Liobian

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Try Wiperblades.co.uk, they are half the price of Halfords and Skoda dealers. The OEM rear blades for the Yeti are Valeo, and cost about £10, and delivered very quickly by Royal Mail. Last year I bought just a front set of Bosch blades from Halfords for £35, then saw the Valeo set on the Wiperblades site for £18. I got a refund from Halfords, and bought the OEM front and back Valeo blades for about £28 from Wiperblades. They are identical to the Skoda originals, and fit in minutes without any adaptors.

There's some good pics. & info on the official SEAT UK website. Gives boot size as 510 litres, but no mention of a spare wheel. 19" wheels, electronic handbrake, variable - eight colours! - "mood lighting" in the door cards & dash, obviously aimed at a younger Cashcow driver, no offence intended! I'm impressed with what I've seen so far, the back end has got a bit of the new Fabia about it. I'll be due for a change later this year, so I've put my name down for updates with a SEAT dealer within five miles of home.

I think the last time this topic was raised was in Feb. 2014 posted by "Gyp" under the title:- "Knob illumination" Where's Bobdog when you need him?? One suggestion then was "don't drive after dark".

A DAB radio & Amundsen+ sat nav. came FOC on my Urban in 2012 I highly recommend it, listen to radio a lot - in car & at home (3 PURE DABs at home) - never had an issue with reception, & rarely use the FM/AM bands Incidentally, the original 180mm bee sting radio antenna just caught on a neon light fitting in my garage when I first backed in, so I removed it (the antenna not the light!) I plugged the hole in the shark fin with a 6mm screw to keep it weather proof, and the reception never faltered, but I eventually bought a short bee sting on-line for aesthetic reasons only. Go for it, unless you know your in a blind spot, £135 well spent. An alternative cheaper option would be to buy a DAB adaptor in conjunction with the standard radio, they start at about £50 but you would have to contend with power and antenna cables hanging off the dash - I'd go for the OE option!

It seems strange that this Leon SUV would be built by Skoda. The side view bears more than a passing resemblance to the Audi Q3, which has been built at the SEAT plant at Matorell in Catalonia since 2011. (SEAT have also designed & developed some of the Audi model range) This plant has a capacity of 500,000+ units/year, makes the whole SEAT model range, plus there's plenty of room for expansion. With the new Leon, Leon SUV, new Q3, and new Yeti all to be built on the same new Golf MQB platform, it makes more sense to build all of these SUVs at Matorell and achieve the economies of scale. Just imagine it - a Spanish Yeti- "Hombre de la nieve abominable"!

I had this intermittent fault from new on my '12 reg. Urban. After closing & locking the tailgate and driving off, occasionally there would be a 'boing' and the MFD would show the tailgate as open. On inspection, it was still locked but obviously not shut ( there was about 5mm movement) It usually happened over a speed bump, pot hole or bad road surface To cure it, I could either: Press down hard on the number plate recess to fully close it with a 'click'. Or open it with a double press on the unlock button of the remote, then slam it shut & re-lock it. In the end, it was cured at the first service; the dealer adjusted either the rubber bump stops, or the hasp of the lock mechanism (2 Torx screws under the rubber cover) Not a problem since then, (9) months ago.

The new 1.4 TFSI in the Audi Q3 2wd (which is heavier than the Yeti) is 150PS, 137 g/km co2, which is VED band E. 38.2/56.5/47.9 mpg urban/extra urban/combined. Max mph = 126, 0-62 = 9.2sec. Max torque = 250nm @ 1750 - 3000 rpm. It's reverted to a cam belt due to some problems with the original chain drive in the smaller Skoda built VAG petrol engines. This would have been be a good fit in the Yeti. I am hoping to test drive this Q3 in the near future, as it might suit me better than the 1.2 Yeti. As with other posts, I'd have preferred the 1.4 engine in the Yeti.

Colin the 450mm length is of the 'flat' bit of the seat base. The angled side bolster curves around the back, like a letter 'C', making the overall length to the seat back 500mm Sorry for the confusion! Look at Johann's pics link to see the effect. BTW, I'm 6' tall and use the seat @ the lowest position; as you raise the seat, the base angle reduces slightly. You also get manual lumber adjusters on both front seat backs.

The Urban ltd edition has them fitted as standard (& maybe the Adventure)if you can locate one locally for a look. The seats in Johann's pics. are identical to mine apart from the colour; mine are black & red. They are very firm, the side bolsters are quite deep, about 75-80mm The width of the flat seat base between the bottom of the bolsters is 330mm, and 450mm long front to back. The seat base is angled @ 17 degrees front to back. When I bought the Yeti the seats were great, very supportive; unfortunately, I've recently developed sciatica in my right leg and the seat is now uncomfortable due to the steep angle & the bolsters. The ideal solution for me, would be to reduce the 17 degree angle considerably i.e electric drivers seat adjustment, but Skoda didn't do this option on the Urban. I've solved this by using a 'Putnam' 8 degree seat wedge which fits perfectly between the side bolsters, hopefully just a temporary fix till the sciatica is sorted.

I had the (2) rear end caps replaced in March 2013, under warranty, on my Yeti Urban bought new in August 2012 (see the post 2801681 above) At that time, the replacements were rock solid. About a month ago I noticed they were loose again, easily removed with one hand.(the barbed clips seemed to have lost their rigidity) The same dealer - Lightcliffe Skoda Warrington - replaced them again at no cost & no hassle; rock solid for now, but I must check them again before the warranty runs out next year!! The front ones have never been a problem. Don't mess about with glue & tape, it's a known fault, so take it back to Skoda. At the same time I had the 'white wormed' wheel centre discs replaced FOC with the new FL black & chrome version which look perfect on the black & silver Matterhorn wheels.

