TimR

Op Ex = Optional Extra?? Just a guess. I would imagine he means the exhaust tips rather than a full system? But, like Fred says, with such brief posts it's a bit difficult to tell!

Just thought I'd update this in case anyone else looks for it in the future. Tag worked brilliantly with the heated windscreen, placed in the shaded area behind the mirror. A great gadget that saved us a lot of time at the toll plazas (and we were travelling on 'Black Saturday' ) and meant I could easily drive through tolls if my wife was asleep. Definately recommended. Thanks to all for the advice.

Thanks gents, as you say, if the Severn Crossing one works with heated screen, it's likely that the Sanef one will too.

Thank you, I will try and contact him. Otherwise I'm looking forward to telling ma femme that she will have to hold it out of the window!

Perhaps it was you I was behind at one of the tolls on my last trip to France!

I'll go and get the extension lead for my kettle....

Thanks for the quick reply. I know it is the shaded area at the top that is supposed to be used for the tag as long as the heated screen elements don't still pass through this area, was hoping someone could confirm that the shaded area is 'element free' as the SANEF guidance suggests that this is not the case for all cars? Glad to hear it makes a difference as we will be travelling on 'black Saturday' so hoping to minimise the long queues!

Thinking of getting a toll tag for use on the French motorways when we go on holiday (as you can now buy them easily in the UK). Has anyone used one with the heated front screen on the Yeti as there seem to be a lot of warnings about it possibly not working with heated screens (and trust me, I don't want to be the bloke at the front of a very long queue holding everyone up because his tag doesn't work!)? I know you would have to put it in the shaded area of the screen but I can't see if the heated screen wires still run through that part of the screen or not. Any info would be very welcome.

Well, I have been back today for the second variable service and they were just as good as they were at the first visit. Got a warm welcome on arrival, paperwork was ready so I was booked in quickly and I went off to nearby Asda for a bacon sandwich. When I got back I was offered a coffee and sat in their customer waiting area watching the TV and looking through the window into the service bay to watch my Yeti being worked on. Service, brake fluid change and Haldex oil change all completed while I waited. When going through the paperwork for the work completed with their staff later, they pointed out an advisory that an aircon re-gas was recommended every 2 years. As soon as I said I would have liked it done they took it straight back into the workshop and did the work for me - excellent service. Friendly staff, work completed on time, care taken of my Yeti, additional work fitted in straight away so as not to inconvenience me and the pricing was transparent and very competitive. Car was returned washed and vac'd. I would wholeheartedly recommend them. I will certainly be going back again despite the distance involved in travelling to them.

As my 170 is due its 2nd service and I had been told last time that the cambelt was due at 4 years I looked for cambelt related threads on here to check before I rang my dealer and found this. Very useful info gents, thanks. My dealer is obviously on the ball though as they confirmed the belt was not now due until 5 years for cars first registered after 2010 (mine is Feb 2011). I didn't know about the Haldex oil change so that was a good heads up. So it's service, Haldex oil and brake fluid change, while I wait, this Wednesday. Cheers!

Took my Yeti up to Colne from Stockport last week to get the non functioning heated rear screen looked at (one day out of warranty when I noticed it!). They were recommended by a mate who runs a garage in Hadfield as being top notch. Although it's about a 100 mile round trip for me it was well worth the effort. Very friendly and efficient, car was cleaned and various things were pointed out to me, some of which I was aware of (such as brake fluid change would be recommended at next scheduled service), some I wasn't (like my rear wiper blade was starting to split). Final bill was very, very reasonable and they were much more friendly than my local dealer (perhaps the difference between being a dedicated Skoda dealer rather than a joint franchise with another manufacturer?). The only mistake was that they left the cap off the brake fluid reservoir after they had tested the fluid but the Yeti told me before I set off or any damage was done. I will definately be going back

Exactly the same with mine, 25,000 miles in 2 years and the nearside one split this week. Offside one looked fine but, as I needed them in a hurry, I paid dealer price (ouch!) and could only get a pair. At least they were cheaper than my wife's replacements for her Mazda 2 last month, the nearside one of those is really short but you obviously don't pay by the inch!

