My MINI me and me

"The following takes place between 3:00pm and 4:00pm" A grey Yeti 13 plate appears on episode 5 of 24:Live Another Day, no doubt a decoy for Jack's latest escape attempt!

Have sold my Yeti, replaced with a countryman and got the benefit of some extraordinary poor service from MINI, so lesson learnt for 2015. A boring story about reasons for the change, but needed to get the cash out and go to a lease model for two years. Also wanted ipod connectivity and DAB, alongside a number of creatire comforts without paying more. First impressions, better tracking on the MINI so maybe should not have got the Moon alloy upgrade, however as it is the 1.6D engine works harder and is noisier, the Bolero controls were far superior than the MINI connect system, where you seem to have to lift, pull, twist and turn to go through the menus and select options. Also eats a little more fuel than the elegance which is a big surprise. Just wanted to say this is a great board, much like MINI2 was before it was bought out. I will look in occasionally and will seriously consider going back to Yeti ownership in the future, as my wife preferred it.

I have found that like trying to find a new song on the stereo to play, the action of put the transmission into P and applying the handbrake directly controls red traffic lights changing them to green negating the need to wear out the transmission system and allowing the brakes to cool a little. I have experimented for over ten years and this works every time, even more effective the more central you are in London!

Mine came off on Friday and I bought a new car yesterday! Before you ask going back to "school" in sept so needed to release some funds. If anyone is interested in a set of 16" verdestein extremes with about 2000 miles on then please PM with e reasonable offer, ideally buyer collects from central London but I am flexible.

As my user name indicates I have a keen interest in the MINI and owned 3 before moving to Skoda, the countryman is expensive, MINIs have now started to really depreciate, they cost more to finance.....and in my experience across 3 cars are very unreliable. The PANDA is not a like for like comparison, the VW comes with a special type of dealer arrogance, I tried to by an EOS a couple of times before I settled on a Cooper S convertible. Would I rather have a Countryman probably, I am prepared to pay the real cost of ownership (not just financial) no, I have enjoyed NOT going back to the dealer on a regular basis since I bought the Yeti!

Just saw a documentary on within Winterwatch about 63 fascinating. This is what its looking like in central London tonight on the back streets, so I glad I have the winter footwear on the Yeti. Tomorrow will be interesting!

I used skoda for the first year as their new for old policy for a write off in the first year of ownership means my 4 year GAP insurance policy is deferred for a year giving me 5 years of overall protection. Had a bad allianz experience in the past where they round off your no claims which means it currently stands at 9 years when it should be about 15. Will make sure this does not happen again if I decide to move at renewal.

The abominable skoda yeti arrived in April 12 with Moon Alloys, delayed from December 11 following several long email exchanges with SUK who eventually agreed to put the 16s on. Very glad having ordered my winter tyres which are cheaper and having not scuffed the alloys as yet due to the extra sidewall. You may find that expressing a want to "cancel" your order with SUK assists with speeding up the willingness to change, if not the delivery time. Very interesting quote above about knowing what spec car you have, mine appeared on the receipt and was well defined by both the extra toys and the overall cost! Even more entertaining was my very direct feedback to my long serving Mini dealer about one of their newer members of staff describing the car of the year as a "skip" and that attitude being part of the reason that after 10 years Of Mini ownership I would not be buying a Countryman. Silver Elegance 2.0 4x4 DSG Ordered 1st Aug 2011 delivered 7th April 2012

Agreed I will probably do this, but I saw this on a showroom Yeti before it was deleted so I still find it annoying to use a back door method for something so fundamental in the modern age, thumbs down to VAG for spoiling my happiness!

