Del B

Interestingly when I called the local Skoda dealer in Aberdeen for price/delivery details for a spare set of Dolomite alloys the guy in the Parts dept asked for my registration no. and said that the computer was showing an option of "16inch steel wheels for winter tyres" for my car. This is in apparent contradiction to what Skoda UK told me a few weeks ago in that they could only 'approve' the OEM wheels and tyre sizes for the car and to fit anything else could invalidate the warranty. Less interestingly, they quoted £201 per wheel (vs £146 in the accessories brochure).

My experience of driving an identical (1.2 DSG 17" on wheels) Yeti round Aberdeen is the exact opposite - I'm impressed with the smoothness of the ride and the transmission and so has everyone else I've taken for a spin.

I've had the car for 10 weeks and only done 1,200 miles so it isn't fully run-in yet. That said the engine has felt strong and refined from day one. The low down torque gives the impression of a much larger engine and its power limitations are only really exposed if you try to drive it very hard. One concern I had with running-in was that under normal conditions with the DSG gearbox the car seldom reaches the mid and high rev ranges. What I've started to do is select 'S' mode and drive it a bit harder to occasionally get the revs up. My last car had a 2.3 V6 supercharged engine but it's not been hard to adjust to the Yeti. It is no exaggeration to say there isn't another car in the world I'd swap the Yeti for!

To be honest I think it is little short of sensational, of course it depends on your driving style and you really need to try it out to make sure it suits you. There's bags of low down torque and I've had no difficulty in keeping up with traffic even with the DSG gearbox changing up around 2,000 revs. Most of my friends who have high-end Volvos and Audis have been extremely impressed with the engine's performance. On balance I'm not sure I'd even be tempted by 1.4 as I find the 1.2 suits the car perfectly.

Just checked out Costco for the Alpins but the 17"ers are on back order and won't be available this year. Price was approx £200 each less the current 20% discount offer if 4 tyres bought. Other local suppliers also struggling with availability for other brands.

I don't think you're missing anything! It was my dealer who mentioned the tyre sizes in the filler cap in an email as follows: "If you look at the fuel filler cap on your car, it gives tyre pressure information for the present size of your tyres but it also gives the pressure for 215/60 R16, which is the correct size if you were to fit winter tyres. I’ve also been out to our demonstrator which also gives 2 different sizes for all engine sizes, so even if you had a 2.0TDi 170bhp 4x4 you have the pressure information for the 16†wheels. To me, and this is my opinion only , the implication is you can fit the smaller wheels as Skoda give the information for the 2 tyre sizes all the way through the range regardless of the engine size." You make an excellent point about the latest SUK Acccessories brochure listing the 16" alloys - on page 2 it states "All products in this brochure have been approved by Skoda UK for fitment to right hand drive vehicles" Nowhere does it state that the 16" wheels are not suitable for SE and Elegance models - in other words if you were to go to a dealer and order them for your SE they would gladly sell them to you and fit them to your vehicle which is something SUK told me they couldn't approve and might give rise to warranty issues.

.... and thanks for not shooting the messenger :(

I've now had a full response from Skoda UK on the 16" vs 17" wheel issue. I must give some credit to the SUK Case Manager (Ian) who has been very responsive and pursued the issue with his Technical Department over the past 3 weeks. That said (and I'm only the messenger :S ) SUK's response is not at all helpful - their position is that every part on the vehicle, including the wheels, has a PR Code and they cannot endorse ANY change that represents a departure from a particular vehicle's PR coding as this may have warranty and performance implications. They accept that changing from 17" to 16" wheels on a Yeti SE would be unlikely to produce any serious issues but it is NOT something they could approve. In my reply to SUK I have included the following statements: "It is slightly irksome that in other parts of Europe the 16" wheel option is offered across the entire Yeti range and the Continental contributors to the Skoda forums can't understand why we're making a fuss in the UK about fitting wheels to cars that are standard fit in their countries. ......To be safe I'm going to order another set of identical Dolomite alloys and fit winter tyres to them although I believe this is sub-optimal in terms of cost, tyre availability and performance........ May I suggest you feedback to your technical/commercial departments that there is a great deal of interest in this subject amongst Skoda owners as evidenced by the feedback on Briskoda forum (for all models) .............. One of the contributors to the Briskoda forum today mentioned that BMW and Suzuki are offering winter wheel and tyres packages - I really think this is something Skoda would find there's a significant demand for." I think I've taken this as far as possible (even to Honest John ) and I will now take Agerbundsen's advice and move on, albeit with an extra set 17" alloys and whatever Winter tyres I can get to fit them! Thanks to all who have contributed to this post. Cheers DelB

I totally agree - I've been making some phone calls today and tyre availability is an issue for the 17" wheels. However the point of the thread, and subsequent posts, relates to the problems experienced with insurers. We have a duty to inform insurers of any modifications to the standard specification and for a Yeti 1.2 SE the standard fit is 17" wheels with no 16" option. My insurer (through ignorance) informed me it would treat the change as a modification for which it would probably seek an additional premium. I also called Skoda Insurance who said it would be OK if the wheels and tyres were in accordance with the sizes approved by the manufacturer for that particular model but I've not been able to get definitive information from Skoda UK (see above threads). I bet if Skoda offered a winter wheel/tyre package as part of the original sale (or retrofit) it would a very popular option. A local garage (5 Mile at Kinsgwells - excellent service BTW ) told me this morning that they do good trade with local vets with Octavias, many of whom had previously tried to source wheels and tyres from Skoda with no success. [As an aside, one of the prompts for this thread was a well publicised case in England where an insurer rejected a woman's clam when her house was destroyed by fire because she had failed to notify the insurer of a fine for a minor criminal offence incurred three years previously.]

