Skoda Scala Review 2023

The Skoda Scala is one of the roomiest cars in the class, yet also one of the most affordable. As a general rule you usually get what you pay for, so what's the catch? In this review we'll show you what compromises you have to make to get an otherwise excellent family hatchback. 

Skoda is already very well-represented in the family hatchback market by the excellent Octavia, while family SUV buyers are also nicely catered for by the Karoq. So what's the reasoning behind launching the Scala?

Well, this isn’t a car that’s trying to directly steal sales from its established siblings. It has its own appeal, and it’s designed to offer something back-to-basics. While the Octavia is - and continues to be - popular for providing limo-like space for hatchback money, along with loads of luxury kit and a (relatively) posh-feeling cabin, the Scala caters for different buyers.

Not everyone needs as much space as the Octavia provides, and not everyone cares as much about quality and kit as they do about the price tag. With that in mind, the Scala is a smaller, more budget-focused offering to satisfy those people who might otherwise be drawn to rivals such as the Kia Ceed, Vauxhall Astra and Citroen C4. 

Of course, when we say ‘smaller’, everything is relative. The Octavia is huge inside by class standards, and so the smaller Scala is still one of the roomiest cars in the class, both in terms of lugging passengers about or swallowing luggage. 

Yes, you will see evidence of cost-cutting in a few other areas: the interior is trimmed with fairly dull-looking and hard, and while lots of equipment is offered, not all that much of it is standard at the lower end of the range. Still, what do you expect when the price undercuts that of pretty much every rival?

Importantly, you won’t detect any signs of cost-cutting on the road. The Scala is an impressively comfortable and easy-going car to drive, with a smooth ride, controlled handling and perky yet efficient engines.

You’ll also enjoy the fantastic all-round visibility it gives you, the user-friendly nature of all the various controls and the peace-of-mind you get from its five-star Euro NCAP safety rating. In fact, quality finish and kit list aside, the Scala is an exceptionally good all-rounder. And all for a bargain-basement price. If you like the finer things in life, it might not be for you, but when you stand to save thousands (or a healthy chunk of monthly payment cost), surely it’s worth a look, right?

Nobody’s going to struggle for space in the front seats of the Skoda Scala, and there’s also more rear space than in most rivals, with generous headroom and legroom that allows lofty passengers to stretch out. A pair of bulky child seats will be no bother, either, with two rear Isofix points as standard. 

The cabin is narrower than it is in some rivals, making it a bit more of a squeeze to carry three people across the rear bench, but there isn’t a car in this class that can perform such a task without forcing passengers to get overly familiar with each other. 

The boot is also considerably bigger than in most rivals. The Octavia and Honda Civic have more space (the latter only by a fraction), but the Scala has pretty much every other rival beaten on this score with its 467-litre boot capacity. To get more space for the money, you'll either need a Dacia Duster, or you'll be looking at used cars. 

The space is also a nice square shape, and the rear seats fold in a 60-40 split to allow you to boost your load-carrying capacity. However, those seats lie at a slight angle, and there’s a sizeable step between them and the boot floor, not to mention a sizeable load lip at the boot opening itself.

In terms of exterior dimensions the Skoda Scala is 4362mm long, 1793mm wide and 1471mm tall. Those are about average figures for the family hatchback class. 

There’s some soft-touch plastic to be found on top of the dashboard, but pretty much everything else inside the Skoda Scala is constructed from stuff that’s harder, scratchier and less pleasant to look at or touch.

What’s more, we wish Skoda had spent a little cash and effort on brightening up the cabin, as everything from the dash, doors and upholstery is rather grey and monotone. In truth, most rivals have a more appealing interior than the Scala, and that’s the case regardless of how far up the Scala’s trim structure you go.

That said, while the materials aren’t the last word in plushness, they do look and feel incredibly robust, and the substantial way in which they’re bolted together also helps give the Scala a built-to-last feel. We've no doubt the Scala's cabin will stand up to years of abuse. 

