Hi all

 

I've been following this forum on the sidelines for approx. a year, and thought it prudent to giving my thoughts on owning my Rapedo (Seat Toledo, although as you all know, mechanically identical to the Skoda Rapid). The activity on the seat forums are quite limited so thought i'd say hello here instead.

 

I bought my car new in April 2015. Its a 1,2 TSI 105 PS with a 6-speed manual and the following equipment (some may have been left out):

 

- Climate control

- Heated seats

- Bluetooth 

- Rear-parking sensors

- Heated mirrors

- Heated headlight washer nozzles

- Hill hold

- 16 inch alloys

 Some standard equipment may have been left out :-)

 

I live in Denmark where cars are prohibitively expensive. I initially considered a Skoda Octavia and a Seat Leon St but I was unable to get any reasonable discounts on the car, and with our limited annual mileage just couldn't justify the extra cost when the seat dealer was ready to offer a roughly £ 3,000 discount on a brand new Toledo in a cash deal. 

 

 

Now we are 1 year and approx. 10 k KM into owership of the car. The coming year our mileage will be significantly lower.

 

So far the Toledo has proven a great car for us: The space is great, and economy so far has been pretty good. No mechanical issues or other reliability issues. Also no rattles as some have reported.

 

I knew what to expect from the car when i bought it, namely that the ride was slightly on the hard side, and that the car is not as inspiring to drive as some of the competition. So in that sense, I haven't experienced some of the disappointment that others seem to have reported.

 

I am still greatly enjoying the little 1,2 tsi 105 PS unit. It suits the car quite well and provides for a relaxed drive even on the motorway at 130 Kmph..

 

I had the experience to drive the seat leon st 1,2 tsi and seat toledo 1,2 tsi back to back, as our car was delayed a week due to a mistake on the dealer's part. The dealer admirably rectified the mistake by providing a well-equipped leon st 1,2 tsi 110 PS free of charge for a week until our car was ready for pick-up. I was happy to learn that the difference was not as big as I might initially have thought, and the Toledo didn't prove to be a massive step down compared to the leon. This only reassured me that the approx. 5-6 £ k saved was a good decision.

 

All in all a happy owner, and provided the car stays mechanically sound, I am planning to keep it for approx. 5 more years. 

 

How are all of you getting along with your rapids or toledos?

 

All the best

 

Chris

Toledo 110 PS Style Advanced is doing fine thanks.I drove the wife's Dacia Sandero Stepway last night and whilst it is a very good car in it's own right and more fun to drive than the Toledo it feels a generation below.The Toledo drives like a limousine in comparison,It is probably too early to judge fairly as the Dacia has only done 500 miles but the Toledo has about a 5 MPG advantage over the Stepway.The Toledo brakes are more progressive than the Dacia and generally is a more refined drive.

If the Dacia's brakes are anything like the last generation Clio it's based on, then I know what you mean about not being progressive. I parked my wife's friend's Clio when she came to visit us once (years ago now) and nearly ended up head butting the windscreen - they were like a switch!

 

The Rapid's brakes do feel very progressive. There have been occasions when I've had to apply a little extra pressure than I would have thought necessary, but I've always been able to stop in time! As for the rest of the car, I think the OP has summed it up well. As long as you don't have unrealistic expectations, then it's a good car for the money.

Chris - I was interested in your comments and your observation that there was not too great a difference between Leon and Toledo. We took ours on a family holiday touring half of Spain and it would be hard to imagine matching the space, comfort, ease of driving, performance and economy with anything in my budget. I am sure you will have many happy years motoring with yours. Andy.

PS by ours I meant Toledo, of course lol

Leon is a better car on paper, but I didn't like driving it enough - certainly not to spend 5k more!

Chris - I was interested in your comments and your observation that there was not too great a difference between Leon and Toledo. We took ours on a family holiday touring half of Spain and it would be hard to imagine matching the space, comfort, ease of driving, performance and economy with anything in my budget. I am sure you will have many happy years motoring with yours. Andy.

Hej Andy

 

I agree the Toledo is great value for money. At least with the Danish prices one should get quite a discount on the list price or the pricing gets a little too close to some of the more refined competition such as the Ford Focus Stationcar (Ford are notorius in Denmark for giving massive dealer discounts). However, with a bit of discount on list price (which is easy to get on the Toledo), it has proven to be very good value for money. We are still thorougly enjoying ours!

 

Hope you have many years of happy motoring with your rapedo :-)

Leon is a better car on paper, but I didn't like driving it enough - certainly not to spend 5k more!

Hi!

I agree.

Also a fair few bits I wasn't too fussed with on the Leon. First and foremost I didn't much care for the positioning of the screen on the dash, looked a little misplaced and too much like a retrofit imho.

 

Further, I had the 1,2 tsi 110 PS unit. It may be down to the increased weight of the Leon, but despite the extra 5 PS it actually seemed significantly slower off the line. I definitely had to rev it quite a bit more than the 105 PS version, which can be driven almost like a diesel. In that respect, I am not too concerned that I have the older 1,2 tsi unit in my Toledo.

 

I also found the ride in the Leon wasn't much more comfy to be honest. It may be due to the bigger tyres on the Leon (17 inch on my loaner vs. 16 inch on the Toledo), but pot holes and the like was also easily felt in the Leon.

 

Lastly its mainly my wife using the car. She is very short and struggled to find a comfortable driving position in the Leon, whereas the Toledo is a perfect fit for her.

 

The exterior on the Leon on the other hand, now that is one smart looking motor!

 

Chris