Gone but not entirely forgotten

I promise you I’m not going to make a habit of recommending VAG products, but bear with me...

The Skoda Rapid and SEAT Toledo twins are now obsolete and gone from new car sales. Their death has gone without mention. They caught nobody’s imagination when launched and, as such, are worth investigating as a used buy. This recommendation came from my local minicab firm – they talk cars incessantly when I’m in with them. Now I was sceptical, as the 1.6 diesel was one of the major talking points during the so-called Dieselgate scandal (the EGR valves literally being a sticking point). However, there are quite a few of them on this taxi fleet and they report that they have been terrifically reliable and very economical to run – 200,000 miles without issue is quite common, I’m assured. They also swear they have never had to change a DPF. I believe the cab firm because, like most of us, they like good a moan, but not in this case.

They are, I will admit, handily sized, being close in proportion to the old Triumph Toledo, both narrower and shorter than the class norm. Unlike its Canley namesake, I doubt you can wear a pork pie hat in the SEAT version, even without a sunroof, but such dimensions are a boon in tight car parks.

If you wanted to avoid diesel (and I wouldn’t blame you) then the run-out petrols were a 1.0-litre three-cylinder unit which is not as bad as it sounds. These are the real bargains of the range.

From my time working in a Skoda garage and, prior to that, in a multi-franchise site with SEAT, I cannot recall these cars personally. They are automotive gravy, but that’s good as generally it’s only the troublesome cars that stick in your mind. Their residuals are low because nobody knows about them, not because they are a tragic product or woefully unreliable.

For that reason, and the fact that my neighbour has two of them (one for personal use, one for taxiing), I’m recommending them too.

‘Their residuals are low simply because nobody knows about them’