The nature of the infotainment system you get depends entirely on the grade of car you choose. We’d avoid the entry-level S-trimmed car on this score alone unless you really don't care, because it gets a pretty basic system with a tiny 6.5-inch touchscreen display. It comes with Bluetooth, DAB radio, four speakers and a couple of USB-C ports, but that’s it.

Upgrade to the SE, and you get a bigger 8.0-inch screen with eight speakers, but the biggest difference is that it comes with Smartlink, a system that rolls up Apple Carplay, Android Auto and Mirrorlink - the most common smartphone integration tech - into one package.

So, whatever phone you have, the Scala should be able to work with it, and it means you can use your phone’s navigation functionality through the car’s screen.

The SEL and the Monte Carlo both get a system with a bigger 9.2-inch screen and built-in navigation, along with a digital instrument screen. These look great and work well, but there’s very little wrong with the conventional dials found in other Scalas.

Each touchscreen system uses the same basic user interface, and it’s intuitive and easy to find your way around. Being a touchscreen, it’s a little more distracting than some other types of interface because you have to stare at the screen so intently to make sure you hit the right bit, but as touchscreens go, it’s not bad at all.

The Scala is designed to undercut its rivals in price, and it does. Compared with more established rivals like the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus it offers substantial savings, and as the Vauxhall Astra has moved upmarket only the Kia Ceed can get close in terms of like-for-like affordability. 

At the time of writing in 2022, prices start at around £18,715 for the 1.0 TSI 95 manual in S trim, and rise to £27,425 for the 1.5 TSI 150 Monte Carlo automatic.

Our favoured version, the 1.0 TSI 115 SE manual, checks in at £20,705, which represents very strong value. We'd be tempted to upgrade to SE Technology for a bit of extra kit, but it's not necessary. As of 2022 diesel engines are no longer available. 

Do bear in mind, though, that the Scala doesn’t cling onto its value quite as well as most rivals, so you’ll get a smaller slice of your outlay back when the time comes to sell the car on.

The difference isn’t massive, though. Weaker resale values will also mean marginally higher monthly repayments for finance customers, but nevertheless, we still found some very tempting deals. Why not check out our sister site, heycar, to see what new or used offers are available on the Skoda Scala? 

The latest WLTP figures for the diesel suggest that 60mpg on the combined cycle is possible, dropping to around 56mpg if you add the automatic gearbox. Those are entirely realistic figures which will be better on a long, gentle cruise. 

Before you buy, though, make sure you’re going to cover enough miles to make up for the considerable amount more you’ll pay for the diesel. You don't get the choice as of 2022 when buying new, though, as it's been removed from Skoda's lineup. 

The best of the petrols is actually the 115PS version of the 1.0-litre, with a figure of 51mpg compared with the weaker 95PS version’s 50mpg. However, the punchier engine’s return drops to 48mpg if you add the twin-clutch automatic, while the 1.5 petrol delivers 49mpg in manual form and 46mpg as an automatic. 

If you’re buying a budget-focused car like the Scala, you don’t want to pay a king’s ransom to insure it, and the good news is that you won’t. Insurance groupings range from 10 at the bottom of the scale to 19 at the top, with most versions sitting at around the 14 mark. So, if you have a decent no-claims-bonus, premiums should be very palatable.

And, whichever version of the Scala you pick, you’ll pay annual VED tax (road tax) of £150 per year. You’ll also be chuffed to learn that Skoda finished second in the 2019 JD Power Vehicle Dependability Survey, suggesting that the Scala should be extremely reliable.

The Skoda Scala has a soft, forgiving suspension set-up that keeps life impressively comfortable, and that’s regardless of whether you're crawling along craggy urban streets or steaming along motorways.

And despite the impressive comfort, there’s still enough control in the suspension to keep the body from bouncing up and down too much on undulating country roads, or from leaning over too much in bends, making the car feel secure and tidy.

Okay, so it's not the sharpest-handling hatchback you'll ever drive - a Ford Focus will provide plenty more thrills for keen drivers - but its mixture of civility and security is arguably more important, and certainly worth the trade-off given the price tag.

