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1965 Preambulator (shared with brother) not entirely sure of the model but it was a soft top and occasionaly suffered from damp upholstery. 1969- 1975 approx: an assortment of cars including the following: DeTomaso Mangusta Beach buggy VW Varient VW Beetle Ford Capri MK1 Ford Escort Mexico Mini Cooper Aston Martin DB 5 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost Landrover 110 Defender (Daktari replica with model Daktari and Clarence the cross eyed Lion) All the above with the exception of the preambulator were bought in the origional car supermarket (Woolworths) and suffered numberous faults such as poor brakes, wheels falling off etc. It must also be said that without exception, standard factory fit wheel and tyres combinations were more suited to concrete and lino than to carpet. Despite numberous calls to Corgi, Dinky and Matchbox these problems were never resolved. Because of these issues I took a sabbaticle from car ownership for a few years and instead tavelled by various means including among others a Leyland Leopard and 'Shank's mare'. In 1986 I was again tempted back four wheeled transport. 1986: Fiat 127 Hatchback (1979 model) yellow (came with its own can of "Eazy start" and some character building electrics) 1987: Ford Escort 1.1 MK3 (1982 model) Sunburst red, (came with its own VV carb and auto choke for some more character building moments) 1991: Peugeot 205 (1989 model) wine metallic (my first and last Peugeot as the character building features were starting to wear thin) 1995: Nissan Micra (1987 model) white (older than the 205 but reliable) 1997: Nissan Micra Classic + (1996 model) white From new: 1998: Nissan Micra S, wine metallic 2000: Toyota Yaris, metallic black (i put 110 miles on this and it never skipped a beat) 2003: Toyota Yaris, silver metallic (inferior build quality to my 2000 model) 2006: Ford Feista 1.25 Steel, black metallic 2009: Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDi Ellegance, Antracite Grey 2010: Skoda Yeti 2.0 TDi, Ambition, Rosso Brunello Now where did I leave those Dinky's and their original boxes?

Its worth checking with dealers from outside Dublin, as I know when changing my last car there was a 3000 euro diference between some of the city based dealers and those outside the capital. Its also worth considering selling the Octy privately as you will get a better deal privately. You'll pick up a 2nd hand petrol car fairly reasonably in the sticks as the dealers have trouble shifting them compared to diesels. Its also worth looking at something like a Kia Cee'd as a 08 model of this would still have a substantial chunk of warrenty left. http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Fabia/SPORT-1./201101200773362/advert?channel=CARS http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Fabia/AMBIENTE/201014197559237/advert?channel=CARS

These links might be of some help. http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Yeti/2.0-TDI-/201040199807829/advert?channel=CARS http://www.cbg.ie/Car_Detail.aspx?ID=4123100

If only it were as loud as that "Bluetooth Bong". Even the bravest Welsh farm collie would run to ground from that.

But you would expect the common courtesy of not overtaking in that area or at least staying of the line of gravel in the middle of the road.

May you have no frost on your Spuds, No worms on your cabbage. May your goat give plenty of milk. If you inherit a donkey, may she be in foal. If you're waiting on a Yeti, may she soon be on the "Highway" Don't walk in front of me I may not follow. Don't walk behind me I may not lead. Walk beside me And just be my friend. Happy New Year

Not atall Simbo, seeing as the post has been moved to this forum, I,ll throw it open to everyone. I was meerly answering the query put to me.

It was posted in the Yeti forum, as I wanted to know what the opinions of the Yeti demographic were.

I came across this article whiich states that men use their sat nav more than women. I know in our house this is indeed the case, but I frequently use mine to give an estimated time of arrival to a destination. Anyway the article got me thinking on how often people actualy use their sat navs. Are they just another gadget that hides away in the glovebox, or do we use them frequently?. So here are a few questions to ponder. Feel free to add to the list. What make of sat nav do you own? How many sat navs are in your house? Who uses their sat nav most? (you or your partner/spouse) How often do you use your sat nav? Do you cross reference with a good old map, just to be sure? Do you use it on familar routes just to keep up to date with traffic information? http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1227/breaking21.html

Have a look at this article, which is a timely reminder that there is no substitute for common sense even if you have a 4x4 with winter tyres. Its important to know the limitations of the vehicle. Mind you they were also blindly following a sat nav. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1227/1224286317280.html

Happy Christmas Macdamon, don't forget to keep that sunroof closed in this weather.

Agreed, I think I'll have to source some 16" rims and winter tyres to help me beast cope with these conditions for now.

Had Christmas dinner with the intlaws Yesterday. The brother in law has a car for every occassion. A tasty Toyota Celica for when he wants to cruise, a Citreon diesel van for every day use (as the Celica is not too easy on juice, its ultra low profile tyres don't make it a practical runabout either) and his most recent aquisition, a 2003 Landrover Freelander. He picked the Freelander up recently at work. He took us out Yesterday to show us what it could do and I have to say its permanent 4 wheel drive was just the ticket for those snow and ice covered hills that my 17" Summer tyre shod 2wd Yeti could only dream of conquering. The comfort and 4x4 ability was just what was needed for the roads here. If I had the money I might consider one. I was feeling somewhat crestfallen until he was going through the owners manual later on and discovered some old service invoices. After looking at what it costs to keep a Freelander on the road, I'm happy with my one car does all, Yeti. Ok it would benifit from having 16" rims with Winter tyres, or maybe next time I'll buy the 4x4. But then again my 2.0 litre 110 diesel Yeti gives me a practical comfortable drive with superior fuel economy and cheaper running costs than either the diesel Freelander or Celica. It aslo nearly matches the load carrying capacity of the Citreon, all of this in one smart looking package.

"Nollaig shona dhaoibh" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtQr81k3TSk Some Celtic culture this Christmas Morning.

Just thought its time to wish all members of the SMOC a happy and peaceful Christmas. Those of you with 4x4 snow monsters, don't forget to stay on stanby, just incase the man with the red suit's sleigh gets stuck in the snow. Maybe Freshacre might be on hand in case Rudolfs nose starts to dim. Agerbundsen can look after the first part of the trip and the pedestrian can look after any technical difficulties that might arise.

Thanks John and Tony, I agree with the invincible bit, I'm just after a tyre which doesn't shy away at the sight of a hill or snow /slush covered motorway off ramp. I'll leave the heroics for the nissan pathfinder brigade.

Hi John, Just wondering how your son is getting on with the Nankang SV-2 winter tyres. They are the only reasonably priced tyre I can source at the moment.

I've been using Lidl's screenwash during the recent cold spell and have to say its as good as any other brand out there.

Thanks Tony, the dealer fitted mine so i didn't get any instructions with it. I might pick up a set of sunshades so, as its a right pain having to remove it every time I need to remove/refit the parcel shelf.

Is it possible to remove andndreplace the parcel shelf without removing the dog guard?

I think the Irish dealers have the same problems supplying the sunroof, the experience model used to come with this as standard but it was deleted when supplies became scarce.

Thought some people might be interested in whats on offer to us here in the emerald isle. As you can see the only 4x4 option is the 170 2 litre diesel. The big seller will most likely be the Greenline as over 60% of sales are diesel. There has also been some downgrading of specs, eg. the belero radio is no longer standard on the ambition model. http://www.skoda.ie/IRL/Documents/Yeti%20Docs/Yeti%20Pricelist%20Nov%2010.pdf

The residuals on an E would be very weak. So it would be lose, lose all the way.

The later me thinks.

Have a look at this link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/8188812/Winter-tyres-are-better-below-45F.html Makes interesting reading on the topic of the moment.