OK I have a Seat Toledo, not a Rapid. But it's the exact same car just about. I'm almost ready for the first service and thought I come back and give some feedback.

 

I took delivery of the car new on 2nd April for use as a taxi. I know people scoff at taxi cabs but really we are the ideal people to consult about what cars are good/bad for the job. So far this has proven to be excellent. The fuel economy is much, MUCH better than my last Scoda Octy. I worked a full 7 days this week and still only put in £90 for the week. I regularly finished a shift with over 60 MPG average showing on the matrix display. This does need some motorway work to achieve this though but I have a school run that requires 20 miles each way on the M62 and M606. Without this run it does drop into the 50s over the course of a day.

 

Reliability has been 100%. But then that should be a given on a new car (but sometimes it's not is it?).

 

Not once have I been asked to move my seat forward by a customer sitting right behind me. This was a major hassle in my last car. Really annoying to have to shift the seat about when I'm all comfy. Not a problem now!

 

The boot of course is huge and I've not come across a pram or wheelchair that hasn't been a doddle to load.

 

The car isn't too powerful of course and there are times at junctions I need to think ahead if I want to get across into another lane. This was never a problem in a Skoda Superb I used to own, but then again I couldn't get much more than 40 mpg out of that on average. The car has proven to be very comfy to drive with plenty of variation in the seat settings. Steering is fine and the suspension is NOT at all harsh as some reviewers have claimed.

 

The car has the Ecomotive feature where the engine stops in traffic. This has given no problems at all and has been fine. I don't think any Rapids have this feature on them as I think Skoda wanted to keep this as a selling point on the new Octys. (I could be wrong on that point though)

 

I've also had no problems at all with the DPF system. I was worried about that as I'd heard horror stories of cars fitted with the first generation of these things. But so far no issues at all.

 

I was concerned that the manually operated windows in the back would be left down by lazy customers in warm weather. It has happened a few times but not as often as I thought it would. I can't reach the handle on the passenger side and windows left open in the back cause a vibration of the wind in car that's really annoying (last two cars did this as well though).

 

My "local" Seat dealer has agreed to match the price of servicing with my local Skoda dealer. Seat have a nationwide fixed price policy but the costs seem really expensive - £160 for the first service as opposed to Skoda who quoted me £110 for the same service on a Rapid. That's quite a difference but Seat have promised to price match for me. I say "local" because I have to travel 10 miles to the nearest Seat dealer whereas Skoda have one down the road from me. They could do the servicing no problem but they cannot do any warranty work so it makes sense to stick to the Seat dealer for now.

 

So far so good. I'm very happy with it. Yet to see how good the dealer is but that's a different issue. Sometimes a car can be bad/great with opposite performance from the dealer!

 

EDIT:  One last thing.... I love how so far this car has proven to be unique. Since taking delivery of it I'm still yet to see another Toledo on the road!. I've seen a few Rapids (a few, not many) so it seems Skoda are having marginally more success at selling this car. But it's great to feel I have something unique, even if it is bland!

Edited 30 June, 201313 yr by DBrown67

Good little review!

Skoda Rapid does come with stop/start - greentech or something. Takes the ved down a band.

Space is great as is comfort.

You could always have a remap to take the power to the Superbs speed - you have a car that weights 200kg less than a superb though.

Yes, I think stop/start is available on the Skoda's in greentec variant but I'm not sure if that was available from launch or had a delay on it.

 

Good review As a Taxi your car will be getting 'fully utilised' more than any of ours I should imagine so it's good to hear it's standing up to the rigours of it, a prime consideration for me when I bought my Rapid was the practicality and big loading space in the boot for when I do my (fairly regular) family taxi runs to ship my Sister and twin nieces between Warrington and South Wales

 

I'm assuming the engine in yours is the 1.6 CR diesel?

Yes, I think stop/start is available on the Skoda's in greentec variant but I'm not sure if that was available from launch or had a delay on it.

 

Good review As a Taxi your car will be getting 'fully utilised' more than any of ours I should imagine so it's good to hear it's standing up to the rigours of it, a prime consideration for me when I bought my Rapid was the practicality and big loading space in the boot for when I do my (fairly regular) family taxi runs to ship my Sister and twin nieces between Warrington and South Wales

 

I'm assuming the engine in yours is the 1.6 CR diesel?

 

Yes I do have the 1.6 CR diesel.

 

I just had another flick through my rapid brochure and indeed they did list the Greentech option with stop/start technology for the 1.6 CR diesel. But you had to really look for it in the lists and NOWHERE did the brochure explain fully what Greentech was or have any explanation of the stop/start tech. Only on page 16 does it list what Greentech option has but that's in the Rapid S section which only offers 1.2 petrol engines. Rather poor brochure. They spend more time highlighting the little options you can buy like boot netting etc.  /sigh

 

I bought this car totally with my head. It was a box ticking exercise that had to be as financially viable as possible.  All these professional journalists were harping on about how dull and uninspiring it was. That it did everything "OK" but was bland as hell. I just ignored all that crap and looked at the stats and features. Nothing could beat the Toledo anywhere for the money. The only reason I went for it over the Rapid is because the taxi outfitter I got it from in Scotland had a deal with their local Seat dealer to supply cars for 10K plus VAT with free delivery nationwide.

 

Rather poor brochure. They spend more time highlighting the little options you can buy like boot netting etc.  /sigh

 

Totally agree.... and stupidly priced nets at that. You can buy non OEM nets off eBay for a third of the price and they're just as good!

imho, for the use of this car and the reasons why most of us chose it, it's very important to hear a review from a cab driver, because you are actually testing the reliability of the car (your miles in a a couple of months will be my total yearly miles ).

 

nice to hear good words about it!

 

Thx for the review

 Thanks DBrown67, interesting read

+ 1 ^^^^^^ better to hear an honest review from someone who uses it as a workhorse rather than someone who's just trying to sell magazines!

Glad to read this positive review especially when the choice was made.

Yep excellent review, certainly sounds as though its the right car for the job.