Paul52

I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. The problems of leaking sunroofs is well documented on this forum and elsewhere but so far (touching wood) I've been lucky and not had this problem. Usually the car is garaged under a car port with a 6' fence down the side so reasonably well protected from inclement weather. But this week we are on holiday in the Peak District so it's parked in the open. And we had a ferocious storm a couple of night ago with thunder, lightening and torrential rain. I went out in the morning fearing the worst and there was a small pool of water sitting on the rubber mat in the passenger footwell but the headlining was bone dry. We had more rain yesterday but no more water so I'm wondering whether it was just the sheer intensity of the rain forcing water past the front passenger door seals? It wasn't a lot of water - less than half a cup - so I was able to take the mat out and pour it away. With still plenty of long term owners on the forum and a good number of former owners looking in I just thought I'd ask if anyone else had experienced this.

If it's the original battery in a 2013 car I'd say its served very well and deserves retirement. To have lasted more than 10 years the battery has done very well and a new one will cost you less than a couple of hours of a technician's time (so to my mind it's a cheap diagnostic test) with the reassurance of knowing you've got a reliable battery for the next few years. If you do fit a new battery bear in mind that sometimes the warning lights still show for the first couple of miles before extinguishing as the electronics rest themselves. (I'm not an expert but have read A LOT of advice on this forum over the years so I'm just repeating it back).

Hi, welcome to the forum. As you've not had replies from any of the more knowledgeable members so far I'll try and help. Problems with doors locking and unlocking often get traced to a break in the wiring loom where they pass through the rubber thingy. The advice has been to pull this back and take a look to see if there is an obvious broken wire. If you can establish this is the problem although a new loom is the recommended fix it comes at a price and people have reported successfully bypassing the break with a new piece of wire. If you search the forum you will find quite a few threads about this issue and in some cases detailing successful repairs. If like me you have neither the skills or patience for car repairs a good indepenedent garage should have seen the problem before, be able to properly diagnose it and do an affordable fix.

Whatever you've got, I hope it gives you at least half as much pleasure as your Yetis obviously have. As you implied, the race to conformity and blandness means there's not much of a choice out there; now in my early 70s I'm wondering whether I can keep my 11 year old Yeti until age, infirmity or death make driving no longer possible. That's how much I hate changing cars. But, reading it back, none of those three options appeal 🙂. So I keep reading post of what people are moving to and the posts why they should have chosen something else, get more and more confused and decide to keep the Yeti a bit longer.... I recognised your comment about most things are "set and forget". My Yeti has park assist - push a button and it parallel parks for you. Except you have to think ahead to use it and I don't think anythng is foolproof so I've used it maybe half a dozen times, back in the early days and usually just to show off to friends. Other than wind the windows up and down and change the wireless everything else stays pretty much the same month to month. Enjoy the new car. And don't forget the Yeti was a car where the surprises just kept coming - see the section "I didn't know the Yeti did that..." I think I was still finding new features years into ownership - like the little lever in the console box. Don't be a stranger to the forum, but understand that as you are no longer a Yeti owner you'll have to sit att he back in the cheap seats - it looks like Graham has put his coat on one to reserve it for you. And I'll also be interested to hear your thoughts on the Mini once you've settled to it.

As above, I'd start with an aging battery as the possible culprit. Over the years there have been lots of weird issues, including various warning lights coming on together, that came down to an aging battery. I experienced this with my own Yeti - new battery, problem solved. Some of the electronics seem very sensitive to battery condition and the problems you are seeing can be an early warning of the batteries demise. Which of course will be after midnight, somewhere remote and with no phone signal.

"Had it to a auto electrian when it first started with just the front passenger door not opening he fitted a new actuator which worked for 2 days then went again , he got in touch with VW who say it could be the module ?" What would we do without Briskoda and its members?

I had a similar problem with my Volvo V50, in part leading me to trade it in for my Yeti. The local garage, a long established Volvo main dealership, tried various things without success and ended up bringing down a Master Technician from Volvo HQ. He confidently diagnoses a faulty dual mass flywheel which was duly replaced under warranty (avoiding a nasty dent in my savings) but it didn't make any difference. So I never got to the bottom of the problem with the Volvo but just as a suggestion could it be a worn, faulty or loose engine mounting? I'm asking only because a family member has a Robin Reliant (you know, one of those cars where they forgot to put a wheel on each corner) and at various times he has had hard to diagnose vibration problems that have come back to an damaged engine mounting - this car seems to just eat them. Just a thought.

"I would check with the Dealer." Past experiences of some members on this forum with their dealers and VW's unfortunate recent history with diesels would make me nervous about being an early adopter but if you think it's worth a go I would try and get something in writing from Skoda UK. At least then if something goes wrong you have the evidence for a potential claim. As VW/Skoda are not listed as manufacturers who have approved the use I'd be cautious.

