Paul52

I bought a set of blinds for my 2013 Yeti back in 2013 from Vanstyles. I still have them and they are in very good order despite the side window ones staying in all year round. Very good fit and a very reasonable price at the time - I think around £80 for five blinds and they don't seem to have gone up very much at all. https://www.carshades.co.uk/shades-skoda-yeti-c-2729_3662_5449_5450.html

In the early days of the forum there were a number of members (around 20 from memory) who negotiated for the 16" Moon alloys as fitted a standard on the Greenline on their new (usually Elegance spec) Yetis. This involved going to Skoda UK as it couldn't be specified through a dealer. Mine is one of those and although it is a 1.2 TSI if my memory serves me correctly several were diesel 4x4s and I don't recall any comments about brake sizes, which I would have thought would have come up if there was a problem. Most of those original owners have moved on but you could try searching UK 16" Special Wheels Club or similar because there was a lot of debate at the time of the relative merits of the 16" and 17" wheels.

I'm on my third set of Michelin Cross Climate and have been pleased with them. I'm happy with the grip summer and winter (although down here on the South Coast not had to use them in snow) , they seem pretty quiet for tyre noise and prices seem reasonable - even better for me as I opted for the 16" wheels when I bought the car and it saves around £30 a tyre compared to the 17" last time I looked.

This sounds a bit like mine. The wife doesn't like the radio/CD on in the car (which would usually hide the odd noises) and as we are going along I can hear what almost sounds like regular breathing. Asked in the garage at the last service and was told it was air flaps moving to adjust petrol mixture. As it has done it for as long as I can remember and nothing has fallen off I'm not going to worry about it.

I had the front shock absorbers on my 2012 Yeti replaced in June 2020 by my local independent garage (who are VAG specialist and always seem to do a decent job and all seems well three years and two MOTs on). At that time the labour was 3 hours at £65/hour and the parts £70 each, so about £400 with the VAT. The way prices seem to have gone up recently suggests on my experience you would be looking at around £500 plus the cost of any "extras" referred to by others. If the £350 quoted by your independent is only for the labour it seems in the ball park.

In some cases the heated rear window is part of the aerial arrangement. I had to have my rear window replaced and the reception was truly awful - prior this it had been fine. It turned out that there are alternative rear windows, one with two tabs for the electrics, the other three. The third tab relates to the aerial. The rear screen was replaced with the three tab option and problem solved.

Mine will be 10 years old in May and I've no plans to replace it in the foreseeable future. By coincidence the motoring columnist in The Oldie was discussing changing cars and came to the conclusion that in most cases repairing the car you have will be cheaper than the cost of change. And as pretty much all "modern" cars have all the gadgets most people could reasonably want or use (and I can't be alone in having extras that I never use) all the time a car meets your needs is there is any real benefit in changing?

I've had my 1.2tsi for nearly ten years now coming to it from a Volvo V50 which was a 1.8 (1.9?) litre diesel with about 30 bhp on the Yeti (from memory), at least on paper. I can honestly say in day-to-day use I never noticed the difference, only that the Yeti was more fun to own and drive and has proved a darned sight more reliable. Over the years I've done several holidays in the West Country with four adults, one large and two small dogs and all the luggage for a self catering holiday (and my wife doesn't understand the concept of "pack light" so I had a large top box on the roof)) and it coped with all the hills very well - changing down a bit earlier than usual and being realistic about acceleration when needed. I'd suggest finding a 1.2tsi for a test drive you will then know if there is enough oomph there for you or whether you need to start the search for a much harder to find 1.4 or 1.8. I have a sunroof but as you are now looking at cars 6+ years old personally I'd avoid it if you have a choice. I'm so pleased with the car that even at nearly 10 years old, and with second hand prices so good, I still have no plans to change it.

I'm not very technical but have been on this forum since 2013 and over the years the people that really seemed to know what they were talking about seemed agreed that when you got a good one the 1.8tsi was a great car but the bad ones......... you needed deep pockets. And for the number of cars in that spec there seemed to be a higher proportion in that spec than in the other specs. If memory serves me right they also had a reputation for being very thirsty, which is something to consider these days. It may not suit your wife's needs but keep an open mind on even the 1.2 tsi. Mine has been reliable and economical (regular 40mpg with mainly short runs) and if the four wheel drive is the issue I can only say those members who remember MarieK will recall her living on Skye with her 1.2tsi and, fitted with decent winter tyres, never regretting not having opted for a 4x4 Yeti even in the snow. Good luck with the search.

