frimleyfrodo

That’s an interesting thought, thanks. I’ll have a look when I go to see it for any jacking marks. However, it lives in a garage and there’s never been any oil on the floor and after it broke down, oil ran out for a considerable time onto the road.

Yeti is back in the UK without any apparent mishaps. It’s been popped up on the ramp for a quick look underneath. It’s not pretty….. Sourced a differential from a 2015 Yeti with 36k and with a 6 month warranty.

Thanks. No, it only broke down a week ago near Limoges, so not expecting to see it for 2/3 weeks. There’s a few on eBay that come from a Yeti of the right age, with a warranty and I’ve got a capable friend lined up to fit it, so fingers crossed.

I was just searching for a gen 5 Haldex with differential to fit a 2015 Yeti. I had assumed all VW group gen 5 units fitted - am I wrong with that assumption?

Thanks folks. I’m philosophical and looking for a decent used unit, which seem to be available for under £300.

Thanks for those links. Very interesting. If during the service the mechanic had emptied the differential and then overfilled the Haldex by mistake (leaving the differential empty) where did the litre of oil come from after failing and would the differential have lasted 1,300 miles with no oil?

Hope I’m posting this in the right place. I couldn’t find an exact answer to my situation by searching. l will try to keep it brief! My wife has a May 2015 manual Yeti TDi with a gen 5 Haldex. The Haldex oil was changed February 2018 at 37,601 at a main dealer and again at 68,606 miles on 9th August this year at a VW specialist when the pump screen was also cleaned out. It was pretty filthy according to a photo the garage showed me. The car has done no long, fast journeys since then until last week, when at 69,800 miles we had a bearing type noise when driving from Calais to Paris. The noise was a type of whirring noise varying in intensity depending where you were sat in the car. A vibration was also present at about 75mph which I initially attributed to the balancing on a pair of new Hankook 4 season tyres. Green Flag sent a breakdown agent who took the car out and diagnosed a failing rear wheel bearing. He told me get it changed back home, that it was safe for at least another 1,000km and that I didn’t need to keep my speed down. I did keep my speed down, but at 65 mph and just over 70,000 miles there was a bang from the rear and the back wheels locked up, released, locked, released until I pulled onto the hard shoulder. Looking under the car oil was coming out of the Haldex or the differential. It ran slowly for about 10 minutes until about a litre or so was on the ground. Rubbing a finger in it showed it was fairly clear and smelt of gear oil. My questions are twofold. Given that about a litre of oil has come out, could the failure be at all related to the recent Haldex service? Also, if I had stopped driving when the noise was first noticed, could serious damage have been avoided or was the unit already kippered? Until the car is repatriated in a couple of weeks I don’t know exactly what has failed, but I am already looking for a good second hand Haldex and differential. I presume a gen 5 from any VW group vehicle will fit? Appreciate any thoughts and wisdom. Thanks.

Front, rear and all 4 wheel badges replaced FOC at the MOT. Thanks to all.

Had the first MOT on the Yeti here just over a week ago and discussed the replacement of all 6 Skoda badges. Very helpful and re-booked for this morning for the badges and brake fluid change. Car taken in this morning at about 8.30 - all sorted in good time at the quoted price and with a smile! All 6 badges changed under warranty and car washed. Good service, very happy.

Blimey, fast response! Thanks - much appreciated.

Evening All, Booked the Yeti in for her first MOT at my nearest dealer (don't want to say which yet!) and to look at the rear Skoda boot badge which appears to have absorbed water and turned a blotchy milky colour. Is this likely to be covered under the warranty or am I destined to moan at them? Thanks.

Just mooching about on a Friday afternoon and thought I'd add that the Goodyear Vector's are superb and thoroughly recommended! Made a huge difference in the snow and slush and whilst in the dry they are not quite as pin sharp as the Dunlop SP01 when leaning into a corner, they make so little difference in normal driving that it's irrelevant. My concern over extra noise from them was unnecessary, and they seem to be wearing okay. Wet grip is excellent. The one man garage in the next village supplied and fitted the tyres and was slightly cheaper than anywhere else including online.

At last - resolution. Another phone call with Skoda and got the answer from a very helpful techie that unoffically the V rated tyres will be fine, but officially the Yeti Elegance is type approved with W rated tyres and I shouldn't deviate from that although legally as it's my car I can do what I like. I tried emailing Honest John for his thoughts and found him totally useless. He failed to read the question properly on two occasions and I therefore got 2 responses that didn't answer my question. I wrote to my insurers and got the reply that they will cover the car with V rated tyres for an extra premium of £11.91 p/a. Whilst it grates somewhat to pay an extra premium to have a safer car in winter weather, it will save the extra cost and hassle of having two sets of tyres or running on steel wheels for 6 months of the year. As the Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons are no dearer than the current Dunlop SP01s and as people here rated them highly I'll be going for it at the end of October when the current Dunlops will be about ready for replacement. Thanks to all who helped.

or Mike Don-Carolis at Marlborough Skoda in Isleworth (see my posts on dealers forum section.)

