Seat Toledo review - Telegraph In a bid to turn the company around, VW has reintroduced the Toledo. The Mk4 is a barely rebodied Skoda Rapid - a big, five-door hatchback with a huge boot, just like the original Toledo and highly reminiscent of the unlamented VW Bora (1999-2005). It's even built by Skoda at its factory in Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic. Under the skin these two cars are identical - Seat didn't even touch the damper settings on the Golf-derived MacPherson-strut front and Polo-derived twist beam rear suspension. The body is completely anodyne and entirely forgettable apart from the massive underbite where the hatchback meets the rear bumper. The cabin so closely mirrors the Rapid, it's a job telling them apart, although Seat's trim fabrics are nicer. As far as I could see, the only Spanish input is the flamenco music from RadiOlé FM and the smudge of glue on the Seat badge. There's plenty of space for five adults, but the interior is old-fashioned and built to a price, with large unlined storage bins, a sit-up-and-beg driving position, a singular lack of surface changes, basic sun visors, no centre console and harsh plastic trims. On the plus side, however, it feels well built and tough. There's a simple two-dial instrument binnacle in front of the driver and heater and radio controls in the centre of the facia. Air-conditioning, central locking and electric front windows are standard from the one-up-from-basic S trim level. The most popular SE trim we tried adds 16in alloys, climate control, all-round electric windows and cruise control. An optional Seat Media kit includes a satnav and DAB radio. There's room to spare around the driver, but the centre part of the dash bites painfully into your knee. And while the boot is massive, there's a high load lip to drag your shopping over. VW Group petrol engines are a 1.2-litre three-cylinder with 74bhp, 1.2-litre four-cylinder TSI with 84 or 104bhp, and a 1.4-litre TSI unit with 120bhp. Four-pot turbodiesels all displace 1.6 litres, with 89 and 104bhp. There's a six-speed manual transmission for the petrol engines, five-speed manual for the turbodiesels and an optional seven-speed twin-clutch transmission for the top-model petrol and 89bhp 1.6 diesel, which arrives next year. It's front-wheel drive, although since Skoda has wistfully talked of a 4x4 Rapid, a Seat version shouldn't be entirely ruled out. The most popular model in the UK will be the 104bhp diesel in SE trim with a five-speed manual transmission. That's a shame as the 1.2-litre TSI petrol is a charismatic unit; sparky and lightweight, with a snick/snack six-speed, which if not fun is at least simple and easy to drive. At £16,350 in SE trim, it also costs about £1,500 less than the diesel, but has an EU Combined fuel consumption of 56.5mpg versus the diesel's 72.4mpg. The 1.4-litre is a lovely engine and VW's twin-clutch DSG is a highly competent transmission, but £17,780 is a lot of money for a car such as this. Like a lot of its rivals, the diesel is a plodding unit, not over-endowed with pulling power and only capable of matching its outstanding economy claims if you drive it as though there's a brick under the accelerator. Strangely, all the engines fire an unpleasant spike of vibration through the pedals and steering wheel at about 4,000rpm, but the diesel is much the worst offender. Straight on at all costs is the main handling trait. There's a sort of delayed, react-and-roll response to the steering as the car flops on to its outside front tyre but it's safe even if you end up lifting off, or worse, braking, when the electronic stability program keeps you from visiting the scenery. The steering is better than you might expect and superior in feedback to budget rivals from Dacia, Kia and Hyundai. The diesel feels heavy and lifeless, though, with a fidgety ride that's occasionally harsh. The lighter petrol version rides and turns in better, but still feels overdamped, while on all models the dampers struggle to keep the wheels in contact with the road over short, sharp bumps. The suspension is also quite noisy and there's a lot of low-frequency noise on motorways. Single swinging-caliper disc brakes feel spongy and slow to react, but are powerful and seem fade-free. Despite a murderous presentation for the English language (it's got "Enjoyneering," apparently), this is an unexceptional car, certainly not one to lust after and likely to become the backbone of airport hire fleets. It's not bad to drive, but it reminded me of the first Chrysler Neon and the buying demographic is similar; male, blue-collar retirees. Seat plaintively claims the compact sedan market is growing fast and that it hopes to sell lots of Toledos in north African and Turkish markets. Says it all really. Seat Toledo 1.6 TDI SE Tested: 1,598cc, four-cyl turbodiesel, five-speed manual gearbox, front-wheel drive Price/on sale: £17,840 (range from £12,500) /now for November delivery Power/torque: 104bhp @ 4,400rpm/184lb ft @ 1,500rpm Acceleration: 0-62mph in 10.6sec Fuel economy: 57.6mpg/70.6mpg (EU Urban/Combined) CO2 emissions: 106g/km VED band: B (£0, £20 thereafter) Verdict: Economical provided you buy sensibly, but there's not a lot to love. Posits the question, what is Seat for, exactly? Kia Cee'd/Hyundai i30, about £14,400 Essentially the same car with a new chassis but slight differences in styling, spec and trim between them. Excellent drivelines and good comfort, but small, low-powered engines are hard work. Volkswagen Jetta, £17,540 Golf with a boot, built in Mexico and aimed mostly at the US. More sophisticated than the Toledo, with a bigger range of engines and superior trim and dynamics, but more expensive, soulless and not as well built. Skoda Rapid, £11,200 Sister car to the Toledo and built alongside it in the Czech Republic. Suffers all that's good and bad in this car, but slightly more authentic than the badge-engineered Seat version. Free-revving 1.2-litre TSI petrol engine is the one to have.