Paul52

I think it was ETP70C. The original posting was "Cars with Character" and I guess one of the Volvos I mentioned in my previous post might qualify. Bought second-hand it was a Volvo 265GLE - one of the, for those days, enormous estate cars. It was the only auto I've ever owned and everything was controlled electrically or through vacuum tubes. Among its party pieces was suddenly going into "dead" mode at 70mph on the four lane section of the A27(T). I'd planned to leave at the approaching junction but with no power, no steering (without the engine running it was immovable) and no brakes I had no choice to carry on in a straight line and pray. Fortunately it restarted after a few seconds. Among its other quirks it seems a previous owner had wiired the electric aerial into the brake lights - every time you applied the brakes the aerial retracted and the radio went off. And I spent pretty much every weekend working on it trying to fix various problems as they emerged. Did I mention on a nice gentle, long run it could do as much as 15 mpg? Put your foot down and it could really shift but you could almost see the needle on the petrol gauge go into freefall. It was comfortable though. After about six months I decided the car had to go or I'd be bankrupt.

After a couple of ancient Ford Anglias (in my day if you were a student it was an Anglia, Morris Minor or, if you were flush, a Triumph Herald) when I started working I "upgraded" to a Ford Escort Mk1 estate After purchase I realised an 1100LC engine meant it was best not to try and drive into a head wind and anything more than about a 1:6 hill and the passengers had to get out and push! It also made my Red Setter puppy dreadfully car sick. Coincidently about the time we got the puppy my wife visited her GP for advice about a back problem. (For younger readers a GP was doctor you could go and see in a room rather than talk to on Zoom or WhatsApp, somewhat fallen out of fashion these days). He advised the Escort could be part of the problem and advised "next time" buying a car with better designed seats. There was a used car lot behind where we lived and they had one of the really early Renault 16 and we traded in the Escort (Renualt 16 pictured below in its original battleship grey - it wasn't improved with a respray in Ford Olympic Blue - a colour that almost glowed in the dark. And the number plate was probably worth more than the car cost). Super-comfy seats, loads of space, an economical 1600 engine supplemented by really versatile seating option (the seats could be laid out to make a comfy double bed or the back seat rest swung up into the roof, hanging off the grab handles, to make a decent sized van). And the Setter puppy took to it straight away! The Renault 16 was front wheel drive with a column change which went down to a gearbox in front of the engine. And to complete it's quirkiness, the rear suspension was arranged so that one rear wheel was slighly in front of the other! Apart from having to accept that at every MOT there would need to be extensive welding I liked them so much I had five in a row before switching to the Peugeot 405 estate (having taken the advice of the local taxi trade who I was doing some work with who swore by them). None of the Renaults' quirkiness but comfortable, solid and reliable workhorses with the low running costs welcomed by those with serious mortgages. After the last 405 went nothing very special but including a couple of Volvos best forgotten; I came to the conclusion their safety record was so good becasue a lot of the time they were off the road for repair but I may just have been unlucky. And then just at the right time along came the Yeti. I'd had new cars before as company cars but this would be the first where it was my money. And what a sound investment its proved to be. (Many years ago my brother was given a Skoda as a firm's vehicle, back in the day when Skoda were the butt of many a cruel joke. He kept it several years, never had a problem throughout that time and still says it was one of the best cars he's ever owned).

Mine's coming up to 11 years old, generally been very reliable wit hno major bills and I'm planning to hold on to it as long as possible. We've had members of this forum decide it was time to replace their Yeti and a few months later return to the fold, by then having no choice but to buy secondhand, which suggests that the Yeti is a pretty decent vehicle (as we all know). Your post suggests yours has been reliable and generally trouble free for its age. If you traded it in you would be looking at a car at least six or seven years old so a minimal warranty even if you bought off a forecourt. You might be lucky and get a good one but there's still a risk the previous owner parted with it for a good reason. There's always a cost to changing a vehicle and if yours is continuing to give good service I'd be thinking hold onto it and that's money could go to any future repairs.

