Your 140 TDI Yeti Road Test Reports Wanted

[dellsonic]

I would really like to hear how you are all getting on!

Many thanks,

Mike

[Ray_Green]

I would really like to hear how you are all getting on!

Many thanks,

Mike

Just to give you an idea about me, I’m mid 50’s and the wrong side of 20 stone. I was driving an Octy 2 Estate 105PD (DSG). The Octy is a great car, but is quite low slung. My wife who is a only 5’ 2’’ had problems reaching the pedals.

In November I went for a test drive at Mitchells of Chester. We turned up at the appointed time and where given the keys to the Demo Yeti which was Aqua Blue with 1500 miles on the clock, space saver spare and park assist.

With fuel in the tank and unescorted by a sales rep off we went on the test drive. The selected route was mixture of A roads and motorway. The drive was fantastic. The power from the 140 bhp was responsive and very smooth. Unlike some, I found the seats very comfortable and supportive. The build quality was second to none.

On return the dealership, I did a deal and purchased the Demo model. We picked it up 3 days later, which proved to be just in time for the snow. What a fantastic car, I live at the bottom of a steep hill that leads down the river Mersey. Our road did not get gritted. The Yeti never failed me and I was the envy of most in the street. Remember 4x4 is not just about snow ice and mud!

The 140 bhp engine is the most powerful engine I have had. My daily commute is 30 miles town driving. With the engine now completed 4500 miles I am getting 44mpg (Maxdot reading) to my normal driving style. I have to say that at 70mph on the motorway, I can’t seem the get the average much over 47mpg, but that may change in time. My Snow Monster will show a clean pair of paws to most vehicles at the lights. My DPF light has never lit up.

When I first got the car, I found it very easy to stall when the slowing down and letting the engine over run in second gear on an approach to a junction. I seemed to have retained myself now.

My car was about the 9000th of the line and it came with the headlight controller issue, which was fixed under warrantee

Parking assist is a lot more than a gizmo. If like me you plan to keep your Yeti, then get it will be worth it. The Bluetooth phone hook up is worth its weight in gold.

My only negative point is the boot size, but I saw that when I purchased it and it forces me to keep it tidy.

It’s the best car I have had and I have no regrets, I would do it again.

Sorry about grammer and spelling. never been hot on that.

[Agerbundsen]

Just to give you an idea about me, I’m mid 50’s and the wrong side of 20 stone. I was driving an Octy 2 Estate 105PD (DSG). The Octy is a great car, but is quite low slung. My wife who is a only 5’ 2’’ had problems reaching the pedals.

My car was about the 9000th of the line and it came with the headlight controller issue, which was fixed under warrantee

Ray, can you tell us what they actualy did to fix the headlight controller issue?

Thanks.

[dellsonic]

Ray, can you tell us what they actualy did to fix the headlight controller issue?

Thanks.

Ray - thanks for the great report - much appreciated, Mike !

[jst_at_home]

Hi all

I can almost exactly mirror Ray's comments albeit I'm wrong side of 15 stone and my wife is only 5 foot 1 inch!

I too went to my local dealer (Simpsons of Colne - great service) at the end of February, took an unescorted test drive (motorway and A roads) on the basis we could afford a new SE 140.

Simpsons demo Yeti was a Jan 2010 reg TDI 140 Elegance in steel grey. The only extras it had were the net set for the boot.

We had been told that delivery for the spec we wanted to order would be May but possibly April.

"Are you likely to be selling your demo Yeti?" Yes they were and I picked it up on 18th March with 3,700 miles on.

I've since added rubber floor mats and mud flaps all round.

We had our first real run yesterday and over mixed roads with 5 grown up people, the Yeti averaged 48 mpg (maxi-dot reading) and my average to date is 42.5 mpg. I also noted with 5 people on board the car didn't feel in any way saggy.

Handling is good; performance is good; we find the seats very comfortable. I don't as yet have a spare wheel and am in two minds at the moment.

I tried the hill descent control on a steep hill in the Yorkshire Dales yesterday and totally impressed the 5 occupants of the car!

I will need to acquire roof bars for my ski box and will get the original Skoda parts in due course.

