Just taken delivery of my second Roomster & really pleased with it.

I loved my first one but it was just getting to the end of 3 years but it was in great shape with almost no issues at all.

I did test drive the Yeti but I wasn't too keen on it. It was rather a bouncy ride & the boot was far too small for our family but I do like the look of it.

Previously I had the roomster 2 with the 1.4 diesel engine which was giving an average of 64.5 mpg (with fuel saving magnet kit fitted)

Skoda have changed things a little so I now have the same engine but the SE version. Im told the 1.4 d engine is to be discontinued.

The large sun roof does make the car feel bigger inside & the rear parking sensors are a nice feature.

I know there are a few more features but havn't had the chance to play with them all yet

Im not too keen on Skodas policy of no spare wheel but managed to haggle for a free one.

I took advantage of the vat free offer & shopped between dealers & got a further £1000 off.

I did try a few other cars but non of them matched the Roomster.

The Nissan Note was nice but a little plasticky & didn't have the same specs for the money.

Almost everything else was too small as I need the extra head hight of the Roomster being so tall.

The only way they could improve it would be to have the better engines with less emissions so the road tax would be less (£30 a year on the note 1.5) & better for the environment too.

G

... (with fuel saving magnet kit fitted)

You realise these do absolutely nothing?

Im not too keen on Skodas policy of no spare wheel but managed to haggle for a free one.

I

This isn't just Skoda's policy, a lot of manufacturers are doing it. Here in Guernsey our Skoda dealer orders all new cars with a spare wheel. It's vital here because of so many narrow roads. It's easy to hit a kerb and burst a tyre. No repair compound can cope with that.

Yep, waste of money...

Back to the review, re the Yeti, for such a large car its surprisingly small inside, as you say the boot is tiny compared with the Roomie, and if you have an optional spare its none existant!

If you check out the threads on the facelifted Roomie you'll see that both the 1.4 and 1.9 diesels have been replaced by the 1.6CR which does have the low tax bracket you wanted!

You realise these do absolutely nothing?

well, did the owner find it did anything?! that fuel consumption is pretty good. We're only getting 51mpg average on a 1.4 (70)

Back to the review, re the Yeti, for such a large car its surprisingly small inside

That's funny you say that as most people say exactly the opposite about the Yeti! But I suppose coming from a Roomster...

That's funny you say that as most people say exactly the opposite about the Yeti! But I suppose coming from a Roomster...

The Roomster is a hark back to the good old days when car manufacturers put practicality above style... look back at the Issigonis-designed Maxi and see how much room it has compared to modern cars of larger dimensions... Nowadays its all about style over substance which has left us with such monstrocities as the Quashqi (sp?) which is supposed to be a car for the city but is too big and has poor visibility... only a stylist could have thought that one up!

Thats why I like the Roomster, ok it has strange styling, but someone like Issigonis would have approved of the Rommie's interior which manages to make the most out of a small space...

Strange that the larger car has less room, though... but I suppose its the same for most 4x4s, compared to a similar sized "ordinary" car, let alone something like an MPV, they are cramped inside!

Strange that the larger car has less room, though... but I suppose its the same for most 4x4s, compared to a similar sized "ordinary" car, let alone something like an MPV, they are cramped inside!

The Yeti isn't really larger than the Roomster though. It is wider and a bit taller I think but it's about the same length. The major place where it loses out is that the boot is not as deep because the 4x4 versions have transmission bits under the floor and I guess the bonnet section probably takes up more of the length of the car to accommodate the bigger engines too.

to accommodate the bigger engines too.

I thought that the biggest engine was the 1.9TDi and the Roomster has that?

Re room I was refering to the extra stuff 4x4s have to carry to be 4x4s which does have an effect on things like boot space, as with any rwd car as well... though looking at the head on view it seems the bulk of the extra width is in the doors! Height is relative, take away the extra ground clearance needed for a 4x4 and they are not much different... no, its just that, for interior space, the Roomster is much better packaged!

The Yeti isn't really larger than the Roomster though. It is wider and a bit taller I think but it's about the same length. The major place where it loses out is that the boot is not as deep because the 4x4 versions have transmission bits under the floor and I guess the bonnet section probably takes up more of the length of the car to accommodate the bigger engines too.

It certainly looks very much bigger, and just styled like a box. I much prefer the Roomy's slightly quirky looks and, if I wanted a 4X4 I'd be more keen on a 4wd Octavia Estate.

It certainly looks very much bigger, and just styled like a box. I much prefer the Roomy's slightly quirky looks and, if I wanted a 4X4 I'd be more keen on a 4wd Octavia Estate.

Hopefully these will line up!

