Buying a Skoda Rapid. Diesel or Petrol??


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Hello friends, I wish to purchase Skoda Rapid & I am inclined towards the diesel variant. My daily drive will be 16-18 kms & I wish to know that regardless the financial aspects how a run of 16km/day will effect the life & maintenance frequency of the Diesel car?

Thanks & Regards,
Vijendra Singh
 
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16-18 kms will not make sense for Diesel Car. Since like me you're running is low, hence Petrol car is better. I too have Rapid Diesel Elegance which i use for Highway drives, in city i use Brio. If you do not want a petrol car then Rapid Diesel is a good choice. It is a lot of car for the money it is.
The weaknesses are
1. Low Ground Clearance
2. Noisy Diesel Engine
3. Slightly Dated Interiors
4. Not Loaded with features

Apart from these, the car is very good especially in Dynamics department. Another option you can consider and is the Honda City Diesel which is an excellent car with almost nil negatives. It has fabulous engines, space is terrific and diesel is very efficient, it will be the cheapest car to maintain, it also has the snob value of Honda. If you are looking for Petrol/Diesel car my suggestion will be the Honda City
 
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^^ Apart from the above 2 more negatives of Skoda rapid i noticed while i travelled in that.

5. Rear AC went is just for show.It doesnt help in cooling and cannot adjust the airflow also. AC cooling felt little less in the car compared other cars in the segmant.Not sure it was the issue of the car i traveled.

6.Huge transmission tunnel or bump will make 5th passenger travelling in the rear seat is difficult.
 
Thread Starter #5
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Thank you nishant5858, Releesh, Surfer for your valuable feedback. I appriciate your efforts.
For driveability i shortlisted Ford, VW & Skoda. For build quality, spacious interior & reliability i narrowed down to VW & SKODA. For appearance & better tuned engine i chose SKODA & TO HAVE FUN ON THE RUN I INTEND TO GO FOR DIESL.
 
Thread Starter #7
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Hello friends, I wish to purchase Skoda Rapid & I am inclined towards the diesel variant. My daily drive will be 16-18 kms & I wish to know that regardless the financial aspects how a run of 16km/day will effect the life & maintenance frequency of the Diesel car?

Thanks & Regards,
Vijendra Singh
vije1711, Test Drive the New Fiesta and New Honda City. Then conclude.
What about the rear bench of New Fiesta? Although I will give them a try but still I am reluctant to these cars.
 
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Why not Fiat Linea TJet ? for 16-18 kms, you dont need a diesel. Why do you want to spend more money on maintenance of an engine you wont need to use so much ? Linea TJet is unmatched in the dynamics department, and in solid build quality too. And it also has 185mm Ground clearance, again a segment best. Unless you have a Dealership/Service center availability issue, go for it with eyes closed. You wont get such a huge list of features and capabilities for the price you are putting into the Rapid.
 
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You wont get such a huge list of features and capabilities for the price you are putting into the Rapid.
Not a huge list but every required features are there rather then fancy features. ABS,Airbags,Projector Headlamps, Bluetooth, Rear Parking Sensors/Camera,Steering Controls etc are all there.
 
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If going for diesel Rapid why dont you wait for a few weeks or month to see update on the 1.5 engine for Rapid & Vento,the same one used in 1.5 Polo recently introduced,heard it will be tuned to produce 105 hp.
Its said to be way silent than the 1.6 currently used.
 
Thread Starter #11
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My wish for diesel motor is based on the assumption that, for me the petrol & diesel variant constitute two ENTIRELY different cars & not as two variants of same model. I am not into Linea T-Jet because of the turbo lag & confined space on rear bench. I know it’s a very good package perhaps if 1.6 MJD would have been for sales; the pick would have been super difficult indeed. I wish to wait as I am expecting an up gradation on the German twins.
Friends, it will be a great help if you can throw some light on the compromises that may have been done on RAPID over VENTO as I had observed a price difference of almost 50000 among Rapid & Vento. And that too projector lamps being missing on Vento.
 
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Friends, it will be a great help if you can throw some light on the compromises that may have been done on RAPID over VENTO as I had observed a price difference of almost 50000 among Rapid & Vento. And that too projector lamps being missing on Vento.
Rapid doesn't get Leatherette Seats, Reverse Parking Sensors. Apart from these it has everything Vento has.
 
Thread Starter #14
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If going for diesel Rapid why dont you wait for a few weeks or month to see update on the 1.5 engine for Rapid & Vento,the same one used in 1.5 Polo recently introduced,heard it will be tuned to produce 105 hp.
Its said to be way silent than the 1.6 currently used.
Agree but what about the saying "NO REPLACEMENT FOR DISPLACEMENT"?
 
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My wish for diesel motor is based on the assumption that, for me the petrol & diesel variant constitute two ENTIRELY different cars & not as two variants of same model. I am not into Linea T-Jet because of the turbo lag & confined space on rear bench. I know it’s a very good package perhaps if 1.6 MJD would have been for sales; the pick would have been super difficult indeed. I wish to wait as I am expecting an up gradation on the German twins.
I know your heart is pretty much set on the Germans. But let me try one more time[;)]
Have you taken a test drive of the Linea TJet at length ?? (not 1 km around the street block). There is absolutely no problem with the so-called turbo lag. All these technicalities look good for car experts from the magazines. At a practical level, once you are in the 3rd or 4th gear in the city, there is no issue whatsoever.
And when you stop by to overcome that monster hump , you need to switch to 1st or 2nd gear in ANY car. At that point, the Linea's GC will help more than the Vento, btw.
Now, on the highway, past 80kph, the Linea T-Jet is an absolute blast. So is the Vento/Rapid TDI, but then- both are perfectly equal as long as you want to overtake trucks , semi trailers and jeeps laden with straw..
On the straight highway, if you want to take the T Jet vs Vento, yes, the Vento has slightly more torque, but to what use ? Past 150kph, the Linea has a distinct advantage over the Vento in terms of stability. And on the corners/ steering dynamics, it is simply class above. Having said all that, I doubt you will ever get a chance to consistently drive above 140kph on any Indian highway (Y-Eway included) Doing so is dangerous . And even then, if you want to try, the Tjet has the better wheel specs (16in 205 rubber) to do the job.
Maintenance is cheaper as well. Why do I say all this ?? Because I was in the same boat 3 years ago (Vento vs Linea). But I eventually decided on the TJet. And I dont regret it one bit.

On the Linea, the rear seat has very good under thigh support, albeit lesser legroom and headroom than the Vento. And BOTH cars will not seat 3- adults abreast at the rear very comfortably. For that, you may want to look one segment higher.
 
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