Most European & Chinese spring manufacturers just crop the ends of the steel rod prior to forming the spring. This can cause a weak spot at the first coil of both ends of the spring, and it's the spring ends that take the contact load. Japanese and Korean spring ends are cropped then flattened or crimped for about 10mm (similar to drop forging) to strengthen the ends. This changes the molecular structure of the steel and strengthens it prior to heat treatment As with most things nowadays, its down to cost saving. Graham, it would be interesting if when you get the old ones back, to see if the if they failed at the ends or the first coil, and if the ends had been crimped. Any way, spring is here and the daffs are out!

Like Truthseeker, I've never noticed them in the 18 months of ownership. Just sat in Yeti in garage, put sidelights on - bingo! Mind you I'm a normal six footer, so had to stoop a bit to see them. Got the hand book out, they are shown in the pics about map reading lights but not mentioned in the text. What are they really there for? Not to light the gear shift, surely? A bit of light entertainment?

Done & dusted

The three others in the What Car? group test are: Ford Ecosport, Mitsubishi ASX, Renault Captur

Two more road tests Yeti 1.2S @ £16600 in group test in March "What Car?" against three young pretenders. and Yeti 2.0 TDI 140 4 X 4 Elegance @ £27370 inc. extras, in Telegraph Saturday Motoring section of 1st. Feb. In the paper article the car pictured does not match the text (silver roof rails in text but not on the photos. Compares it with new Qashqai, VW Tiguan, & Suzuki SX4 S-Cross You can also view this on line on the Telegraph web site, but dated 3rd. Jan; same text as above but with correct photos.

I did exactly the same last year on my Urban. Lens cost about £28 to DIY, but I had the dealer do it for about £ 68 when it was in for the first annual service (fortunately the car is on the (3) year free servicing schedule, so I only paid for fitting the lens) I'd had a go at getting the cover off to DIY, but felt that I could possibly break it, so left it to the dealer. It is a vulnerable design, on some other makes the lens is protected by the mirror cover.

Urban option needed

I bought my new Urban in August '12 and was going to pay by p/x + cash, but the salesman mentioned the 3 years free servicing with Skoda finance, for at least 6 payments to qualify. He worked out the 6 months interest was a lot less than the 3 years service cost ( I checked, it was) so I took it. After 3 payments, I rang Skoda finance directly about how & when to cancel. They said I could have cancelled after one payment and kept the free service deal. They sent me a settlement figure, I paid it off by debit card over the phone, and they confirmed the deal by post. The first free service was in August '13, it works! Things to consider are that it covers 3 years or 30,000 miles on the fixed (10K / 12 monthly) service schedule, so it may not pay on a flexible service / high mileage Yeti. Also, if owners have sussed this out, there is no guarantee that Skoda may not change the T & Cs since last year

Years ago my Sister-In-Law bought a white Astra that the previous owner had blinged-up. It had a brass plate screwed to the dash with the name "Candida" engraved on (it actually looked better than it sounds, it was a nice piece of engineering!) S-I-L told me Candida means " dazzling white" in Latin, sounds ok for a Candy White Yeti? It's also a girls name. ps. S-I-L asked me to remove it and fill in the screw holes, so I kept it (nice piece of brass) and put in the "come in handy" box where its been for about 15 years.

There are (2) good photos in the Skoda Yeti Accessories PDF brochure on line (Sport & Design section,pages 3 & 4) I've only just figured out how to post comments, adding my pics is a mystery to me!!

After reading this, I tried the trims on my 6 month old Urban. The rear ones came off very easily and no amount of banging made any difference I took it back to Lightcliffe Skoda in Warrington and they replaced them there & then from a brand new Elegance in the showroom (which was to be the service managers compmany car)to save me waiting for a back order, great service. The new ones are rock solid, and I think it's a problem with the moulding tooling being worn, the material, or both.

I had Skoda sidesteps fitted to my black Urban from new, cost £360 fitted by dealer. 1. My wife had mobility problems, she did use them to get in, @ 5'2" & 8 stone 2. I use them & the roof rails to reach the middle of the roof when washing it, I'm 6' & a lot heavier! 3. The car wash guys do the same when I can't be bothered - they always ask first 4. Being anodised aluminiuum, the're not as bling as chrome ones 5. The car, being black, needs something like this to lighten it up, I've had quite a few positive comments 6 They do collect dirt, but a quick brush & hosepipe sorts it. Make sure you fit mudflaps as well All in all it was a good usefull buy

Hello folks, I've a black Urban 1.2TSI new in August '12. with Pirelli PZero Rosso tyres. Only done 3500 mls in 6months and just noticed how much the've worn. Not measured them yet, but I doubt if the fronts will last 10k. Why they fit tyres like this to a car like this I don't get it, although the car drives & corners brilliantly. Honest John has a theory that tyre suppliers give them to Skoda & Co as loss leaders in the hope that the end users will pay thro' the nose to replace with the same tyre at great expense. Ironically, Pirelli SPA pays my pension! (though NOT the tyre division) I also saw a thread about roof rail end covers coming off, so I tried mine and the rear ones just clicked off easily. Lightcliffe in Warrington agreed it was a problem and replaced them with two off a brand new Elegance in the showroom to save me waitng for a back order.The new ones are rock solid, its obviously a problem with the mould tools or material. Keep the info coming