Does anybody buy a new Rapid S?

[camelspyyder]

I have just picked one up from Hertz - drove there in a Toledo 1.2, drove out in a brand new Rapid Spaceback 1.2.

 

Inside is awful Funereal black, apart from the ugly dark grey on the air vents, but even worse the spec!!!

 

No DAB, Nav, Park, Traction, Cruise, Fogs, MFSW, carpet mats, lumbar support, alloys, 6 speed, armrest, Piano black dash, chrome trims - you'd barely know it was the same car.

 

Driving it?  the new TSI 90 is noisier and slower than the old 105, the little 15 inch tyres are quieter but less grippy and surprisingly the ride was about the same.

 

And at a current price of £14210 its £1111 more than I paid for the Toledo new - and there are zero miles Toledo Style Advanced out there for £13k still.

 

 

 

So does anybody buy one? or is it just fleets only?  Even when the fleets dispose of them, will anybody buy one? - the inside is so drab I doubt it.

Edited 30 April, 2016 by camelspyyder

[eyegr]

I've only seen the Active edition (the equivalent of the "S" outside the UK) with car rental companies here. I guess nobody wants such a low trim level when the next trim level costs about 800 euro.

I find the lack of MFSW and the presence of the old style AC knobs horrible.

[RapidPaul]

I've seen a few on the road but assumed they were ex-lease. I could live with steel wheels, but Skoda seem to have gone out of their way to design the hubcaps to look as cheap as possible. The 'caps on my wife's 15 reg Panda look really decent by comparison. Lack of MFSW is what put me off the Octavia - even the SE doesn't have it as standard.

[Tom_vRS]

Some people want no thrills cheap as chips motoring, with cheap tax, good mpg and a warranty for good measure. Rapid S sounds perfect for the job if space is also required. Ex-lease or similar will be cheap second hand too.

No need to be snobbish about it.

I very nearly bought a 2014 Rapid Liftback SE with 12k miles for £7999. I went back the next day to pay a deposit and it had been sold. I ended up with my 2015 Spaceback SE Tech and I'm delighted with it, but it was also £4000 more expensive!

For the record the 2014 Rapid SE has a very basic spec, my Spaceback SE Tech certainly doesn't.

[mangham54]

Some people want no thrills cheap as chips motoring, with cheap tax, good mpg and a warranty for good measure. Rapid S sounds perfect for the job if space is also required.

And wasn't that why people first bought Skoda's... VW parts and build quality, but at Shîtroén prices.

Edited 1 May, 2016 by mangham54

[bluecar1]

And wasn't that why people first bought Skoda's... VW parts and build quality, but at Shîtroén prices.

that was why I bought my first mk I ocatavia back in 2000, value for money and quality, and 4 more after

 

but both quality and value for money in my opinion have decrease to the point they are to me a an expensive cut down VW which has lost its character

 

I was in a skoda dealers yesterday with my daughter but there was nothing in there that would at this point entice me back, the salesman was saying a number of people are saying they don't want the new yeti as it is now a VW clone with no character

[eyegr]

I was in a skoda dealers yesterday with my daughter but there was nothing in there that would at this point entice me back, the salesman was saying a number of people are saying they don't want the new yeti as it is now a VW clone with no character

Can't speak for the Yeti in particular, but for the Rapid this is one reason I bought it. It is a VW clone at a significantly reduced price. I'm not saying that you get cutting-edge technology, but you do get some of it, technology that's been proven good and reliable. You also get the VW looks, this is something I liked.

 

Anyway, back on topic, cheap does not have to mean bare metal. Even in poor Greece very few people buy cars with the basic trim. They'd rather buy a cheaper model and go for a higher trim, and that's what they do with the Rapid too.

I believe companies only market the lower trim levels for advertising purposes (starting from... as low as...). Only car rental companies buy them here.

