Mazda = Ford Focus ... and the Focus is cheaper!

Interesting response Lady Elenor I also like the x trail and have seen the brand new shape ones with a couple of thousand mile on for around £22,000 and that's the top spec tekna. Great value but for me I would worry about the on road ability. Fuel ecomonuy and co2 are not great either! Any thoughts on the mazsa sport 185?

Michael.

I thought the X Trail drove OK on the road (not as well as the Yeti of course), and the economy in the 172 bhp diesel (or what ever it was) was Ok-ish. High 30s to low 40s. Mr Grumpy has one and I think he likes his. I haven't been in a Mazda 185 :(

I thought the X Trail drove OK on the road (not as well as the Yeti of course), and the economy in the 172 bhp diesel (or what ever it was) was Ok-ish. High 30s to low 40s. Mr Grumpy has one and I think he likes his. I haven't been in a Mazda 185 :(

Can't fault the X Trail tbh.

High 30's to low 40's mpg in town driving, 50 mpg on a decent run ( ours is the 150bhp variant ) It goes off road every day and is extremely capable. Big squishy heated leather seats help the ride, although tbh it's pretty good.

The only downfall is its liking for front tyres, two pairs in 12 months ( 22k miles in the last 12 months ) but that could be down do the Mad Wifes driving style, and due to where it goes ( up rutted farm tracks everyday ! )

We recently had the displeasure of a Chevrolet Captiva for a couple of days.....pile of sh!te...25mpg, and very uncomfortable, at over 30k new it should be half the price..

Edited 13 February, 201115 yr by Mr Grumpy

Surprised that the Octy Scout does not appear to be the natural replacement choice. Folk seem to appreciate the Yeti's higher seating position although I bet (figuratively speaking) its about a 50/50 split when it comes down to useage - between 100% road use only or a mixture of both on & off road.

Guess that's why it's offered in 2 & 4 wd.

No contest...

No contest...

Trouble is it attracts yobish behaviour

Hi

I think the sportage looks great in the flesh just a shame the engine is not a bit more powerful. The 2.0L is 134bhp I think.

Ps Mazda 3 sport 185 may be a focus underneath but I was amazed at the performance and handling. The amount of standard kit would put most brands to shame!

Michael.

Edited 13 February, 201115 yr by Micky H

Hi

I think the sportage looks great in the flesh just a shame the engine is not a bit more powerful. The 2.0L is 134bhp I think.

Ps Mazda 3 sport 185 may be a focus underneath but I was amazed at the performance and handling. The amount of standard kit would put most brands to shame!

Michael.

On the other side of the coin, the smallest petrol engine is not available with auto transmission - you have to buy the gas guzzling high emissions 2 litre normally aspirated petrol and the auto is a conventional torque converter type. Same story with the Hyundai and Nissan. Thank goodness for the 1.2TSi DSG Yeti.

For some reason, despite the small 1.2 engine, I wanted this more than the 1.6 in the Qashqai? No idea why!, probably the turbo!

For a 2-wheel drive I would consider the Mitsubishi ASX, but there is no automatic available.

The Hyundai IX35 is my second choice, but has terrible boot space.

Yeti covers all my needs: Quality, high seat position, DSG, all the other xtras on the menu and reasonable boot space.

(And my dealer sweetend the deal by giving me a Packline roofbox).

Mini Clubman

Did I test drive anything else? Nope I only wanted a Yeti is it does all things I want in a car.

Had the Yeti not been there the only car I wanted every time going to a motor show was the Octavia Scout. But with only a postage stamp sunroof and rear seats that can't be left at home it was not something I'd seriously consider however - it was also WAY too long for London parking. So I would still have been happily sitting in my perfect Audi A2 had there been no Yeti.

I went looking at the Superb but was scared by the sheer size of it. The Yeti was sat in the showroom and took my eye, and more importantly that of my wife as well. I was also interested in the Seat Exeo as I would love an Audi but the budget does not go that far. Unfortunately the Seat dealer did not return any of my 3 calls/faxes/emails so I gave up on them. I genuinely don't know what I would have gone for had the Yeti not been there as my wife was adamant we were not getting an anonymous Euro box, ruling out most of the cars on the market. Having had two awful winters I would not go back to 2WD so my next choice, I lease, will be between another Yeti or the Mitsubishi ASX which was not out at the time. I am 90% sure it will be another Yeti.

I had looked at a Qashqai previously but rear visibility was awful and I had been down that route before with a Seat Toledo.

