sat in rapid today - unimpressed / disappointed

[bluecar1]

went to beadles to check on some parts i was waiting for and looked at the rapid whilst there

exterior, side on looked ok, nothing to write home about, front looked ok (still not sure skoda's new corperate front is to my liking)

from the back it reminded me of a mondeo (shudder)

only clue i had to model was a TSi badge on back so not sure of trim level but i think mid range

boot was good size and had the rubber mat in the bottom, inside plenty of leg room in the back and seemed confortable enough but seemed very dark, not light and airy as most skoda's

in the front did not like it at all seemed to have lost all the spaciousness that skoda seem to get right, felt more cramped than a citigo :(

height and reach adjustment for steering wheel is no longer under the steering column out of the way ,but to the left of the steering column, right next to my knee (crash test results will be interesting for that)

the windscreen seemed to be right in front of my face compared to 4-6 inches futher forward in the fabias and citigos, instruments are same standard things in the skoda range so no comment there,

i am 6 foot but even with seat right back i did not feel confortable with the leg room and distance between my knees and hard plastics was only a couple of inches, even in a minor shunt i could see my knees being banged (not good)

the light switch is nicely high up so you can actually see it without looking down to much (a positive whoo hoo)

overall if it wasn't for the instruments in the dash i would have a hard time working out if this was a skoda or a cheapo korean motor

from what i can see internal space has been sacreficed to a bigger boot, and seem to have taken the korean dark hard plastic everwhere to a new level

not impressed, if this is the direction skoda are going my GLII will probably be my last

Edited 17 November, 2012 by bluecar1

[blueR36]

I like the looks of it, a thunk when you shut it, nice dials and Facia, a bit cheap plastics , lovely finish on the B pillars, I did not drive it and I cannot comment on the boot as it was locked and I did not know how to open it\( no key

[Auric Goldfinger]

I like the looks of it, a thunk when you shut it, nice dials and Facia, a bit cheap plastics , lovely finish on the B pillars, I did not drive it and I cannot comment on the boot as it was locked and I did not know how to open it\( no key

Should have gone to Specsavers

[blueR36]

well how do you open it, is there a boot release

[Auric Goldfinger]

well how do you open it, is there a boot release

I was meaning more of " I like the looks of it "

[SilverSurfer59]

Advertisted as being 'from £12,000' and for that money I liked the look of it too.

Had a look around what I thought was a base model ( 1.6 tdi ) then came the price.. £20,995??

[bluecar1]

yep pricing seems to be wrong for the quality or you could say quality is not good enough for the price

still not sure about the outside looks, side on looks like a skoda, back end realy not sure, front so so

inside is where the worst of the percieved quality issues seem to be

[blueR36]

I think once it has some decent engines at a sensible price it will sell ok.I am not interested in the current range.They will be less bullish about pricing when they do not shift.The Fabia vRS has brittle plastics and is way overpriced but every man and his dog gets a discount

[skippy41]

Advertisted as being 'from £12,000' and for that money I liked the look of it too.

Had a look around what I thought was a base model ( 1.6 tdi ) then came the price.. £20,995??

Thats funny Skoda price list £16.5 K for the SE

[SilverSurfer59]

Wasn't ment to be a joke but glad it gave you the giggles

[philhoward]

The showroom models are stacked up with extras (as is usual) - "crashed into the options list" is one phrase I hear...

[SilverSurfer59]

Yep closer look its priced at £20,695 so my bad!

Comes with summer pack, winter pack amusden say nav and a couple elegance upgrades, nothing that really stands out.

Of course i see the reasoning behind having it more spec'ed out than standard as they want to show these off but maybes they should have the price in smaller writing!

And maybe I'm a big kid but big wheels and leather interior would have looked better than the above.

[RapidRonnie]

Leather isn't an option and I thought all the demos were fitted with the 17in wheels?

What they should have done though is put 1.2TSI in the showroom cars - that would have brought the price down significantly.

[The Plumber]

Looked at one close up today but it was in the dealers car park and locked obviously. Surprised they didn't have one in the showroom, had every other model in there, albeit the Yeti was an approved used and with a creaky drivers seat :S

Denim blue not keen with the photo's, even less in the metal; one to avoid IMHO. Liked what I could see of the interior, a slightly more upmarket Fabia being my first impression, although the front bumper needs fog-lights. This one didn't have them and it looks quite bland with the vast black plastic 'honeycomb' effect lower grill. Looking at the back, then another must I feel are PDC sensors; quite a high and long boot to hide low immovable objects like car park bollards.

Would be quite happy to own one but not at the current RRP, don't feel there's enough extra in the car to justify asking £2300 more for a Rapid Elegance TDI 105 over the RRP of an equivalent Fabia Estate Elegance TDI 105. Makes the vat free offers look far to tempting to bother even considering the Rapid at this time; again IMHO. Think SUK have got the pricing totally wrong and this could hurt sales of anything but the lower spec petrol models.

TP

[krob2]

I had a look at one this afternoon outside my dealer. Very unimpressed by the styling of the thing - very plain. It was £20K which is stupid pricing. Its not aspirational motoring at all - The Kias look better than this I'm afraid.

Also weird that this dealer also didn't have one in his showroom to sit in...

Edited 24 November, 2012 by krob2

[Superbster]

Looked and sat in a Rapid the weekend before launch as our local dealer was very friendly (already a customer of there's though!) and helpful. Have to agree that the pricing is way out there but is that not true of most new cars these days, I wouldn't have been able to afford my Superb had it not had £5000 off list price (it was pre-regd). When the prices become more realistic (and they will have to if Skoda plan on selling any) I think it will sell well. Reasonable room inside, big boot, good reliability and economy, did someone call for a taxi ????