This looks exactly like the net I used to have on my Zafira. There were two possible fitting points, one behind he front seats, one behind the rear. The car already had strengthened metal mounting points built into the body at the two alternative fitting points, if you wanted the net the dealer would fit plastic mounting points through the headlining into the metal fixings behind. I had it done at a cost of about £300, plus about £200 for the net! Difficult to do yourself because of the air bags in the headling (or at least, that was the dealer's excuse for the extortionate cost!) Perhaps it's the same on the Yeti? i.e. mounting points built into body shell of every Yeti, just that Skoda UK choose not to offer the rest of the fixings? Has anyone ever had the headlining out to look? On the Zafira, being fixed into the body shell, it was very robust and easily prevented any luggage coming into the passenger compartment, but was easy to roll up when not in use. Was supposed to be stored under the rear seat bench so that it would always be in the car when needed.

Thanks for the replies so far, very helpful. I have another related question, I've read on some sites that the kayak should be tethered front and rear to the car when on the roof bars as well as being strapped to the holder/bars. They seem to recommend using the front towing eye for fixing a tether, consequences of not doing it are possibly that the roof bars and kayaks could be ripped from the roof in extreme conditions. Is this necessary? My issue is that my kayaks are 3.87m long and I therefore can't see how I'd do this without the tethers rubbing against the paintwork on my Yeti somewhere! Interested in the comments about Johann's kayak being a long way up - mine weigh 33kg each apparently so it might be interesting!

I want to carry two kayaks on my Yeti roof. Would like to use the genuine Skoda bars which seem to come with T slots? Does anyone know if these slots compatible with Thule fittings? Was hoping to use the Hull-A-Port Thule carriers. Has anyone used these and if so can you get two side by side on the Skoda bars? Any info/experiences or alternative recommendations very gratefully received! Cheers, Tim

Just to update and thank everyone - the key came out of its cosy little rice bag this morning. Blew out the dust etc with my hobby airbrush, re-inserted the battery and ......................... everything works just fine! Key still matched to the car even after a week with no battery. Huge thanks for all the advice, I would never have known to use rice! P.S. I was much more careful when mountain biking yesterday!

When I Google "electric contact cleaner" WD40 comes up on the list. Is it the same thing or is ECC something more specialised? Key is now resting in rice filled bag for a few days. Had to 'fess up to SWMBO as I need the spare key to use the car and she had hidden it in one of her many handbags!

That's good to hear Raf. At least mine smells of Persil!

Ta! Battery out, more water has now been shaken out and it's in a plastic bag full of rice. Do I seal the bag or leave it open? How long do I leave it for? Cheers!

Good advice, thanks! How do I get the battery out? I would look in the manual but it's in the car ..... ! And I'm not asking SWMBO where she has put the spare key. Definitely a senior moment, came back from mountain biking, let myself in with keys, put key back in pocket, went into garage and took off muddy kit, putting it straight into washing machine! Oh well .... I'm sure there will be many more.

Just put my car key through the washing machine! Haven't dared try it yet, what would be anyone's opinion on what I should do now? Just dry it out? Change the battery? Take it to the dealer? Is it likely to be dead and therefore a very expensive mistake? I feel a Homer Simpson "doh!" coming on.

Just back from France, saw another British Yeti in Cahors on 9th August, steel grey I think with a roof box reg no Y*ETY. Anyone on here? Done 2,500 miles in last 2 weeks, cruises nicely at 80 on the French motorways and has returned around 40 mpg. Managed to get all the luggage for a family of four for 2 weeks into the boot without needing a roofbox too!

Thanks for that, was beginning to think I was going mad as I could still see all the tracks on the card and there is still a good 3GB of free space. It was of course my wife's favourite CDs that the Bolero couldn't see! Have now copied the extra stuff onto another card as a temporary measure and will reorganise things properly when I return. Cheers, Tim

Have been putting CDs onto a 16GB SDHC card to play through the Bolero. Each artist has a separate folder and each CD is in a folder within the artists folder. I've put 13GB worth onto the card. Up until now I've had no trouble but now I can't see anything past S on my alphabetical artist list (ie the scroll bar won't go past S) Any ideas where I'm going wrong? Going on holiday soon so desperate for urgent reply please! Cheers, Tim

As it didn't rain for most of yesterday I decided to give the Yeti a really good clean. I am certainly not a "detailer" but I like my SM to look good. Finally got round to buying a clay bar kit (have always been a bit sceptical about the need for stuff like this) and gave it a go yesterday. Results were frankly amazing! Car is only 18 months old but the amount of ingrained dirt that came out was astonishing. It got rid of all the tar spots much more easily than the usual Autoglym Intensive Tar Remover. Paintwork was left really smooth and it made polishing a whole lot easier. I guess I'm now a convert. Wife wasn't too happy when she came home to find that I'd spent five hours cleaning the car and her tea wasn't ready though. Was sent to join Bobdog in his corner. Oh well .....