Spoken to my insurers who tell me they will accept any that are suitable for the car. After much debate over who agrees that the tyres are suitable I think they mean the vehicle manufacturer or the tyre fitter! I then phoned Skoda again and managed to speak to one of their technical team (who are not usually customer facing) who said that W rated tyres are the minimum speed rating to be used with the Yeti chassis. I suppose it's not within his remit to agree to anything else. Based on this it looks like another set of Dunlop Sport 01 and consideration for a set of full winter tyres on steel wheels. Not a decision my wife will approve of as it's her who drives it on a daily basis! I can't risk going against the Skoda recommendation based on the comments of my insurer, but it is disappointing that Skoda has based tyre choice around performance rather than off road capability on what is a useful 4wd car! Does the Yeti really need tyres with a speed rating of 170mph?!?

I have just received a call from Skoda customer care to tell me that I must NOT fit any summer or all season tyres less than W rated to the Yeti. This is strange as last week in an email they told me that I could fit H rated winter tyres! Am I likely to drive any slower in the winter on a clear sunny motorway than I am in the summer? Should I ignore them?

Discovered that pneus-online are slightly cheaper and will deliver directly to a local fitter.

Thanks folks. That's made my mind up. I can't understand why Skoda fit W rated to the Yeti in the first place!

I need to replace all 4 tyres on our Yeti 140 4x4 as I swapped round the existing W rated Dunlop's at 12k (now covered 25k.) I want to use Goodyear Vector 4S but these are only V rated. Has anyone had a propblem with their tyre fitter kicking off at replacing the Dunlop W's with V's? Cheers.

Further up this page I reviewed the experience of buying my wife's Yeti from Marlborough. I want to add a recent incident for which they deserve praise. I had noticed the number plates were de-laminating, the front one badly, and emailed Mile Don-Carolis asking if he could arrange replacement plates. I know I could have gone to Halfords and bought some, but the anorak in me always prefers to see matching supplying dealer number plates on a car. The following day I had a call from Anna at Marlborough confirming new plates had been made and would be posted to me as I live 100 miles from them. She said that they were not a warranty item but were happy to replace them to keep me happy. I then received a lovely email from Mike asking how we were, how the car was and confirming the plates were on their way. Sure enough, they arrived well packed. I know the cost to them was minimal, but to do this free of charge, 20 months after buying the car for a customer who can't use them for servicing was beyond expectation and very welcome and much appreciated.

The Yeti had it's first longlife service here today. Initial quote of £185.15, then agreed to price match with All Electric in Kings Heath at £169.78. However the final bill was £154.45 which included a wash and vacuum and they dealt with a recall job under warranty which we knew nothing about - 91G6 "Control unit of the steering column (SMLS)"????? Collected and delivered the car at the times they stated and were happy and helpful. Interestingly they only charged £2 per half litre of Castrol Prof SLX III totalling oil at £18 plus VAT. When they serviced my Touran in February 2009 they charged £6.50 per half litre of longlife oil which meant a bill of nearly £60 plus VAT just for oil. Since then I've been using a different VW dealer and taking my own Quantum Longlife III in with me in a 5 litre can!

I wanted to order a Yeti in May 2010 for delivery after 1/9/10. The cheapest price I had came from www.drivethedeal. After joining here and reading some posts, I decided to speak to Marlborough Skoda in Isleworth. Mike Don-Carolis there was brilliant and offered to beat DtheD by about £75. Enough for me - I paid the deposit by card and Mike kept me updated throughout. On the 2nd September I was dropped off at Marlborough by my mother in law on her way home from child minding our kids and collected the car. Handover was smooth, the car was perfect and well prepared and they showed me how to bluetooth my phone before I headed off. Highly recommended! In my experience, Mike certainly seems to prefer using email to phones. If he has your email address, you will be kept well informed.

Hi! Collected our new Yeti last Thursday which will be driven by the wife to replace her Ford Fusion. We specified the rough road pack, a spare wheel and metallic paint to our TDi 140 4x4 Elegance in Storm Blue. We ordered the car back in May, but specified delivery after 1/9/10 to get a 60 plate. Test drove one at Startin Skoda in Worcester and found them good to deal with, however, they would only offer a 6% discount. I emailed 10 dealers. 3 locally, 3 near to my office in Winchester, 3 near to my mother in law in SW London and Capitol Skoda in Newport (who promised to be cheaper than anyone else.) Only 4 of the dealers responded. Winchester Skoda offered the car at full list price and got very sarcastic when I said I wasn't paying list price ("Good luck with your dealer auction!") others ranged about 6-8% discount. Capitol Skoda were very positive at first but dropped out when I said they had to beat the 12% discount offered by Drivethedeal. Broadspeed about 11% (but I had reservations about using them as it appeared ther car would be pre-registered) Skodastore.com about 10%. After joining here and reading some posts, I decided to speak to Marlborough Skoda in Isleworth. Mike Don-Carolis there was brilliant and offered to beat Drive the Deal by about £75. Enough for me - I paid the deposit by card and Mike kept me updated throughout. On the 2nd September I was dropped off at Marlborough by my mother in law on her way home from child minding our kids and collected the car. Handover was smooth, the car was perfect and well prepared and they showed me how to bluetooth link my phone before I headed off. Highly recommended! We love the car and are hoping it will assist us in not being stranded at home for 7 days this year by snow!