You can drag and drop mp3 files from your iTunes library (directly from the hard disc not via the application) onto an SDHC card formatted as FAT32, maximum 32gb and 2000 files, however no other format AAC etc will work so beware. So now I can listen to lots of albums I bought years ago but without going through a contrived process to reformat nearly everything bought over the last three years back to MP3 taking up HDD space and/or creating duplicates in iTunes I can't moves my latest purchases to the SD card. The auto changer is from the dark ages as far as I am concerned and adds no value.The MDI option is sadly lacking in the UK and extremely annoying, it would be far easier to have an iPod in the glovebox which seamlessly integrates with iTunes giving you play lists and podcasts in seconds, after all you can't take an SD card and plug head phones into it when you leave the car can you? To end on a positive the display is great as it uses the tags to display artist/album/song.

Mine was held from Aug 2011 when I ordered until collection April 2012. Dealer advised it had been kept on the 2.0 DSG but not the petrol 1.2 DSG.

So after 10 years of "MINI Adventures" The abominable Skoda has arrived..... It's been a long day, cycled 10 miles to the dealer and then returned 2 hours later with my trade in. We had probably the longest handover (about 2+1/2 hours) in history as we all learned exactly how Skoda's hydraulic bike lifts are adjusted and operate! So well done Trans CIty. Have done a bit of driving 58 miles visting friends and family and got 30 overal MPG not bad for a 2.0L 4x4 considering London bank holiday traffic. Already have somes loves - Ease of use of the MDC, Bolero Touch Screen Somes hates - Why no DAB, do you know how many pirate stations break into your FM reception And perplexing - Why does the radio connect to my iphone and then play everything in aphabetical order only Looks great, drives and handles really well so far on the 16" Moon Alloys, dual climate control is blissful and the sun roof is FAB Park assit is unnerving in that it seems to park about 2mm away from the kerb probably beacuse they are quite low in our street. Looking forward to discovering it's much talked about and discussed talents as well as some more "off piste" Yeti Adventures.

I doubt it I asked if I could cancel my unbuilt yeti and the dealer implied only if I paid the VAT, which Skoda verified!

If the builds are taking so long 6-9 months, what Is the position with canceling an order? I understand that you have a contract to buy but if not delivered after 6 months you may just change your mind.

I think you can still get YE11TTE for £450 from the DVLA

Well seems better value than what BMW offered me for my MINI this week, winter check for £39.95 and only another £37 to top up the oil which was just under the full mark on the dipstick! I settled for the MOT and brake fluid change only Roll on March 2012 when the abominable Skoda arrives.

Just adding tupence worth, moving over from MINI to Skoda. Runflat ryres has the letters RSC in a circle on the outside wall. They definatley work and will allow between 50-150 miles travel (depenedant on which version)if the tyre has a puncture but is otherwise sound. On a dark, in bad weather on a hard shoulder or any combination, worth their weight in gold to not have to change the wheel. The cons are the "firm" ride quality although this improved significantly over the three cars I owned, also if you end up replacing a pair the cost can be very high for the lower profile versions. Does anyone on the board know if you can order a full sized spare wheel with the Yeti. I know it will eat more boot space. But on a longer touring trip, finding a tyre may not be the easiest thing to achieve.

Very pleased about my Yeti 4x4 ordered to replace my MINI, was disappointed by the salesman at MINI who made the Skoda "skip" and "double the value by adding petrol" jokes as a method of trying to convince me to stay with MINI. Both my MINI driving colleagues selling theirs due to reliability issues and are interested in my purchase.

Have ordered a Yeti (White, Sunroof, Park Assist, Spare wheel, off road pack) to replace my MINI , was looking for a cost effective alternative to the Countryman that would function in the winter and it appears I have bought a better car. Not built until wk50 at the moment so may not see it until early 2012, but good deal (fixed trade in price until exchange of vehicles)and unexpectedly have managed to secure the free servicing. Trawling through this site for various bits of info over the last few months has been one of the major deciding factors in making the change. So thanks to all who have shared their knowledge, am hoping to do the same in time. In the meantime enjoying playing Yeti spotting until my own personal "Abominable Skoda" arrives!