[bluecar1]

on topic of entry level specs, when I looked at the fabia 3 I found the cost went silly to get what I wanted

 

BUT (i discounted the rapid as disliked it,) the Octavia S had virtually all i wanted standard and was close to the cost of the fabia 3 i had spec'ed up

 

so the desirability of cheaper spec of each cars depends on the model you look at

 

if you look back to the initial threads on this rapid board it was apparent that people were not impressed with the spec of early cars, very quickly they seemed to up the spec then you had dealers selling the old spec rapids without telling customers it was the older spec,

[camelspyyder]

Spent 3 more hours in it today, it drives fine, but it's unbearably drab with the gear

knob and steering wheel plastic too. Those early SE were a nicer

place to sit in than the latest S. Even for a rental car, it's poor.

[DunDunFather]

My first Rapid was an 86PS S Hatchback. It was basic (not even AC in mine!) but it did the job for a very low price so I didn't mind. I do have a Sport now but only because it was ridiculously cheap otherwise I would still have the 'S'.

Edited 3 May, 2016 by whoop_whoop

[threadbear]

Saw a Rapid Spaceback S in the car park at the work the other day.....first one I have seen. Also noticed a few more up market Spacebacks arounds recently too. Saw 3 yesterday....

[RickTT]

Horses for courses and all.

The s is perfect for a a to b car around town if all that's what you want from a car with no lux. The range has to start somewhere cheap to get a customer interested.

We have a My 16 se sportback which is the model in the range which ticked the boxes for us for spec v price .

[camelspyyder]

Agree, buy what you can afford, but really If you bought a brand new car with that interior you'd surely regret it.

I didnt buy the TDi because I felt I would often be disappointed, whereas the petrol felt good and worth the price.

I think the Rapido is very good value (with discounts) precisely because it comes with lots of kit. The S doesn't though.

[RapidPaul]

In the case of the Spaceback, the S works out at only £8 a month less than the SE Tech on a 3 year finance deal. Almost all of the extra purchase price is retained in the GFV, which makes the SE Tech a bit of a bargain. It's not quite so close in the case of the regular Rapid, presumably because the SE is less well equipped.

[cmf85]

I'll admit to owning one then. I didn't buy it new but picked up a 1 year old, ex rental, 1.6tdi with 14k on the clock for a pretty reasonable (to my mind!) 8k. I needed an economic and reliable car for my motorway commute and it ticked a lot of boxes. Of course, a few weeks later the VW emissions scandal broke, but that's for another thread...

[camelspyyder]

In the case of the Spaceback, the S works out at only £8 a month less than the SE Tech on a 3 year finance deal. Almost all of the extra purchase price is retained in the GFV, which makes the SE Tech a bit of a bargain. It's not quite so close in the case of the regular Rapid, presumably because the SE is less well equipped.

 

£8 a month!!!

 

For all the extra trim and kit you get in the SE Tech?

 

That must be the answer to my original question.

[camelspyyder]

Horses for courses and all.

The s is perfect for a a to b car around town if all that's what you want from a car with no lux. The range has to start somewhere cheap to get a customer interested.

We have a My 16 se sportback which is the model in the range which ticked the boxes for us for spec v price .

 

Rick, an SE Sport and an S are like night and day inside - yours is the top of the range - equipped like a decent VW, the other is more like a Morocco taxi spec basic Dacia.

Edited 12 May, 2016 by camelspyyder

[Didescharlie]

Some people want no thrills cheap as chips motoring, with cheap tax, good mpg and a warranty for good measure. Rapid S sounds perfect for the job if space is also required. Ex-lease or similar will be cheap second hand too.

No need to be snobbish about it.

I very nearly bought a 2014 Rapid Liftback SE with 12k miles for £7999. I went back the next day to pay a deposit and it had been sold. I ended up with my 2015 Spaceback SE Tech and I'm delighted with it, but it was also £4000 more expensive!

For the record the 2014 Rapid SE has a very basic spec, my Spaceback SE Tech certainly doesn't.

I didn't get the impression the OP was being, or trying to be, snobbish. came across more incredulous to me.

Edited 24 May, 2016 by Didescharlie