The tailgate catch finally gave up the ghost. It turns out it was a wiring fault. Now all been fixed at a cost of £360 including a new catch as preventative maintenance (better to get it now rather than risk another bill in the future). In fairness it's only the second substantial bill in over nine years, excluding items such as tyres.

The Yeti is surprisingly spacious once you start to pack it but as others have said before you have to think a bit differently and make use of the height in the back, with or without the spare wheel/false floor. As well as the various cubby holes around the car the areas either side of the spare wheel are useful - I store my tyre pump, first aid kit, two light waterproof jackets, a better wheel nut wrench, an assortment of spare dog leads (I don't know why, you would have to ask my wife) and a few other bits in this area. Then there is the flexibility of the rear seats. They can pull forward to make extra space in the boot, one or more can be folded flat to make extra space or, depending on how many passengers you are carrying, one two or all three can be removed completely. With all three seats removed you have effectively a small van. And finally there are the integral roof rails for a roof box or similar. Hope that helps. If you aren't familiar with the rear seats in the Yeti ask the dealer to give you a demonstration. And of course when you buy a Yeti you get a helpful and knowledgeable forum thrown in to answer the inevitable questions like "what is the lever in the armrest box for?".

Thanks Phil. It does seem my problem could be symptomatic of several things so I think letting someone with the right skills and equipment is going to be the sensible way to go. Time to book it into the garage....

Thanks Muddyjim. Reading Thinkingsquirrel's saga of finding his wiring fault I don't think I'm inclined to have a go at sorting the problem myself. And just to make it interesting just when I thought it had given up the ghost completely today it unlocked on the key fob without a problem. Sometimes you wish for those days when you inserted and turned a key....

Sign of my car's age I suppose (passed the nine year mark) as following many years of fault free ownership the problems are beginning to start. Two or three weeks ago I had an occasional problem of the tailgate catch not releasing so it was a case of crawling over the back seats to use the manual release. It would then be fine for a couple of days. Then a week or so ago when it did unlock on the key as I lifted the tailgate as it opened about 6" I heard a short and slight electrical buzz; perhaps it always did this and I never noticed but once things start to go wrong I get neurotic about noises. It now seems to have failed completely and if I want to get into the boot I have to resort to seat -surfing and a screwdriver. I'm not looking to do this myself (it seems my standby "give it a squirt with WD40" isn't going to do it this time) so it will be booked into the local garage (who have been very good and reasonable so far) but I'm just wondering if anyone else had a similar problem and what it was found to be.

"Getting senile"? Or are you cunningly laying down a very plausible alibi if a neighbour with a Yeti should suddenly find a part missing from his car??? That's the thing about getting older, you think ahead.

I agree with Urrell, these can go walkabout. I've had to replace the nsr twice - you'd think something that big not being there any more would be immediately obvious but ....... If that is the problem make sure you order the correct one - not only are they handed but the profile seems to have changed two or three times over the years.

I think I may be about to pay for my "Had it nine years and really nothing gone wrong with it" smugness. Thursday it was the driver's side window - which now seems to be sorted, at least for the moment. Just been out to get into the boot and it's locked. The other doors locking and unlocking absoultely fine but the tailgate - not wanting to play. Immediate thoughts of an expensive bill (I'm coming to the conclusion I can have a go myself and then take it to the garage or just save myself a lot of swearing and just take it to the garage). But I get the parcel shelf out the passenger door, ease my creaking bones over the back seat and slide a screwdriver into the emergency release and Bingo! the lock releases and I can get the tailgate open. I try locking and unlocking the tailgate and everything is back to normal.... Now I can either worry about what is going on or go and have a glass of wine. Cheers!

Thanks Urrell. Of course by the time I went back outside to try and fix it .... it had sorted itself out! That's Skodas - Simply Clever or simply infuriating. You pays yer money..... But I've made a note for the next time as it's sure to happen again.

I know this has been covered before, I've seen it in the manual (but now can't find it) and a search on the site has thrown up some interesting threads but not the one(s) I'm looking for. So, for the sake of my sanity....... The drivers window is shutting and then opening a few inches. I know there is a simple but arcane procedure to sort the problem out. Could someone please remind me. (Frustratingly this happened a few months ago and I went straight to the solution. Is this another sign I'm getting old?) Thanks

For some months I've had an irritating rattle from "somewhere towards the back". At first I thought it was a seat belt buckle not properly seated in its recess, then something moving around under the false floor, something in one of the boxes under the false floor. And on it went, intermittent, not very loud just annoying. I dedided to stop worrying abut it - the cars 9 years old (and no, I don't know what I'm going to do when I really can't keep it any more - I've never had the same car this long, that's how good it's been). Then recently I had the parcel shelf out and when I put it back one of the pegs in the tailgate that the cords attach to was loose - a full turn and a bit. Tightened it up and not heard the rattle since. Of course with noises like this it's early days but if nothing else finding it avoids one day opening the tailgate to find the post missing.

