We live in extremely straitened times where most countries including the UK continue to accumulate debt. The prospect of a career for life has become virtually non-existent. UK house prices have risen to such an extent that first time buyers are now nearly 40 years old.
In fact when my father was my age he borrowed three times his salary to purchase our family home - a beautiful four bed detached property in need of updating with two acres of land in a picturesque part of Dorset. That would barely get me a one bed house in a rundown part of the next county now. Why has life become such a struggle? Most of us feel that there’s less money with which we have to do more.
Consequently, the hard up motorist craves a good deal and Seat, realises this. It has responded with its Toledo, the family hatchback priced from under £13,000 to just below £18,000. And its diesel model also happens to be super economical. Thank goodness – perhaps life is not so bad after all.
Named after the historic Spanish city, this is an extremely sensible car for our times. With its clean lines it one to be proud of; the 1.6TDI SE test model significantly helped by its rich burgundy finish.
Sharing the same chassis as the Skoda Rapid, which I tested only a few weeks ago both models clearly share a good deal. This comes as no surprise as Spain based Seat is owned by Volkswagen, which also owns Skoda. The rear wash/wipe on both models has been borrowed from the Audi A1. The washer is built into the wiper and effectively projects a jet of spray across the window unlike any other wiper I have come across. Buyers pay a premium for such innovative features on the Audi, too. Inside, the dashboard is very similar to the Rapid with the same layout and controls. Then there’s the good build quality and the hardwearing interior trim. Its seats could do with being more supportive, especially over longer journeys.
Generally it has a competent if bland ride. There’s a folding armrest in the centre of the cabin, which is useful for long motorway jaunts when gear changes aren’t required. At speed the Toledo does buffet a bit in the wind but this is quickly forgotten when realising that this little gem returns over 50mpg at 70mph. Engine stop/start helps this model easily cover 700 miles on a tank of fuel. It’s pretty gutsy, too, hitting 60mph from standstill in just over 10 seconds. The five-speed box is as reasonable as you might expect; I don’t have a bad word to say about it.
Families need a massive boot and they won’t be disappointed with the 550 litres of luggage space as you can see in the video at testdrives.biz. If more room is required the rear seats fold down and the centre rear armrest conceals a hole for long, awkward objects such as skis or piping. Luxuries include electric front windows, electrically adjustable wing mirrors and air conditioning.
“Seat will be hoping that the Toledo can help dent the sales figures of popular established hatchbacks like the Ford Focus while pinning back newer entries in to this market such as the Volvo V40,” writes Parkers, the car experts. While it may have the appearance of a saloon, this latest version of the Toledo comes with a large, wide-opening rear hatch.”
The Toledo, just like the Skoda Rapid, makes an ideal family proposition.
2013 onwards
New price range: £12,495 - £17,840
Economy: 64mpg
0-60mph: 10.1secs
Top speed: 118mph
Power: 103bhp
Watch the video at www.testdrives.biz
