a crusher-bound heap

Automotive wrecking yards are good places to reflect on the real-world values of heavily depreciated vehicles versus global current scrap-metal prices, and to see which cars have suddenly had the fix-it-versus-total-it line moved by insurance companies (the early-21st-century Subaru Legacy Outback, for example, appeared in large numbers in high-turnover wrecking yards just during the last year, as fairly minor collision damage on these cars is no longer worth fixing). You'll see the things that a car's last owner does in a desperate attempt to sell (or at least live with) an increasingly decrepit heap (as we learned in "Repo Man," you really will find a Little Tree in every car). During a recent trip to a San Jose, Calif., yard, I encountered this sad yet strangely compelling scene.

Carlsson upgrades the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG for the Geneva motor show

If supercars had a spiritual home all to themselves, it probably would be the Geneva motor show. This year we'll see the new Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, the Lamborghini Aventador Roadster and the Aston Martin V12 Zagato. But it's not only the home of production supercars; the tuning companies come out to show their wares as well.