Just out of curiosity did recharging the battery or changing it for a new one solve the problem?

My first thought was "If you want to throw your money away....." and clearly there's a big gamble here but then I thought "What's your break even point?". Cars are much more relaible than they used to be and electrics are supposedly more reliable than fossil fuels (or so we are being told). I've had my Yeti (petrol) 11 years now and the only repairs have been to brakes and suspension, parts where there's a healthy market for non-Skoda parts and the same might apply here as there's a good chance many of the parts are "borrowed" from other manufacturers. If we assumed trouble free motoring to six years (not unreasonable) and then it became unrepairable that's just over £5,000 a year depreciation so the gamble doesn't look so bad. After those 6 years the depreciation per year is even less. It's beginning to look not so much like a wild gamble. Or this a case where a finance deal actually makes sense - if it's a lemon and you really couldn't get it fixed could you return the car and pay the finance penalty and if so how would that stack up? It will be interesting to hear other people's views as with new manufacturers appearing I'm sure others will be facing the same dilemma in the future.

If your battery is at an age where you might be anticipating a replacement in the foreseeable future don't rule it out as a cause of your problem. I've been lurking on this forum for 11 years and seen members tearing their hair out with strange and wonderous problems which all came down to a failing battery - even sometimes when the evidence suggested the battery was fine. I did experience this myself with odd and unrelated things happening when the car got to four or five years old, even though the car started every time without problems. I took the risk on replacing the battery (thinking it wouldn't be money wasted and would cost less than a couple of hours of mechanics time) and everything was back to normal. As Skoda say "Simply Clever" but for owners sometimes "Annoyingly Frustrating". It's only a suggestion if your battery is getting a bit long in the tooth however.

If you can see more than one finger it counts as a wave. For me the Yeti has been a unique experience. It's the only time I've walked up to random strangers to ask about their car (before I ordered mine) and this is the only on-line group I am or have been a member of; although when I joined the forum 11 years ago it was much more a social network than it is now as the original members have moved on. However it still remains a useful font of knowledge on all things Yeti. If we are a cult then you can count me in.

Elegance 1.2 Tsi, elevwn years old and, touch wood, never had the dreaded leak.

Some years back I wore through the fabric (some sort of polyester material) on the side of the driver's seat on my then Peugeot. I went to an independent vehicle upholster and it was suprisingly affordable to have both the damaged seat and the passenger seat completely re-upholstered. Although the passenger seat wasn't showing sign of wear I wanted them to match but also took the opportunity to have the areas that had shown wear on the driver's seat finished with leather panels complementing the fabric. I know it wasn't a lot of money because at that time with a family and mortgage etc. I didn't have money to waste on a whim. Might be worth looking for somewhere local you can speak to?

for those interested in this sort of thing, I've now had my Yeti 1.2tsi for 11 years and being somewhat nerdy have kept fill-to-fill fuel consumption records since new. Over the 11 years I've average a very reasonable 41.4 mpg with a best of 47.1mpg. Last week I'd booked a week's holiday in the Peak District but for family reasons the journey was Portsmouth-Hull-Ashbourne and return the following week. Between long stretches of motorway driving and the hills and narrow roads of the Peak District the Yeti's reputation of driving a brick through the air at anything over about 50mph suggested I'd be lucky to see 40mpg. In fact I was surprised to get a genuine 46mpg for the 1,150 miles I did. Which I don't think was at all bad for the types of driving i did and for more than half the miles it was with three adults and all the luggage needed for a week's holiday (i.e. packed to fill every available space). Not a bad result for a petrol engine.

Thanks for clearing that up - rereading my post the unwary could think I was suggesting using graphite powder for the switch problems (which wasn't my intention) and that could turn a problem into a disaster!

My first thought would have been WD40 but I recently sawa warning about not using it to free up stiff door locks because although intitially it will seem to do the job apparently it does "attract" dust (presumably holds onto fine dust that gets in) so causes problems later on. The advice was to use a fine graphite powder. Presumably the same could happen with switches. So I would agree for your problem to first try a proper switch cleaner as hopefully even if it doesn't resolve the problem it won't make it worse in the short or longer term.

Ebay fees are around 13%. And that's fine; you make a sale and make some money. Freedom membership recognises the value you get from the advice, suggestions and information you've had from other forum members over the years and, even with the minimal work I do on my car, I'd say it's been value for money (incuding in those early days of ownership "What on earth does that do?" questions.

