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Octavia to Rapid. Thoughts


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Hi all. Any Rapid owners on here made the change from an Octavia to a Rapid. I was wondering if you were pleased with what you got from your Rapid.

 

I am debating on buying a Rapid as I can get a much newer vehicle with my budget - I don't want to regret it though. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

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What do you want from a car?

 

I guess your Octavia is a mk2 being a 1.9tdi?

 

I owned an Octava vRS  (pre-facelift mk2) about 8 years years ago.  My wife now has a Rapid Spaceback.

 

The Rapid is a great car for what it is and suits someone after comfort, space and value.

 

The Octavia felt more solid and was a more cohesive drive. 

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What follows here is purely my opinion, I won't be in the least offended if others disagree!

 

I used to have a Rapid (1.6tdi) and currently have a Toledo (Rapid clone) 1.2tsi.   A friend of mine has a Mk2 Octavia 1.6tdi estate which I have driven several times and travelled in many miles.

 

In comparison, I think of the Rapedo as a large Fabia rather than a small Octavia.   Although the Rapedo isn't far off the Octavia in size (in length - it's a lot narrower as it is based on an extended supermini platform), the interior is more Fabia than Octavia - all hard plastics, etc. - and does have something of 'budget car' about it.   All that is cosmetic though.

 

The more important difference, for me, is ride quality.   The Octavia's ride, especially on typically scarred UK roads, is way better than the Rapedo which I find to be on the 'rock hard' side of 'firm'.   The Mk3 Octavia has lost the fully independent rear suspension of the Mk2 (except for the higher powered models) but gained the MQB platform and I believe that there is still a significant difference in ride quality.   This may be more important to me - being on the wrong side of 60 - than it may be to someone younger.

 

So, whilst I am not unhappy with my Toledo (which isn't overall a bad car to drive, has been 100% reliable so far, and is good vfm), I'm intending to move the other way (to an Octavia) when time comes to change (which will be at the 3 year point because it will be worth a lot less than the final balloon payment of the PCP).

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On 14/09/2017 at 16:38, manccabbie said:

Hi all. Any Rapid owners on here made the change from an Octavia to a Rapid. I was wondering if you were pleased with what you got from your Rapid.

 

I am debating on buying a Rapid as I can get a much newer vehicle with my budget - I don't want to regret it though. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

HI - I've owned several versions of both (Mk II Octavia 1.8 TSi hatch and Mk II Octavia 1.8 TSi 4x4 Combi / 1.2 TSi Rapid Spaceback and Hatchback).

 

Can only echo the comments in the earlier posts - the Octavia has the feel of a better quality product, both in terms of interior trim and ride comfort. The Rapid however is slightly "low rent" inside and doesn't ride as well. There was a degree of development early in the Rapid's life and the later cars are noticeably improved, both in terms of equipment and ride quality / comfort and steering.

 

On balance however I feel the Rapid offers a good deal, if bought at the right price. I test drove a Rapid when they first appeared and felt it was markedly over-priced and relatively under equipped. 5 years later and I've owned 2 Rapid's and have just purchased a Rapid clone (Toledo 1.0 TSi).

 

i was initially concerned my new car (Toledo 1.0 TSi) would ride poorly on it's 17" rims / 215/40/17 tyres, but the ride quality is actually pretty decent and barely different to the Rapid spaceback it replaced (running 16" rims / 215/45/16 tyres).

 

Looking back at what I paid for my last Octavia I see I've paid around 50% less for the next 2 Rapid's, but crucially have never felt especially short changed by the Rapid.

 

I did consider a MkIII Octavia, but recently took a 1.4 TSi for an extended test drive and felt it wasn't worth the additional ~£6K over the price I eventually paid for my Rapid hatch clone.

 

I bought my first Rapid (2013 1.2 TSi Elegance hatch) after visiting my local main dealer with the intention of buying a Citigo as an urban commuter. I test drove the Citigo and then noticed the Rapid, which offered considerably more (performance / space / equipment) for less cash!

 

Edited by pinkpanther
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