-----------------------Height - Width - Length (all in mm)

Fabia Estate----------1498 -- 1886 -- 4247

Roomster-------------1607 -- 1897 -- 4214

Yeti--------------------1691 -- 1956 -- 4223

I had to double check the Fabia ones, especially the width!

Edited 1 May, 201016 yr by The PM

not sure where you got the fabia figure from, these are from skoda-auto website:

Fabia estate :

External dimensions

Length (mm): 4247

Width (mm): 1642

Height (mm): 1498

Clear height (mm): 135

Wheel base (mm): 2451

Internal dimensions

Elbow width in front (mm): 1380

Elbow width in rear (mm): 1383

Headroom in front (mm): 989

Headroom in rear (mm): 994

Luggage room min./max. (l): 505/1485

Yeti:

External dimensions

Length (mm): 4223

Width (mm): 1793

Height (mm): 1691

Clearance (mm): 180

Wheel base (mm): 2578

Luggage sill height (mm): 712

Wheel track front/rear (mm): 1541/1537

Internal dimensions

Elbow width in front/rear (mm): 1446/1437

Headroom in front/rear (mm): 1034/1027

Luggage room min./max. (l): 405/510*

Luggage room with rear seat backrests down/out (l): 1580/1760

Roomster:

External dimensions

Length (mm): 4214

Width (mm): 1648

Height (mm): 1607

Clear height (mm): 140

Wheel Base (mm): 2608

Internal dimensions

Elbow width in front (mm): 1380

Elbow width in rear (mm): 1400

Headroom in front (mm): 1029

Headroom in rear (mm): 1009

Luggage room min./max. (l): 480-560*/1810

Although the Yeti is a bit longer the roomster has a bigger wheel base which perhaps explains the extra interior room as the wheels are more pushed out to the edge of the car.

Edited 30 April, 201016 yr by Fabia00

It was from the British Skoda Website! Under "will it fit" on Estate section... though your width certainly seems nearer!! Recon its a typo!!

Edited 30 April, 201016 yr by The PM

It was from the British Skoda Website! Under "will it fit" on Estate section... though your width certainly seems nearer!! Recon its a typo!!

or is the will it fit measurement the full width including mirrors and the other just the width of the boddy shell?

look at http://www.skoda.co.uk/flash/pdf/RoomsterTechDrawing.pdf and you will see, roormster body = 1684, mirrors = 1897

look at http://www.skoda.co.uk/flash/pdf/FabiaEstateTechDrawing.pdf and you will see fabia est body = 1642, mirrors = 1886

look at http://www.skoda.co.uk/flash/pdf/YetiTechDrawing.pdf and you will see yeti body = 1793 and mirrors = 1956

it is not good the way they show the measurements in the will it fit, as they seem to imply the mirror to mirror when on some cars it is only the body width, that could be embarrassing when you get it home and it won't fit the garage by and inch due to the mirrors

peter

Edited 30 April, 201016 yr by bluecar1

I note a hint of scepticism... They are taken for the "will it fit" section, but not the technical drawings part of it... I think that Skoda have boo-boo'd and whilst the Fabia width includes mirrors, the other two don't! Check it out if you don't believe me!!

Tech drawing shows 1897mm for Roomster and 1956mm for Yeti... have changed my older post!

The width dimensson should always include the mirrors as far as I'm concerned as its pretty useless without them included!!

I bought a new Roomy in February (to replace a Meriva) and within a few weeks I was wondering if I should have paid out and got a Yeti instead. A closer look at the Yeti has told me I was not wrong. HID thinks the low cill and huge space at the back of the Roomy is great (for all that shopping of course) and one does not get that with the Yeti. I can think of a few improvements I would like to see but there does not seem to be anything else around at present which quite hits the mark. I very much agree with the comments of others about lack of visibilty and excessive styling which other makers are going for but I am not that stupid.

I did take a serious look at the Citroen C3 Picasso (just too small inside), the Berlingo (problems with their DPF) and the Doblo (also problems with their DPF).

My final comment is that someone needs to come up with a practical and possibly slightly larger vehicle where they don't bother too much about style, has good visibility , bags of room and with the DPF problems sorted and they have a winner. There does not seem to be such a vehicle on the market at present.

The old style Berlingo probably ticked most of those boxes!

The old style Berlingo probably ticked most of those boxes!

Unfortunately, my old-style Berlingo failed to tick other equally-important boxes.

In less than one year from new, the alternator and driver's seat had to be replaced, and the passenger door seal came off.

During the period of my ownership, various bits of exterior and interior trim fell off, the driver's seat collapsed (again), the clutch operating mechanism gave problems, the rear brake cylinders leaked, the front suspension units failed and various warning lights lit intermittently for no obvious reason - all in under 50,000 miles.