I've got the same with my Yeti, same model and a few months newer. It's been picked up at the last three MOT's (including a couple of days ago) and the mechanics' advice has been it is minimal, it will be expensive to start investigating and as I'm not having to top up the oil between services and there is no oil staining on the drive - don't worry about it. I'm sure "don't worry about it" will be anathema to those that love a weekend ctawling around with an oily rag and handful of spanners but in this case my inhenernt laziness and a reluctance to spend money means i'm going to follow the professional advice. It may be a case of don't fix it when it ain't broke.

This may not be the source of your problem - we all know how a frustrating it can be trying to tackle rattles - but for about six months my wife and I drove around trying to pick up where a rattle was coming from. I checked and tightened every fixing I could see, we emptied out all the boxes and side pockets, emptied the boot, checked under the seats, even took the spare wheel and tools out from under the boot floor. Still we had the rattle. Then purely by chance I found one of the pegs that the parcel shelf strings hang from was loose. Only half a turn or so but I tightened it up and no more rattle. So might be worth checking as it only takes two seconds.

From years on this forum - new battery was the way to go. Over the years people have reported lots of strange problems which were resolved when a new battery went in. And this way you know the battery isn't going to let you down at an inconvenient time and place.

It's a really easy fix. You have to order the whole part (I ordered mine through my local garage. They service the car for me and they charged me a few pence less for the part than I could get it on-line and it avoided a postage charge - which would have been several pounds). The "button" clip just pulls out of the new part with a sharp tug, which is probably how it got lost in the first place, and slides into the old sleeve. Job done. What's annoying is that if VAG sold the clip on its own for, say £2 (OK, it cost about 2p to produce but they want to make some money) , it would avoid the cost and waste of the sleeve that's now going to go in the bin. No need for applause for this idea, just tell me I'm Simply Clever for coming up with this waste-reducing idea and I'll be happy. (Maybe in a few years we won't even need to go to VAG for simple parts like this, we will be able to make them lourselves with our home 3D printer? After all, if you can 3D print a gun.....).

Five years on from this post but I've had the same thing happen. Just wondering if anyone has the part number to speed up my search for a replacement rather than just get the dealer to order it in. Thanks for the photo Robjon - seeing that it should be easy to remove the clip from the new part and slot it in the existing fixing.

I find it takes a substantial push on the horn button of my 2013 Elegance before it sounds so I think it is normal. Possibly becasue it sits in the middle of the wheel rather than on a stalk it requires some effort to sound the horn to prevent it being sounded accidentally.

Other than the potential sunroof issue it soumds as though the L&K suits your needs and you would find it easier to get one at the right price than the closest alternative. So if I was you I would look into the wrap solution - the people that do this for a living should be able to offer advice and give you a price. If you would be prepared to use Gorilla tape or Helicopter tape to prevent the leak then you may be prepared to accept any slight imperfection where the vinyl passes over the sunroof surround. If you plan to keep the car a few years any decrease in value compared to an "unwrapped" car when you come to sell it is unlikely to be worth worrying about - call it preventativemaintenance. And of course that assumes that the sunroof leaks or you aren't prepared to risk it. Although there are lots of adverse comments on this and other websites complaining about the problem - and particularly Skoda/VW's relectance to take proper responsibility for what might arguably be a design flaw - we only hear about the ones that do leak; people are looking for an explanation/solution and googling the problem throws up links to Briskoda and there's another post and subseqent thread on leaking sun roofs. But of course no-one searches out a forum to say "my sunroof doesn't leak"; my 11 year old Elegance has a sunroof and I've never had a problem (touch wood). So it's hard to know whether the problem affects 50% of cars with sunroofs or only 1% but those are the ones discussed on the forum. Whether it's an L&K or another model the sunroof is only one of the potential problems of buying a 6+ year old car. I bought an 18 month old Volvo V50 from a main agent with a full history and it was nothing but trouble the entire three years I kept it - lovely car if you didn't mind it dropping into limp mode every once in a while, usually somewhere embarrassing or downright dangerous. Still, whilst it was in limp mode you couldn't feel the constant vibration from the DMF which was replaced (at Volvo's expense I pleased to say) just before I traded it in for the Yeti. And replacing the DMF didn't stop the vibration... I mention this only to highlight that there's plenty of other things to worry about beyond the possibility of a leaky sunroof. It's your money so your decision but unless the possibility of a leak is going to give you sleepless nights and you couldn't live with the wrap solution or possibly permanently sealing the sunroof (if that's possible) if it did leak I wouldn't rule out an L&K if a good, low mileage one at a sensible price came up. Good luck finding something suitable - I shall be holding onto mine until it rusts under me (or an electronic gizmo fails and can't be replaced) because it's simply a very nice car that does all I need.