[Hughp]

Sat in a Rapid today at Garland motors in Aldershot. I like the shape very much and the space in both the car and the boot. Was not impressed with the quality of plastic on the dash. Also though the seats were very uncomfortable. Was told this car was fitted with "sports" seats, thought that if this is what you got for paying extra, then they can keep there sports seats! Have not tried the "normal" seats, but did find the seats more comfortable in my 51 reg Fabia with 158000. miles on the clock !

Also thought the car was very expensive for what i would get.

Edited 29 November, 2012 by Hughp

[bluecar1]

snip...

Also thought the car was very expensive for what i wolud get.

the demo cars seem to be mainly SE spec with every option on the list, that pushes the prices to silly levels above which joe public would go and not really representative of the normal cost for the car

but having said that i still think the cost of the car does not represent value for the standard of the interior and standard equipment

[PDIBK]

Could be good news, when these dealer demos get unleashed on the public for sale - pre-registered, ex-demo, everything on them, for not much more than the "normal" model.

I have received an invite to go and have a look at one, but am not going to put myself out - I'll wait until the Fabia needs its service in a couple of months.

The RRP (without options) seems sensible. The problem is, the SUK, supposedly short term, VAT free offer, has been going on FOR AGES and people never look at RRP any more, they knock off 20% and think that is the "REAL" price.

Dealers are either going hungry (as I believe it comes out of their margin), or Skodas are overpriced.

Have thought more about some of the comments I made on another thread in here - they should offer any engine/trim combo you want - there is always a 3 month wait for a new Skoda, so let the customer spec what they want, to a price point, or performance point, rather than limiting the choice to what Skoda want people to have.

[RapidRonnie]

they should offer any engine/trim combo you want - there is always a 3 month wait for a new Skoda, so let the customer spec what they want, to a price point, or performance point, rather than limiting the choice to what Skoda want people to have.

You can do this in the Czech Republic. As you say, if they're being built to order why not let us lot do it too?

I maintain that there is nothing much wrong with this car for the target market it is going for, but Skoda UK have overpriced it. An interesting article on Auto.cz compares Rapid prices across Europe, the UK is the most expensive: http://www.auto.cz/skoda-rapid-koupite-nejlevneji-71378

Of course, the price you pay is what matters and not the list price but I do think the headline prices are giving people an unnecessarily negative feeling about the car.

[The Plumber]

Have thought more about some of the comments I made on another thread in here - they should offer any engine/trim combo you want - there is always a 3 month wait for a new Skoda, so let the customer spec what they want, to a price point, or performance point, rather than limiting the choice to what Skoda want people to have.

Our problem is SUK not Skoda Auto the manufacturer. Have yet to really fathom why SUK feel it necessary to restrict what we in the UK can have access to, in regard to the options available on any given model.

Have challenged them a few times myself regard this; even through their favourite motoring mag Auto Express but all I get is lame excuses, such as technically not possible (but only in the UK not anywhere else) or Skoda Auto could not cope with excessive customer choice of options (again only in the UK).

As some may be aware there a a handful of UK spec Yeti's that have special build status; their running on factory fitted 16" alloys rather than SUK's specification of 17" rims. SUK stated that it was not possible to build a Yeti SE or Elegance in such a configuration (other than GreenLine), despite other countries offering their customers the option. Skoda Auto though stated otherwise on being asked (just a code change on the build sheet) and the rest is history. However SUK have made it as difficult as possible for customers to get the special build option applied to their orders. SUK even lost a dealer at least one order due to their stonewalling antics; 'simply clever' doesn't apply to SUK IMHO.

If Skoda Auto had any sense it would be well served to get shot of the current importer and start afresh, with a more customer focused rather than inward focused team; again IMHO.

TP

[RapidRonnie]

If Skoda Auto had any sense it would be well served to get shot of the current importer and start afresh, with a more customer focused rather than inward focused team; again IMHO.

Can't see that happening unfortunately as SUK are basically a subsidiary of Volkswagen UK are they not?

I saw another showroom Rapid today in silver again with the 17in wheels, really did look very nice. Don't get the blanket hatred of this car although I know it's becoming the norm on Briskoda - remember when the first Citigo details emerged there were plenty of vitriolic comments about that too but that seems to be selling like hotcakes now.

[The Plumber]

Can't see that happening unfortunately as SUK are basically a subsidiary of Volkswagen UK are they not?

I saw another showroom Rapid today in silver again with the 17in wheels, really did look very nice. Don't get the blanket hatred of this car although I know it's becoming the norm on Briskoda - remember when the first Citigo details emerged there were plenty of vitriolic comments about that too but that seems to be selling like hotcakes now.

Yes sadly you are correct, SUK are a full paid up member of the VAG empire but one can dream of happy days

Lirke the Rapid myself; looks a little bland at the front without fogs and in denim blue and IMHO I feel SUK should have asked about 1K less per level of trim.

Regards,

TP

[bluecar1]

when the citigo launched many liked it, and there were orders placed by people without seeing the car in the flesh

does not seem to be the case with the rapid

most of the negatives are not about the the car as such but more percieved quality of plastics and bland styling, not the normal skoda design

if you look at the dimension drawings on skoda's web site you will see what i mean about about the driver being closer to the windscreen, look at the position of the steering wheel in the illustration for the dimensions in relation to the top of the screen?, in the fabia it is about 3/4s of the way up the screen, on the rapid it is halfway or less up the screen, which accounts for my lack of space and feeling very close to the wind screen when i sat in the car

that also shows where some of the space has been found for the cavern of boot, thay have moved the passenger area forward about 6 inches

[greenfieldboy]

So, the general opinion regarding pricing is:

"Like a Golf, but not a Golf"

Kia and Hyundai list prices seem to have rocketed recently, established Ford practice of huge list price and substantial discount is becoming the norm.