Skoda Scala review

The Scala represents one of the cheapest ways into a good, mid-sized family hatchback; even an equivalenlty equipped Ford Focus will cost you thousands more.

However, there's a 'but'. It isn't predicted to hold its value as well as most rivals, which means that it'll loose more of its value over three years if your a cash buyer, and adversly affects the price of PCP finance and leasing costs, too.

Fuel economy is a strength, though. You can expect to see over 40mpg in the real world from the 1.0 TSI 115 (that's better than a 1.0 Kia Ceed), and mid-60mpg for the 1.6-litre diesel. Even the 1.5 TSI shouldn't break the bank. 

Entry-level SE trim offers reasonable equipment, including 16in alloy wheels, a leather gear lever and steering wheel, cruise control, air conditioning, electrically operated and heated door mirrors, plus auto lights and wipers. 

We'd suggest going for the SE L trim because it still represents good value and adds micro-suede seat inserts, bigger 17in wheels, LED rear lights, dynamic indicators, privacy glass, climate control, electrically folding door mirrors, and keyless entry and start. 

Like all Skodas, the Scala gets a number of ‘simply-clever’ features to make life easier. Those are a parking ticket-holder mounted on the windscreen pillar, an umbrella in a compartment in each front door, an ice-scraper that doubles up as a tyre tread-depth gauge clipped to the fuel-filler cap, and a cap for the screen-wash that unfolds for use as a funnel.

The Scala is too new to have featured in the 2018  What Car? Reliability Survey, but Skoda as a brand finished a very respectable 7th out of 31 manufacturers. That result places it above Volkswagen and Seat, as well as premium brands that include Mercedes and Porsche.

It’s difficult to predict how the Scala will fare individually, but for reference, the larger Octavia and the discontinued Rapid (that the Scala replaced) finished in 5th and 6th place out of 15 cars in the in the family car class.

Any mechanical faults are covered for three years, with unlimited mileage for the first two and up to 60,000 miles in the third. This is comparable with most rivals, but is beaten soundly by the five-year warranties offered by Hyundai and Toyota, and the seven years' cover that Kia provides.

All models come with twin front and side airbags and curtain airbags (front and rear). Active safety aids included are lane-keeping assistance, a speed limiter and Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB). You can add blind spot monitoring as an option, along with rear side airbags and a driver's knee bag. 

EuroNCAP rates the Scala very highly. Not only does it get five stars overall, but the category scores are up there with a Mazda 3, which itself is another highly rated model. 

All versions get an anti-theft alarm.

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