For your own peace of mind I would say get a proper assessment for any damage - it's too late three months down the road to find out something not visible to you was damaged or put out of align.ment as then the cost of fixing it will be down to you. If it was 100% the teenager's fault - not looking/driving too close - rear end shunt I'm inclined to agree with Prezafab and Rooted that not telling your insurer could cause you problems if there is hidden damage or, worse, there's damage and the teenager's hasn't got insurance. Others may be able to advise whether it's worth reporting to the police in case of the insurance issue.

I was also one of the original 16" wheels club, going to Skoda UK (as advised on this very forum) to get the change. I also don't understand why there should be a problem ordering the smaller wheel size - the system is set up to let you choose paint colour and a number of other (high priced) options so we aren't talking about re-inventing the wheel here. (Apologies for the terrible pun). My own experience was the first car I had with larger wheels/low profile tyres was a Volvo V50 bought in April 2009. I had punctures in April 2009, April 2010, August 2012 and twice in September 2012 (it's very sad that I keep such thorough records) before selling the car in May 2013 when I took delivery of my Yeti. Since then in nearly 11 years I've had just one puncture, in January 2016. I've always lived in the same area and the only obvious variable is the wheel size/tyre profile but my experience of about one puncture a year with the Volvo and one a decade with the Yeti is consistent with the conspiracy theory that we are forced to low profile tyres to keep the tyre manufacturers in business (even before factoring in the extra cost of larger tyres compared to their smaller equivalents - last time I needed tyres it was around £40 a wheel difference). (Just a thought but which genius thought that ruffty-tuffty off-roading 4x4s would work best out of the showroom on expensive summer low profile wheels? A triumph of marketing over common sense?)

"If you ever find yourself in an overheat situation where you can't pull over promptly, it's a good idea to put the heater on maximum and use full fan assistance to take the water temperature down until you can stop safely". (Austin 7). Brings back memories and I know it works as years ago I had to drive my ancient Renault 16 back to Hampshire from the West Country with the heating on full, fan spinning like a Dervish and frequent stops to allow the engine to cool enough to refill the leaking radiator. And all this on what turned out to be the hottest day of the year! But once the radiator was replaced the car was fine and it saved me a fortune on recovery costs.

I sympathise with owners of Yeti's where the roof leaks. I've been lucky with mine (so far). I bought mine new and it was an expensive option and after seeing the problems on this forum I'd be very wary of having a sunroof in my next car. And to be honest, I don't really use it a lot anyway - it gets a bit more use than the 6 CD player but not a lot. As regards your dilemma, I know you can research your legal rights on google and your dealer seems to be acting responsibly in trying to address your concerns but this is such a big decision you've got to take I would seriously consider getting some proper, paid for, legal advice. This might even include a letter from the solicitor setting out what you require to give you confidence going forward and would give you something to fall back on if things didn't go well. Clearly you have to get the fix done but after that, with proper assurances the problem is permanently fixed, I'd be tempted to keep the car. You say other than this you love the car so it's replacement is likely to be a bit of a disappointment (albeit a dry one!) and if you've had the repair done and include the documentation including any warranty this could be a red flag to a potential buyer and hit the resale value. It's a shame these problems have taken the shine off your new car.

Any car of that age and mileage potentially could have problems so it's going to be down to how the car had been used and maintained and a decent dose of luck. My 2013 1.2 Elegance had now done around 120,000 km and over the 10 years I've had it has caused me very few worries. It's regularly serviced and I've had a few repairs but nothing exceptional - new brakes and discs, replaced shock absorbers (picked upas an advisory on an MOT but I got them done as I was planning to keep the car for a few years longer). The interior has held up very well so I don't think there were any compromises there. As for suitable for your use, most of my driving is on local roads in a relatively flat part of the country but when I've gone on holiday it has coped pretty well - four adults, three dogs and all our luggage including a heavily ladden roof box and although going up long, steep hills in Devon and Cornwall could be a bit slow we got there without the car seeming to struggle. Fuel consumption has been pretty good for a petrol car with this shape - I generally get 40+ miles per gallon (so about 10 miles/litre) driving around locally with a light foot but high spped runs will bring that down quite quickly. Overall I would say if the car looks clean and has a decent servcie record at that age and mileage you could do a lot worse.

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!