I'm totally sold on this car.

John

[Ray_Green]

Ray, can you tell us what they actualy did to fix the headlight controller issue?

Thanks.

They changed both controllers for new ones. I lost the car for an afternoon. As they picked it up and returned it, there was no hardship.

[Agerbundsen]

They changed both controllers for new ones. I lost the car for an afternoon. As they picked it up and returned it, there was no hardship.

Thank you. That was the only fix I could think of would work.

SMC (Skoda's danish importer) has not figured it out yet. I may have to do with no Experience offered in DK, so no xenons as standard.

[Ray_Green]

Thank you. That was the only fix I could think of would work.

SMC (Skoda's danish importer) has not figured it out yet. I may have to do with no Experience offered in DK, so no xenons as standard.

I believe SUK issued a technical instruction on the subject. Maybe a SUK could let you have a copy.

[JonA]

I can confirm that there is a repair solution to the faulty Xenon ECU's issued by Skoda Auto. All Skoda workshops should be able to access this information. I think there are two software versions that are faulty(SW 03 and 07 if I remember correctly??)

Any danish Skoda shop should be able to fix Snehvides Xenon hick-up :yes:

Jon A

[a65rocket]

Our 1st proper run this weekend, (to Birkenhead, I didn't see your Yeti Ray!)

44 mpg on a mixture of motorway and A road, good handling when sliding it around the roundabouts on the New Brighton sea front.

There is a lot of mud splatter up the side and rear of the car, maybe mud-flaps will me needed, though they look so small.

I wanted the hill assist / off road option, but since when we test drove a 1.2 Elegance and we wanted one, the dealer had a pre=pdi'd 140 SE 4x4 with sun roof sitting there, it was best to buy it rather than wait 3 months to order the exact specification we wanted.

All I'm missing is the off road / hill assist option, but got park assist extra.

[Pete-n]

My Yeti 140 tdi has firmly become a family friend the kids loves the space and all the gizmos , my wife loves the comfort and ride quality then theres me I love the way it handles like my Golf gtd 140 but reaches much further when it comes to the loads or the versitility of space or even the driving position its perfect.

The only fault really that i noticed was the start of gravel rash in front of the back wheels which I have addressed thanks to the plumber posting part numbers for the protective foils that are or are not fitted at the factory with the off road package (I have the off road button etc but no foils) they are virtually invisable but now stop the paintwork getting damaged.Cost was about twenty pounds each plus vat from a vag/skoda parts specialist.

The only other slight hassle I have had has been the columbus navigation system which does not take the full postcode like a tomtom you have to have a little more info I find when entering the location but i feel it's more me being a tomtom user for five or so years rather than the columbus system.

So to recap we all love my new car which has become part of the family really much more than just a car.

Peter

Yeti Elegance tdi 140cr in steel grey

[prodata]

The only other slight hassle I have had has been the columbus navigation system which does not take the full postcode like a tomtom you have to have a little more info I find when entering the location but i feel it's more me being a tomtom user for five or so years rather than the columbus system.

No it's not you, it's just another stupid quirk of what I'm guessing is a VW group part, not specifically a Skoda one. There's really no excuse nowadays why a satnav, especially an expensive one, can't accept full postcode entry. This really is quite a useful feature - if you're having to go to a specific address in an unfamiliar town then simply entering the full postcode is the most straightforward way of having the satnav guide you there. Not having this feature once you're used to it is a real irritation.

It's not just TomTom, the current Honda satnav for instance (I drive a CRV with this fitted) has full postcode entry and I think quite a number of other types/makes do also. This particular feature (or lack of it) is a standard item on our checklist for new cars (though, unsurprisingly, not too many demonstrators have satnav fitted to check).

It would be nice to think that a HU firmware upgrade would do the trick, but it deosn't seem to have happened so far. Maybe there just weren't enough characters allowed for in the postcode entry string or maybe having a full UK postcode facility would interfere somehow with compatibility with other EU postcodes, but it's difficult to believe that it's an insuperable problem.

[Agerbundsen]

I do not really know anything about it, but the difficulty could lie in that the UK uses letters in postal codes, whereas most if not all the other EU posal codes are just numbers.