That's probably the best advice I've had from the forum! We've been walking about here in the frozen north with tennis racquets strapped to our feet for weeks now. Seriously though we'd planned to head up to Braemar today but have postponed the trip because of road conditions. BTW I spent a few days in Braemar in January 1981 where temperatures reached -27 and the warmest it got during the whole stay was -14. I have been sweating this issue because it's another of those things in the UK that should be straightforward but isn't. I'm going to order a spare set of Dolomites and, subject to availability, Nokians. (Anybody looking to off-load a set of 17" alloys?!)

That looks like a great solution however I think someone has sold you a lion cub rather than a dog

Thanks for that TP, and for your guide and other excellent contributions. What we really need is a definitive statement from Skoda unambiguously specifying the approved wheel sizes for a Yeti - anything else will be far too hard for an insurance company to understand. As mentioned in my earlier post the MORETHAN call centre person did not even understand what Winter tyres were.

Yes, but not quite - it doesn't actually state that although i agree you could argue it is implied. What it does say however is: "You must only fit those types of winter tyre which are approved for your vehicle. The permissible sizes of winter tyres are stated in your vehicle documents. Approvals may differ because of national legislation." I've not been able to find which vehicle documents are referred to and neither can my dealer.

UPDATE: I emailed Skoda UK to get an official ruling on the approved wheel/tyre size for a Yeti 1.2 DSG and I got the following reply: "Skoda UK's position with regard to this matter is as follows. As long as the change in tyre keeps certain variables constant to those standard to the vehicle, then we would not consider it a performance modification. These are as follows: 1. Aspect Ratio 2. Diameter 3. Load index 4. Speed Rating I hope this information is of use to you. Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to call me on the number below. Thank you for contacting Skoda Customer Services." In other words it took them 2 weeks to state the blindingly obvious and provide no meaningful information. I've gone back and asked what the 'standard variables' are for my car but am not holding my breath. Although not the cheapest option I'm leaning towards a spare set of Dolomite alloys + Nokians.

I also warned The Boss never to use the boot button on the remote after I locked myself out of the car - fortunately I was outside the house and was able to open it with the spare keys. It would be all too easy to take the dog for a walk to a remote location only to find yourself locked out of the car with your keys, phone and doggy inside.

Happy to report that the sun has gone away (probably until March) and auto lights are behaving perfectly again.

Thanks - that's a very interesting interpretation. On the way home the sun was low but directly behind me and the lights stayed on. Ironically, it's bright sunshine here again today so i won't be able to test the theory until the weather returns to 'normal'.

I initially ordered the Light Assistant option in order to get the raised interior mirror position but have found it to be a useful addition. It worked well for a few weeks with the lights coming on in dull and overcast conditions and as the daylight started to fade at the end of the day. However I noticed yesterday that the lights were permanently on in bright sunshine so I have had to switch them off. I cleaned the windscreen around the sensor but this made no difference. Has anyone had any problems with this? Cheers DelB

I have seldom seen a Yeti of any description around Aberdeen in the past few months but I stopped for petrol at a BP filling station last Friday and an identical Steel Grey Yeti pulled up at the next pump. SWMBO came out of the BP shop and walked towards the wrong car!

With just over 1,000 miles on the clock I'm averaging 37 mpg. Most of the driving is rural and dual carriageway long distance driving with virtually no rush hour urban miles. The best I've done (on the trip computer) is 43mpg on an easy 180 mile journey. On shorter journeys (say 3 - 5 miles) I generally get around 33 mpg. I have a fairly light right foot and don't think anyone would get much better mpg out of my Yeti. That said I'm very pleased with the car and it's performance and have no complaints about the fuel consumption - if it improves as the engine loosens that'll be a bonus.

That is pretty much what Honest John* said when i passed it past him: "Direct Insurers computer systems are basically too stupid to cater for this sort of thing. If you can get to speak to a real person you can probably sort it out. HJ" * We're not worthy

Of course it depends what's important to you but it strikes me that the lower grade Yetis are well spec'd and represent good value. They also have the 'advantage' of 16" wheels. Unlike the boss I'm a big fan of cruise control and find it particularly useful in town driving as there's no "30mph" marked on the speedo. I would also suggest that rear parking sensors are essential in the Yeti as it's high set and impossible to see objects like wheely bins that would be easy to spot in a conventional car. I think the darkened windows look good and help from a comfort/security perspective. BTW I did a side by side comparison with my neighbour's new Audi A5 at the weekend and I wouldn't swap if given the chance - in my view the spacious cabin, commanding seating position and refined ride are an unbeatable combination.

I just called Skoda Insurance for a quote and whilst it was about £80 more than I currently pay I like the 'UK only' call centre aspect and the fact that all repairs would be carried out by a Skoda approved body shop so probably worth it overall. When i asked about the winter wheel/tyre issue the advisor was initially unsure and spoke to a supervisor who said that any wheels/tyres fitted in line with Skoda dealer recommendations would not constitute a notifiable modification.

Great result plus peace of mind for you.

Whilst it's too late for me to add to the order I think I'll end up going down a similar line by getting a main dealer to supply the approved OEM wheels and tyres