Item: Used Skoda Rapid Spaceback 2013-present
Rating: 3
Author: What Car? Team

If you want plenty of autonomous safety tech on your next car, have a look at the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/nissan/pulsar/hatchback/used-review/n17572">Nissan Pulsar</a>. Most models come with some form of emergency braking, which helps to lower insurance costs.

Thanks to the sheer ubiquity of the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/vauxhall/astra/hatchback/used-review/n17400">Vauxhall Astra</a>, you'll easily find a well-specified version for similar money to the Rapid Spaceback. It rides well and provides predictable if slightly dull handling.

For those who like the idea of having some manufacturer warranty left on their used car, the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/hyundai/i30/hatchback/used-review/n768">Hyundai i30</a> is worth a look. It’s well equipped and has a pleasantly finished interior.

<a href="http://www.whatcar.com/classifieds/used-cars/skoda/rapid-spaceback">Find a used Skoda Rapid Spaceback in the What Car? Classifieds here</a>

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What is it like?

Ownership cost

Advice for buyers

Our recommendations

Alternatives

Two recalls have been issued for the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/skoda">Skoda</a> Rapid that you should consider looking into if you’re thinking of buying a Rapid Spaceback, particularly when you consider how closely they’re related. The first applies to cars produced between 25 November 2015 and 14 April 2016 and concerns child door locks that might disengage without warning. The second is to do with the possibility of parts in the seatbelt pretensioners becoming dislodged when they engage in an accident. It affects vehicles built between 1 May 2016 and 31 October 2016. If you’re in doubt, contact your local Skoda dealer for further information.

If your Rapid Spaceback has a diesel engine, it is fitted with a diesel particulate filter (DPF). This means that the car will need to be taken on regular motorway journeys to ensure that the DPF can regenerate, because this process is only triggered at high speeds. Check how the previous owner has used the car if you are unsure.

Other potential problems with DPF-equipped cars come if it has been shut off part-way through a regeneration. The result could be contamination of the oil system with fuel, leading to the oil level rising gradually over time. This might cause damage to the engine, if it hasn’t already, so it’s worth getting the car checked out.

There wasn’t enough data to include the Rapid Spaceback in our latest What Car? Reliability Survey. However, Skoda as a brand did all right, coming 13th out of 32 other car manufacturers and beating the likes of Vauxhall and Nissan.

If you would like to see the full reliability list, head to the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/news/2018-what-car-reliability-survey/n17798">What Car? Reliability Survey</a> pages for more information.

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Hatchback

One of the greatest success stories in the car world of recent decades is Skoda’s rise to become a hugely credible mainstream maker of good-value, good-sense cars.

Central to that success has been its place within the VW Group, alongside the Volkswagen brand itself, plus the likes of Seat and Audi. That has given it access to exactly the same underpinnings for its cars as the other brands, and it has complemented this by adding its own developments, from the way the cars drive and ride through to the features they have and the pricing.

The result is a range that extends from a city car to a large executive saloon, with family and large seven-seat SUVs too. There’s a wide variety of petrol and diesel engines, all of which are competitive for the class.

As a result, Skoda has a range of cars that is almost entirely class-leading or among the class leaders, and it has enjoyed long-time success at the What Car? Awards as a result.

SKODA

RAPID SPACEBACK

While it’s not class-leading to drive, the Skoda Rapid Spaceback does offer quite a lot of interior room and good equipment levels

Used Skoda Rapid Spaceback 2013-present

Thanks to a decent range of fuel-sipping engines, the Rapid Spaceback is a pretty inexpensive car to run.

The diesel engines are the economy champions, with the promise of a 64.2mpg official (NEDC) average from both the 1.4 and 1.6 TDI and £30 road tax. Greenline versions have altered gearing and other fuel-saving tech to increase average economy to 74.3mpg and sneak the Rapid Spaceback into the free road tax band.

Petrol versions aren’t quite as economical, but they’re not far too far behind. The black sheep is the 1.4 TSI due to its automatic gearbox, but an average of 48.7mpg and £140 road tax shouldn’t bankrupt you. Of the two 1.2 TSI engines on offer, the 86bhp version is the more efficient choice, with 55.4mpg and £30 road tax, while the 103bhp version is rated at 52.3mpg and £120 road tax.

The facelift in 2017 brought engine revisions to the 1.4 and 1.6 TDI engines to increase their efficiency, while the new 1.0 TSI replaced all previous petrol engines. The 94bhp 1.0 TSI is particularly noteworthy, because it returns 62.8mpg on average. However, the majority of these engines were introduced after the new road tax policy was implemented in April 2017, so all models after this date will cost you £140 a year to tax.

<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/skoda">Skoda</a> servicing tends to be reasonable compared with some of its rivals, but you can take advantage of Skoda’s fixed-price servicing scheme once your Skoda car is over three years old. Prices for all of these jobs are published on Skoda’s website under the owners section.

