Maybe I am being a little dim here but I would appreciate some help on this. I needed to use the full load capacity of the Yeti this weekend and so folded the back seats down and lifted them up, yes I know they can be taken out as well but I did not need that. The left and right seats folded up okay but they do not lock into place when folded forwards and up. Am I missing something? I had an old Picasso that had a similar seat system but their seats would lock into place and needed to be released with a catch. I had to break suddenly and one of the seats flung back as the item I was carrying was long but not big enough to wedge the seat upright. This seems a bit of a flaw unless I have missed something.

Equally poor is the middle seat. I took the headrest off but it still does not fold completely upright as the Jumbo box, that is not actually very jumbo, is in the way. I guessed that I needed to use the stretchy hook to attach it to one of the other seats to keep it from falling backwards but when that seat flung backwards it took the middle one with it, or the other way round. It looks messy and doesn't work very well.

Any advice on the above would be appreciated.

You need to make sure the back seats are moved all the way back and take the headrest off the middle seat. Then use the bungee cords to keep the middle seat from flopping back.

Despite what others say the central seat seems to jam on folding in some models, even with the headrest removed.

Fold the back down, lift base as far as you can, reach under and undo the clamps. Then you can lift up the centre seat. away from the clamp mounting. It has two little rubber feet that the side seats don't have and will stand on these folded with the headrest in place. Don't forget to clip in place with the strap for security.

Also with the middle seat there's an extra 'compression' folded position to allow for folding against the jumbo box. Would need to re-read the handbook to be accurate but you get rid of the head rest, fold and press down until you get a click or double click, from memory.

Normally I ditch the middle seat if were going away, so do not use this function myself.

Regards,

TP

I think what you are all describing is what I have found. None of the 3 seats actually lock in the folded upright position. A bit disappointing but not one to ruin my life.

Thanks for the replies.

like TP I have removed the middle seat completely, and slid the outer ones inward. I carry a bass guitar occasionally, along with an acoustic in a hard case, and both utilise the space between the seats for their extra length.

As you say, it wont ruin your life, and my feeling is that the extra versatility provided by the variations of fold and tumble and remove of all three seats far outweigh any possible disadvantages. And knowing that you have to use the elastic cords means that - you have the solution!!

The load carrying capability and the seat versatility of the YETI, coupled with the 4*4, the power, and the comfort were my main reasons for the choice of car to buy.

On this picture you can see that each of the seats has an elastic hook poking out at the base:

They are meant to be hooked onto the front seat headrest supports to keep the seats upright when folded forward.

90000000000000000000000 - Thanks for that tip. That was the advice I was looking for. I drove home last night with the seats continuously falling back each time I went uphill and it was driving me nuts. Much appreciated.

90000000000000000000000 - Thanks for that tip. That was the advice I was looking for. I drove home last night with the seats continuously falling back each time I went uphill and it was driving me nuts. Much appreciated.

Pleasure. You would also have found a picture explaining this in your manual on page 74 :

I am suffering Manual fatigue

I am suffering Manual fatigue

I understand. There is a LOT to take in from that manual. And many of the subtleties you only get over time.

Not over impressed by the heath-robinson seat retention method I must say, Citroën did better with the Xsara Picasso rear seats ten years ago that fold in the same way and use a locking mechanism.

Not over impressed by the heath-robinson seat retention method I must say, Citroën did better with the Xsara Picasso rear seats ten years ago that fold in the same way and use a locking mechanism.

A locking seat is perhaps easier to understand and might be perceived as better, but the back seat always locks at the same angle. This then means the front seats have to be altered and/or moved forward. With the Yeti system the front seats need not be moved and the folded rear seats "adapt" to whatever angle they are attached. Swings and roundabouts perhaps.

I think we also have to accept here that Skoda have put together a car that gives you an awful lot for your money. If that means that to keep some costs down the odd compromise is handed out then we have to accept that. The Citroen system is better but now I know how the elastic grips work I can see that I will get a similar outcome although one that does not look as nice. If everything was engineered to the level we would want then it would add costs to the car and make it less attractive as a package. Maybe Skoda will tweak this when they do a mid age revamp.

Skoda have maintained a high quality in the key areas and that is the compromise I prefer. I do hope those stretchy bands don't snap though, that could be an interesting one.

It's the same system as in the Roomster, and at least there we did not have any problems during the 3 years that we had the car. I guess there are other things that might fail before these straps do.

I can admit that this may not be a perfectly engineered solution, but I agree with EdmundB that this is an area where I also can accept compromises. If you find yourself having the seats folded up a lot maybe you could think about leaving the seat(s) at home instead...

I am actually more disappointed on the middle sead not folding up completely - at least in an adventure spec SM because the seat hits the air vents for the rear seat. According to other posts in this forum the seat needs to be unhooked from the bottom and secured only with the cord (as opposed to the side seats that are still firmly attached to the car and the cord is only preventing the tilt), and this is more worrying since I really don't want to have a seat flying around inside the car in case of an accident. So when needed I would rather leave the center sear at home unless I know I will need it for seating.