Having said that, the one thing the Scala is lacking is refinement. It's not noisy at lower speeds as the engines are subdued, nor is there loads of unwanted vibration. At motorway speeds, however, the amount of noise from the road surface and (to a lesser extent) from wind means you'll be turning the radio volume up. 

The Scala is also offered with an optional adaptive sports suspension, which changes its behaviour according to which driving mode you select. Even without the extra cost, we’d avoid it. Regardless of the mode, it makes the ride quite a lot firmer and lumpier, and it doesn’t really make the car any more enjoyable in the corners.

Looking for a second opinion? Why not read heycar's Skoda Scala review

Scala buyers have the choice of three turbocharged petrol engines: a pair of 1.0-litre three-cylinder engines with either 95PS or 115PS, and a four-cylinder 1.5 with 150PS. The 95PS version is perfectly adequate, but the 115PS model is great With impressive low-down pull, it feels responsive and surprisingly strong from anywhere on the rev range, so not only is your progress adequately brisk, it’s also easy and effortless.

The 1.5 is a fraction quicker against the stopwatch, and has a similarly perky character. However, in 90 percent of driving situations, it doesn’t feel a whole lot faster than the smaller engine, so we’d probably save ourselves the extra it costs to buy.

A diesel choice is also offered on the used market: a 1.6 with 115PS. It gives decent pace, but it doesn’t feel as lively or as eager as the equivalent petrol, and overall, it doesn’t suit the car as well with reduced refinement with that groaning diesel note. It cost quite a bit more, too, and you’ll have to cover a lot of miles before its superior fuel economy overturns the difference.

All engines are offered with a reasonably slick six-speed manual gearbox, while all but the 95PS petrol are also offered with a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic. It slurs through the gears pretty effectively, keeping your progress smooth and responsive - although you can catch it out when you want to pull away very quickly. 

It's a bit of a mixed bag here. Importantly, the Scala scored the full five-star rating when it was smashed into various things by the experts at Euro NCAP, and its individual section ratings also look very good as well.

The safety kit you get as standard includes a very run-of-the-mill six airbags, automatic emergency braking, lane assist and automatic emergency calling.

However, lots of other stuff that rivals might provide as standard cost extra on the Scala, a driver’s knee airbag and front parking sensors, for instance. Buyers also have to pay extra for adaptive cruise control and a self-parking function. A space-saver spare wheel is included, though.

The Skoda Scala is not an especially good tow car, managing a braked maximum towing figure of 1250kg with the diesel. The petrols are slightly lower - we'd only tow a small trailer and even the smallest caravans might be a stretch. 

On top of the safety and infotainment kit we’ve already talked about, entry-level Skoda Scala S cars come with standard kit including alloy wheels, manual air-conditioning, LED headlights, remote locking, four powered windows and electric door mirror adjustment.

We reckon it's worth upgrading to the Skoda Scala SE for the better infotainment system alone, but doing so also earns you niceties including automatic lights and wipers, 16-inch alloys, cruise control, front foglamps and rear parking sensors.

It could be worth plumping for the Skoda Scala SE Technology on account of its nicer design of 16-inch alloys, plus front parking sensors, and chrome window trim. But really, the main reason is the upgraded 9.2-inch infotainment display with a glass cover and sat-nav. 

The price jump to Skoda Scala SE L is considerable, and we think most buyers will be happy enough with the lower-end SE trims, but it does earn you the Virtual Cockpit digital instruments, 17-inch alloys, a rear-view camera, privacy glass, two-zone climate control, LED rear lights, part-suede-effect upholstery and keyless go.

The range tops out with the Skoda Scala Monte Carlo, which adds sportier styling touches, a panoramic roof and a few extra leather bits dotted around the cabin. However, the amount of stuff left on the options list, even on the range-topping versions, is perhaps a little surprising.

Electrically adjustable seats, part-leather upholstery, a reversing camera, adaptive cruise control, wireless phone charging, a variable boot floor, front parking sensors and heated seats are all available, but no version gets them as standard.