I wonder if there is a similar difficulty with the USA/Canada maps, as the Canadians also use letters, but the USA not. Irrelevant for the Yeti, but relevant to other VAG cars.

[Valley VRS]

'The only fault really that i noticed was the start of gravel rash in front of the back wheels which I have addressed thanks to the plumber posting part numbers for the protective foils that are or are not fitted at the factory with the off road package (I have the off road button etc but no foils) they are virtually invisable but now stop the paintwork getting damaged.Cost was about twenty pounds each plus vat from a vag/skoda parts specialist.'

Me too. My car is a Sep 09 Elegance in silver with the panoramic roof. I'm on the 2nd windscreen which iself is well stone chipped, not a fault of the car I know but the appalling state of our post-snow, let's see how many potholes we can avoid without ripping a wheel off, unrepaired South Wales roads. I've now done nearly 14k and noticed yesterday whilst washing it, a lot of stone damage in this same area. In fact there are several what can only be described as blisters, on both sides of the car, where following a stone chip the paint has risen. I'm rather unimpressed with this and shall be visiting the dealer on the way home this afternoon for some advice on this matter. On the plus side, the engine is a vast improvement in refinement on the the 2.0 TDI PD, but not I think on power. As has been mentioned the boot space with the spare wheel in situ is pathetic, probably similar to but seems less than, a Fabia, but mpg remains excellent at around 50 on the motorway. I struggled in the snow even with 4wd, and have since bought steel wheels and winter tyres. Not worth the RRP of 22k in my eyes. Will more than likely buy an Octavia next time round.

[dellsonic]

Well, at last I drove one today on a test drive from the dealers. The impression I got?

Well its a bit of a poor person’s 4X4. I was not impressed by the various rattles from the test vehicle, including the infamous A-pillar. There was a rather nasty noise from somewhere in the cars mechanicals (don’t worry about that Sir, said the salesman).

After inspecting the car, I realised what it is: a very very soft 4X4, and hardly worthy of the title at that. I was vary disappointed. Not what I was expecting.

Its fragile for a 4X4, even a cross over, and not for use in serious weather or adverse conditions.

So its back to the drawing bard for me. What can I get for 23k that can cut the mustard in NE Scotland in winter for 23k. Quite a lot.

Oh yes, it stalled a lot and had a curious non diesel like power delivery. Quite nasty really.

Sic Transit.

Mike

[Llanigraham]

Well, at last I drove one today on a test drive from the dealers. The impression I got?

Well its a bit of a poor person’s 4X4. I was not impressed by the various rattles from the test vehicle, including the infamous A-pillar. There was a rather nasty noise from somewhere in the cars mechanicals (don’t worry about that Sir, said the salesman).

After inspecting the car, I realised what it is: a very very soft 4X4, and hardly worthy of the title at that. I was vary disappointed. Not what I was expecting.

Its fragile for a 4X4, even a cross over, and not for use in serious weather or adverse conditions.

So its back to the drawing bard for me. What can I get for 23k that can cut the mustard in NE Scotland in winter for 23k. Quite a lot.

Oh yes, it stalled a lot and had a curious non diesel like power delivery. Quite nasty really.

Sic Transit.

Mike

Mike, you are entitled to your own view obviously, but what experience do you have of 4x4 vehicles, of this type?

[SimonVespa]

Well, at last I drove one today on a test drive from the dealers. The impression I got?

Well its a bit of a poor person’s 4X4. I was not impressed by the various rattles from the test vehicle, including the infamous A-pillar. There was a rather nasty noise from somewhere in the cars mechanicals (don’t worry about that Sir, said the salesman).

After inspecting the car, I realised what it is: a very very soft 4X4, and hardly worthy of the title at that. I was vary disappointed. Not what I was expecting.

Its fragile for a 4X4, even a cross over, and not for use in serious weather or adverse conditions.

So its back to the drawing bard for me. What can I get for 23k that can cut the mustard in NE Scotland in winter for 23k. Quite a lot.

Oh yes, it stalled a lot and had a curious non diesel like power delivery. Quite nasty really.

Sic Transit.

Mike

Have you now cancelled your order then Mike?

Simon