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While it’s not class-leading to drive, the Skoda Rapid Spaceback does offer quite a lot of interior room and good equipment levels

Thanks to steep depreciation, you can now pick up an early Rapid Spaceback for just £5000. It’ll be a 1.6-litre diesel with around 100,000 miles on the clock, though, so you might want to spend around £7000 for something with less than half the mileage, in well-equipped SE or SE Tech spec with a 1.2 TSI petrol engine. Those who want an automatic will need to spend about £8000, because there aren’t huge numbers of them available on the used market. If you want a facelifted car with the 1.0 TSI turbo petrol engine, you’ll need to increase your budget to £11,500.

<a href="https://www.whatcar.com/car-valuation/">Check the value of a used Skoda Rapid Spaceback with What Car? Valuations</a>

Of the wide variety of engines on offer, we’d choose the 1.2 TSI, because it’s nice and smooth, has decent fuel economy and suits those who don’t cover big miles. The diesels tend to be a little gruff and the 1.0-litre turbo petrol is only available in later, facelifted cars that cost significantly more.

SE Tech gets you all the basics you’ll need and adds sat-nav, rear parking sensors, front and rear electric windows and climate control for similar money to an SE version.

Our favourite <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/make/skoda">Skoda</a> Rapid Spaceback: 1.2 TSI SE Tech

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<h2>What we're looking for:</h2><ul><li>Plenty of practical space </li> <li>Low running costs </li> <li>A comfortable ride </li> <li>A healthy equipment list </li> <li>Quality materials and thoughtful touches inside </li> <li>Rock-solid reliability</li></ul>

Family cars arguably have the toughest brief of all: they have to be good at pretty much everything. They’re used as the daily drive, on the school run or work commute (often both), and have to be able to cope with a family’s clutter on weekends and holidays.

The Skoda Scala is a relative newcomer, but it's&nbsp;already carved out a name for itself in this segment.&nbsp;If you're looking for a moderately priced car that combines a supple ride, neat handling, a spacious interior and a capacious boot&nbsp;it's well worth a look.&nbsp;Alternatively, if you're looking for entertaining handling then the&nbsp;BMW 1 Series may well be for you. It's great to drive, rides well&nbsp;and also comes with a top-notch interior, featuring one of our very favourite infotainment systems.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Toyota Corolla&nbsp;is another great choice. This latest version of one of the world's best-selling cars of all time can be had with a choice of two different petrol-electric hybrid engines, both of which should mean&nbsp;potentially lower fuel bills. It's comfortable, well equipped and should be very reliable, too.&nbsp;

Family

The Rapid uses a number of cheaper plastics in the interior that are generally tough but can be scratched, so have a look around for any unsightly damage.

Check the alloy wheels for signs of curb damage. Not only is this potentially costly to put right, but it could also be a clue to future tyre wear and suspension problems if the knock has been serious enough to put the suspension geometry out.

Most models come with rear parking sensors but accidents can still happen, so look out for any damage to the bodywork and bumpers, because paint and body repairs can be expensive.

On the face of it, the Skoda Rapid Spaceback is quite hard to explain. It’s a five-door hatchback that looks like a small estate car, yet it has a smaller boot than the Rapid saloon from which it is derived. However, when you look at the gap it fills in the Skoda range between the Fabia and Octavia, it starts to make more sense.

You see, because the Octavia is so much larger in size than the Fabia, there’s room for another, slightly smaller Skoda to cater for buyers looking at a more traditionally sized family car such as the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/nissan/pulsar/hatchback/used-review/n17572">Nissan Pulsar</a>, <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/vauxhall/astra/hatchback/used-review/n17400">Vauxhall Astra</a> or <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/hyundai/i30/hatchback/used-review/n768">Hyundai i30</a>.

The majority of the Rapid Spaceback range is powered by petrol engines in either 1.2 TSI four-cylinder guise (with 86 or 104bhp), a 122bhp 1.4 TSI that comes with a DSG automatic gearbox, or an ultra-frugal 1.0-litre three-cylinder unit in the facelifted Spaceback with either 94 or 109bhp. There are also two diesels: an 86bhp 1.4 or a 105bhp 1.6 TDI that was upgraded to 113bhp after the mid-life refresh.

Space is something the Spaceback does well at. Apart from the curious loss of cargo room during the conversion from a saloon to a small estate, the boot is at least a useable, square shape and is bigger than you’ll find in rivals such as the <a href="https://www.whatcar.com/ford/focus/hatchback/used-review/n345">Ford Focus</a> and Vauxhall Astra. The rear seats can be folded down (albeit not completely flat) to accommodate larger loads, although there is a noticeable step unless the car is fitted with the optional dual-height boot floor.

To drive, the Rapid Spaceback is easy: the clutch is nice and light and so is the steering – a real boon for parking. Ride quality, sadly, isn’t so good. It can be quite floaty at higher speeds, but when it encounters a pothole you feel an unpleasant and sometimes jarring thud coming through into the interior. It also fidgets over rougher surfaces. Rivals – in particular the Vauxhall Astra – have a much calmer and more controlled ride.

<a href="http://www.whatcar.com/classifieds/used-cars/skoda/rapid-spaceback">Find a used Skoda Rapid Spaceback in the What Car? Classifieds here</a>

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Used Skoda Rapid Spaceback 2013-present review

Alternatives

What alternatives should I consider to a used Skoda Rapid Spaceback hatchback?