The final straw came when the ECU started to give problems.

My (non-DPF) Roomy is in a different league to the Schitroen. I wish I'd bought the Roomy years ago.

Unfortunately, my old-style Berlingo failed to tick other equally-important boxes.

In less than one year from new, the alternator and driver's seat had to be replaced, and the passenger door seal came off.

During the period of my ownership, various bits of exterior and interior trim fell off, the driver's seat collapsed (again), the clutch operating mechanism gave problems, the rear brake cylinders leaked, the front suspension units failed and various warning lights lit intermittently for no obvious reason - all in under 50,000 miles.

The final straw came when the ECU started to give problems.

My (non-DPF) Roomy is in a different league to the Schitroen. I wish I'd bought the Roomy years ago.

build quality and reliability is good, just coming up to 110,000 miles in my 07 poomy 2

to date only unexpected issues 2 wheel bearings, and vacuum line valve sticking leading to intermittent brake issues

and the fact it looks like a skip inside as i virtually live in it so a few crisp packets and sandwich wrappers in the passenger footwell

peter

Unfortunately, my old-style Berlingo failed to tick other equally-important boxes.

In less than one year from new, the alternator and driver's seat had to be replaced, and the passenger door seal came off.

During the period of my ownership, various bits of exterior and interior trim fell off, the driver's seat collapsed (again), the clutch operating mechanism gave problems, the rear brake cylinders leaked, the front suspension units failed and various warning lights lit intermittently for no obvious reason - all in under 50,000 miles.

The final straw came when the ECU started to give problems.

My (non-DPF) Roomy is in a different league to the Schitroen. I wish I'd bought the Roomy years ago.

out of interest, what year and which engine? My 56 plate Partner 1.6 diesel 90bhp is a damn good car (same as Berlingo and no DPF) - very upright in comparison to our Roomster though. Much more practical for moving heavy things as no lip. Both giving 51/52 mpg

Would be good if they did a roomster or yeti plus which were a little longer with an extra 2 seats in the boot.

out of interest, what year and which engine?

Y registered, pre-facelift, 1.9 naturally aspirated diesel, 75(ish) bhp, 40 - 42mpg.

I believe the facelifted car/van with the HDI engine was a vast improvement.

Unfortunately, my old-style Berlingo failed to tick other equally-important boxes.

In less than one year from new, the alternator and driver's seat had to be replaced, and the passenger door seal came off.

During the period of my ownership, various bits of exterior and interior trim fell off, the driver's seat collapsed (again), the clutch operating mechanism gave problems, the rear brake cylinders leaked, the front suspension units failed and various warning lights lit intermittently for no obvious reason - all in under 50,000 miles.

The final straw came when the ECU started to give problems.

My (non-DPF) Roomy is in a different league to the Schitroen. I wish I'd bought the Roomy years ago.

my mum had a 1.4 berlingo multispace on a 52 reg, which she put 160,000 miles on relatively trouble free, no breakdowns, full service history, she px'd it in 2008 cos several things started to go wrong, but what do you expect on a 160k 1.4 petrol

Y registered, pre-facelift, 1.9 naturally aspirated diesel, 75(ish) bhp, 40 - 42mpg.

I believe the facelifted car/van with the HDI engine was a vast improvement.

yes, there are advantages in the latest possible of the breed, when they've sorted all the problems out. The 90bhp 16V 1.6 HDi (same engine as in the focus) is £120 tax and suggests 61mpg out of town. Its hewn out of stone - but it isnt a drivers car like the Roomie. Said that, it holds the road well.

The Roomie is a car pretending to be a van.

The Berlingo/Partner is a van pretending to be a car.

Avoid the later corpulent Berlingo - its got the same engines but its a huge heavy beast - padded with safety blubber no doubt - which has destroyed the concept.

yes, there are advantages in the latest possible of the breed, when they've sorted all the problems out. The 90bhp 16V 1.6 HDi (same engine as in the focus) is £120 tax and suggests 61mpg out of town. Its hewn out of stone - but it isnt a drivers car like the Roomie. Said that, it holds the road well.

The Roomie is a car pretending to be a van.

The Berlingo/Partner is a van pretending to be a car.

Avoid the later corpulent Berlingo - its got the same engines but its a huge heavy beast - padded with safety blubber no doubt - which has destroyed the concept.

The latest Berlingo certainly looks much bigger than the old one. Same applies to the Renault Kangoo which would be a much better buy, especially here where we have a rubbish Citroën dealer and, being on an island, no alternatives.

I could have been tempted by an old style Kangoo, because it would have been much easier for our elderly Golden Retriever to get in without the lip on the boot but, in every other way, the Roomy is so much better.