Edited 14 February, 201115 yr by EdmundBlackadder

Ibiza ST? has the 1.2 DSG in a lower / lighter package...

Golf Match? has the 1.4 DSG, good kit...

C-Max? no Powershift with the 1.6T though...

Fabia vRS estate? oooh, tempting... wonder if you can put a tow hitch on it for a bike carrier?

But its tough. Skoda have hit a pretty good combo of size and function with the Yeti. Shame they can't build them too quickly (unless you're an owner in which case good stuff for residuals!). I very much like the 1.4SE (petrol 2wd) or 140DSG SE (diesel 4wd)...

Liked the look and price of the facelifted Daihatsu Terios. It drove quite well too although build quality did not seem as good as the Yeti. But the Terios was less capable off road and could not tow enough for my needs. I would probably have settled for a nearly new VW Tiguan.

Like bilun, i would probably have gone for a Freelander 2, with all the disadvantages. Possibly a Tiguan - but I lean more towrds rough-road than tarmac capability...

Hi Little-Brit from RogueBrit - i am just down the road from you - we need to look out for each other round these parts, where Yeti's are rare! Did you go see Terence at Progress?

Roger

Liked the look and price of the facelifted Daihatsu Terios. It drove quite well too although build quality did not seem as good as the Yeti. But the Terios was less capable off road and could not tow enough for my needs. I would probably have settled for a nearly new VW Tiguan.

First in, first out.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/262258/daihatsu_stops_european_sales.html

if the yeti didn't exist, which i'm very glad it does, i would have bought the octavia 4x4 estate.

simples

Looked at the Mini Countryman, BMW X1, VW Tiguan, Kia Sportage and Hyundai IX35 I wanted four doors, a higher seating position and 4 x 4.

Mini, BMW and VW were to expensive when spec'ed up the Mini and BMW weren't that nice to drive, both the Kia and Hyundai couldn't compete on performance.

No regrets at all in buying the Yeti.

Perhaps a low profile alternative for the reserved types who like to travel incognito

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/263581/renaults_juke_rival_marches_in.html

We'd have bought the IX35 except it doesn't have a height adjustable passengers seat, even as an option, so my 5 foot 3 inch wife couldn't really see over the dashboard.

I'll be looking to replace my Octy with a shorter taller car by the end of the year. For my usage, FWD + Winter tyres should be adequate, so my shortlist is:

- Yeti SE 2.0TDI 110 (only needs the forthcoming sunroof & a replacement DAB radio);

- New Meriva 1.7 DCTi 130 (better performance, misses a few options but has the fantastic Flex-Fix built-in bike carrier that the Yeti hasn't had since the concept car);

- Golf Plus 1.6TDI 105 or 2.0TDI 140 (misses out on even more options, but has the best boot size);

- Touran SE 1.6TDI BlueMotion (best economy, allows you to add options to the green version unlike Skoda, the boot's even bigger than my Octy's, but I was really looking to downsize more).

The Fabia estate would be a contender if Skoda added auto-lights, auto-wipers and auto-mirrors!

Chris

Edited 15 February, 201115 yr by CJJE

The Fabia estate would be a contender if Skoda added auto-lights, auto-wipers and auto-mirrors!

Chris

I wouldn't NOT buy a car just because it didn't have those! While they're quite useful, they can operate at times when you don't want them to, so I quite often find myself turning them off.

I'll be looking to replace my Octy with a shorter taller car by the end of the year. For my usage, FWD + Winter tyres should be adequate, so my shortlist is:

- Yeti SE 2.0TDI 110 (only needs the forthcoming sunroof & a replacement DAB radio);

- New Meriva 1.7 DCTi 130 (better performance, misses a few options but has the fantastic Flex-Fix built-in bike carrier that the Yeti hasn't had since the concept car);

- Golf Plus 1.6TDI 105 or 2.0TDI 140 (misses out on even more options, but has the best boot size);

- Touran SE 1.6TDI BlueMotion (best economy, allows you to add options to the green version unlike Skoda, the boot's even bigger than my Octy's, but I was really looking to downsize more).

The Fabia estate would be a contender if Skoda added auto-lights, auto-wipers and auto-mirrors!

Chris

I quite fancied a VW Tiguan untill I calculated how much it would cost to spec it up to be on a par with an Elegance, the final nail in its coffin was the stingy one year roadside assistance and recovery (Same as Nissan).