In the past various owners have reported odd behaviours when the battery is past its best. As your car is, like mine, nine years old I'm guessing it's on its second battery (if you are lucky) so might be worth bearing in mind?

There's a lot to be said for having a reliable "bloke up the road". Years ago I had one and conveniently he was about a mile from my house and next door to a railway station.I'd drop the car in, catch the train to work and pick it up all sorted out on the way home. Unfortunately he then decided to up sticks and go to New Zealand to farm sheep. Well at least that's what he told me - he may just have been trying to get rid of me as a customer. (I had a series of Renault 16s at the time - kept him gainfully employed and me permanently broke).

Darn it. Just when you think you've got a handle on these new-fangled spreadsheets bad eyesight, arthritic fingers and an inability to stay focussed catch you out. Mea culpa, I checked back through my calculations and divided the total costs by 12 months rather than 9 years (for no fathomable reason) so I've corrected that in the original post. Also two MOT's weren't being picked up so I've corrected that. Generally they've been £39 but I did have a couple back a few years that were discounted for some reason - looks like tied in with a service. But I'm still very happy with the car and I don't think I can complain at around 50p/mile for running costs.

I purchased my Yeti at the end of May 2013 so it's now exactly 9 years old with nearly 70,000 miles. I'm sure mine is one of the oldest Yetis still in original ownership, may well be the oldest where it is still the main (and only) family car and probably the oldest where there is a complete and comprehensive record of expenditure over its life. So I thought the more nerdy forum members might be interested in my real world cost of ownership. The purchase price in May 2013 was £21,353 including a few options such as the sunroof, metallic paint, the auto-parking feature (a novelty I've never used in anger so not something I'd repeat - with hindsight the electric seat would have been a better investment) and extending the warranty to five years. Second hand prices are a bid mad at the moment so for my purposes I've estimated it's current value at a nice round £5353 to give £16,000 depreciation over 9 years. The subsequent running costs have been Insurance £ 2,420.84 MOT £ 290.00 Petrol £ 9,234.89 Repair £ 1,285.45 Service £ 2,297.30 Sundries £ 1,557.92 Tax £ 1,420.00 Tyres £ 936.46 Total £ 19,442.86 "Sundries" are costs I chose to incur - sun blinds, roof bars, extended warranties, breakdown cover etc. Average fuel consumption over the 9 years has been 41.1 mpg with a maximum of 47.1mpg My average running costs including all of the above and depreciation have been £3938/year (52p/mile) and without the sundries £3765 per year (49p/mile). And of course I still have around £5,000 equity in the car. Just out of interest I looked at what my costs would have been if I'd been able to have a PCP contract over this length of time (essentially paying only for fuel and insurance) which would have been £1295/year (17p/mile) plus of course the PCP charges. With nine years of ownership and no thought yet to change unsurprisingly I've been extremely pleased with the car - it's been reliable, it's versatile and my only real complaint might be that a bit more time and money might have been spent on making the seats a bit more comfortable but it would be nit-picking really.

Group C1? Just checked my licence and I have groups A, D and E. At the time my licence was issued group C was "Any motor tricycle other than an invalid carriage weighing not more than 425kg unladen. So I'm guessing a Reliant Robin/Regal, Bond bug, Isetta or Messerschmitt. Group A covers any vehicle except group D (motorcycle), group E (moped), road roller, tracked vehicles and group J (invalid carriage). So a strict interpretation would mean at least for the next few weeks I can drive a Hummer but not a mobility scooter? Actually around here the mobility scooter riders are probably a bigger danger than the Hummers but that's a whole new thread. As an aside my father many years ago (probably late sixties) picked up his only driving offence when stopped whilst riding a friends moped. He held a motorcycle licence and his own (and only) vehicle was a 650cc motorcycle with a double adult sidecar. Apparently at that time although you could ride a moped on a car licence this didn't extend to riding one on a motorcycle licence. Clearly someone drafting the legislation didn't think that one through. Thanks everyone for the various advice about the routes to getting the licence renewed.