Robbydazzler

Never had this but there was a persistent problem with early models where the doors fill with water due to the door seals blocking the drainage holes. Are you experiencing this problem and is the water leaking from the doors into the footwell ?

Probably stating the obvious here but have you tried Radweld or equivalent ?

The Skoda Rapid and Seat Toledo were manufactured by Skoda in Czechia on the same production line . In terms of dimensions there is only millimeters in it. There are only cosmetic differences between the two cars. For some reason the Toledo always came substantially better equipped for the same money.

I had 3 Toledos and 1 Rapid with 1.2 and 1.0 TSI engines. I found all to be utterly reliable. Obviously the basic design is of an earlier generation but they were safe and comfortable. My daughter still has my last Toledo. The car is extremely roomy with an enormous boot. The vehicles are long and narrow. The Sat Nav maps update easily with a new £25 SD card from E bay. Have you looked at the Rapid clone Toledo as you get a much better spec for your money ?

As already stated the Toledo is a better equipped Rapid. The differences between the two are cosmetic and minimal. I had 3 Toledos and a Rapid. In every case the Toledo was better value.

Good luck in the future. I have always found your wisdom very rewarding. I had one Rapid and two Toledos ( the last Toledo is now in my daughters possession and she loves it). I do not think that we shall see a bargain like the Rapid in the car world again.

If I remember correctly certain higher quality recordings in certain formats (eg WMA) are not accepted by the head unit. Try saving the albums in a lower rate MP3 format and see if that works.

As far as I understand it a swap from EFB to AGM will require recoding. Halfords provide a battery change service at a reasonable price as do many others.

This topic has been endlessly debated on these Skoda forums. An EFB battery in theory needs to be identified to the ECU to enable it to charge at the correct rate. However common opinion appears to be that you can get away with changing an EFB battery without recoding with no problems. If you know your head unit code (if it has been set) and don't mind reverting to factory paramaters in the ECU you can change the battery without maintaining a 12v supply while you do so. You would get a load of warning lights immediately after doing this which would quickly disappear on driving and might have to sup ply the head unit code. Also the ECU would quickly relearn your driving habits.

I had 3 Toledos and 1 Rapid. I do not recognise the symptoms you describe. The braking on all 4 was pretty solid and the 1.0 TSI engine had plenty of low down torque and get up and go. The 1.2 TSI engine was a little less powerful than the 1.0 TSI but smoother and more refined. Both engines were typical turbo with useful torque starting at less than 2K revs and , unless you were a boy racer, high revs to improve performance being pretty academic.

You describe the character of the car very well but I would add comfortable. spacious, frugal and safe. Depends what you want really. Before coming back to the Toledo I had a 276 BHP Superb L&K which had every luxury you could think of. However I found my self using the wife's Dacia when the destination had tricky parking and , worst of all, being irked by "challenges" from lesser models pulling up next to me at traffic lights which required me to crush them with the might of the Superb's horses. Pretty unedifying for a 70 year old and hence I went back to the souless and bland Toledo.

I had 3 Toledos and 1 Rapid with 1.2 engines (in various forms) and a 1.0 TSI as well. All the engines were economical and reliable. The 1.2s were marginally more refined than the 1.0 but the 1.0 was slightly more powerful and with more usable torque. If you buy any of the engine versions you will not be disappointed as they are all excellent. Have you considered a Toledo rather than a Rapid as you getmore goodies for your money? Also I think that the Toledo is the more handsome car.

I loved the Rapid/Toledo (I had 4) and only gave the Seat to my daughter because she needed a car with plenty of room. Having both retired my wife and I only really need one car and we dicussed what our motoring needs were and we bought a Suzuki S Cross. The Suzuki Baleno was bought really to just cater for the 3 occasions each year where we require two cars ! The Toledo and Baleno have a lot in common as they are both criticised for having " hard plastic", have plenty of room inside, are lively , comfortable and economical, but were not popular. The Toledo definately has the superior interior and more space and I would say that the Baleno has similar room to the Fabia. The Baleno , however, is more fun to drive and has a strange charm of its own. In some ways the Baleno reminds me of a car of yesteryear in the way it drives. It was amazing value for money and has a torque converter auto with paddles and can be driven like a formula 1 car if you want. It is very light and very perky. So far it has been totally reliable.

I agree with camelspyyder that the 1.2 is a superior engine to the 1.0 . Having stated that the 1.0 is a fine engine just a little rougher round the edges compared to the 1.2. I recently gave the 1.0 Toledo to my daughter (who loves it) and bought a Suzuki Baleno with a 1.0 boosterjet engine. Not much difference between the 1.0 TSI and boosterjet engines in my opinion. Perhaps the boosterjet is slightly more linear in performance.

The water you hear moving about may be unconnected with your heater problem. With early Rapids water was trapped in the doors due to the doorseal covering the drainage hole. Open each door and shake it to see if you can hear any water splashing about. If you do then ease the doorseals away at the underside of the door and the water will pour out .

The build quality has been good with all of them. They really are hidden gems. In early models there was a problem with water retention in the doors which was " cured" by butchering the door seals and later the fitted seals were modified. If you can get hold of a Toledo rather than a Rapid you will get more goodies for your money by the way.

I have had 4 of them over 6 years ( well 1 Rapid and 3 Toledos) and have never had one problem with any of them them.

If you drive 10K plus miles per annum diesel. Otherwise petrol. 1.2 TSI 110 bhp is possibly the best all rounder of all the petrols.

Fixed now ?

Hi Chris, Did you have any joy with the dealer?

This problem was an issue with early Rapids. The door seals were modified in later models to allow the water to escape. With the early problem models the dealers just "butchered" the seals to allow the water to get out.

It seems that Skoda has moved upmarket over time although the Rapid may be a reversion to the earlier ethos of good value whilst not being particularly ground breaking.The wife has just purchased a Dacia Sandero Stepway Laureate which at £10K is the top model with turbo petrol engine,SatNav,Rear Parking sensors etc.First drive took me back to the Skoda of 15years ago whereby the car was made from recycled well proven VW bits.In this case the recycled bits are Renault/Nissan.Would Skoda be better getting back to it's previous "function over frivolity" policy or has it surrendered this area to Dacia?