The Raz - I don't undo the middle seat completely and leave it there as that sounds hugely dangerous if you have to brake sharply. I think they mean you to fold the seat up and use the stretchy hook as shown on the diagram, leaving the base still attached. To undo the base and leave the seat dangling can not be right, surely? I would not do that anyway.

I get mine to about 60-70 degrees rather than 90 degrees as with the outer two seats because of the jumbo box/air vents. That is a poor bit of design, no doubt about that.

I have not really tried that much yet, I only once folded the center seat forwards and that was because I needed to take it ot completely for our summer vacation trip (pics of the packing in another thread) and was suprised to find out that it hit the air vents . I remember seeing somewhere that if you remove the headrest the center seat folds a bit more forward. I was just suprised because the Roomster did not have the same problem, and yes - I had the center armrest/jumo box in the Roomie as well.

To me it looks as if the Roomster has a far longer wheelbase than the Yeti. Just checked Wikipedia and it is 2,617mm vs the Yeti's 2,578mm. Not a huge difference but I suspect it has slightly more rear legroom due to the rear seats being fitted a bit further back and/or the engine compartment being smaller and the front seats being a tiny bit further forward within the wheelbase. Thus when the rear seats are folded forward they also don't hit the Jumbo box...

Hi!

That could be a plausible solution. I also have a diffuse feeling (no hard facts to go by) that the SM is a bit less generous with the leg and foot room in the back than what the Roomster was. It also feels like the SM is turning better, so shorter wheel base could very well explain all these feelings. The overall length is nearly the same (4,214mm Roomster, 4,223mm SM)

Not over impressed by the heath-robinson seat retention method I must say...

Me neither - it's definitely one of the weaker (and yet unfortunately most conspicuous) Yeti 'features'. The CRV has a similar need (ie fully folding seats but not lockable in the folded position) but manages it much more successfully - there's a heavy black cloth strap on the outboard side of each seat which fixes over a large securing head on each B pillar. A more elegant design than the Yeti but costing no more I would have guessed. (The narrow middle seat on the CRV locks into one of the seats on either side.)

It's this sort of lack of attention to detail (dare I mention the MPH speedo tick marks) which is letting the Yeti down a little at present IMO. The good thing is that they're relatively minor (speedo apart) and so could - if Skoda put their minds to it - be easily and cheaply fixed.

Me neither - it's definitely one of the weaker (and yet unfortunately most conspicuous) Yeti 'features'. The CRV has a similar need (ie fully folding seats but not lockable in the folded position) but manages it much more successfully - there's a heavy black cloth strap on the outboard side of each seat which fixes over a large securing head on each B pillar. A more elegant design than the Yeti but costing no more I would have guessed. (The narrow middle seat on the CRV locks into one of the seats on either side.)

It's this sort of lack of attention to detail (dare I mention the MPH speedo tick marks) which is letting the Yeti down a little at present IMO. The good thing is that they're relatively minor (speedo apart) and so could - if Skoda put their minds to it - be easily and cheaply fixed.

The Skoda designers have assumed that, if you have folded the rear seats, you intend to load the rear of the car with so much stuff that "you need to fold the rear seats". So the stuff you stuff into the boot will support the rear seats with or without an elastic band to hold them up.

Why spend money on clips and straps when there is no need?

So when you are taking a kip in the boot - keep your feet towards the rear seat backs, so, if the elastic fails, you won't get bonked on your head - Simples!!

As for the speedo tick marks - after 9 months of driving my SM, I can spot 30 and 70 without any problem.

I had two Renault Scenics over an 8 year period which had the same rear seat system as the Yeti, elastic chords which hooked onto the headrest pillars. When not in use the elastic hooked onto the underside of the seat frame. There were no failures or even stretching of the elastic while I had them. I then had a Citroen Picasso in which the seats locked in the forward position. It required 2 catches to be released to allow the seats to fold back down. Both systems worked well.

I noticed Skoda has put upholstery loops on the back of the seats to locate the hooks when not in use. Because my Yeti has the S trim the seats fold perfectly. No Jumbo box to get in the way and no head rest on the middle seat. All three seats flip forward and line up perfectly.

Hi

Once you have removed the central seat head restraint you have to press the seat down with quite a bit of force (because it is squashing all the seat padding) you can see when it is in the correct position because the seat will slope towards the front of the car.It will then miss the center console.Hope this helps .

Hi

Once you have removed the central seat head restraint you have to press the seat down with quite a bit of force (because it is squashing all the seat padding) you can see when it is in the correct position because the seat will slope towards the front of the car.It will then miss the center console.Hope this helps .

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately this is not working if you have the cup holders in the back of the middle rear seat. In this case there is a piece of hard plastic that will not go unharmed out of any squashing

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately this is not working if you have the cup holders in the back of the middle rear seat. In this case there is a piece of hard plastic that will not go unharmed out of any squashing

Thanks - thought it was me being dense! My middle seat does not have the "feet" either.

All a bit Heath Robinson - can't think it would have been any more costly to do it properly.