Just put the deposit on a new, Yeti 1.2 TSI 105PS SE Plus. as a new poster and Skoda owner was hoping to get some confirmation on our choice from the very helpful community here.

My wife (the main driver) and i have been searching for a new car to replace her Fiat 500 as we are expecting our first child. After test driving Megane, I30, Ceed ( which my wife though were sluggish and very staid to drive after the fun of the 500), we popped into a Skoda dealer to look at the Roomster and Fabia. We decided to test drive a secondhand 1.2 S Yeti. My wife fell in love with the drive and I liked the room and the classy feel of the cabin. Looking at prices the 2nd hand Yetis seemed to be almost the same price as new (2k difference), especially the new car target price on What Car and Parkers. So the search began for a 1.2 Urban and from taking to 3 brokers it looked like their were 3 in the UK new and all were going the way of the dodo! So no Urban but we found a good new SE Plus for £15.5K which luckily our local dealer price matched with a very good trade in for the Fiat. We are getting delivery in 2 1/2 weeks with a new 12 plate.

I then found this forum and reading through some of the posts am thinking should we have gone for a Elegance to get the ESP? I think i am just getting buyers guilt over a new car but any reassurance that the lack of ESP and 17" wheels is going to cause issues, for this our primary family car would be great.

I purchased the Elegance trim just so the ESP was standard.As I have said before I cannot understand Skoda not fitting a life saving device such as ESP as standard fit.If you get the 1.2 engine with the DSG box you do get ESP as standard fit.

hi and welcome to the forum.

Good choice of car, the SE plus is pretty well specced.

True, it doesn't get the ESP. But that is a personal matter if you feel it's needed.

Some people will say it's not and some people will say it's an essential just in case you ever need it.

Fact is, both our Yetis do have it, but if you just potter about and it's a family vehicle that is not going to fly about the chance of needing it is greatly reduced.

I had mine on track and it was on several times each lap.

Ride is fine on the 17" wheels. Again, that's personal opinion though. Most of the Yetis in the UK run on 17" rims.

?12 plate? surely 62

or is it pre reg?

Edited 30 August, 201213 yr by 33q

?12 plate? surely 62

or is it pre reg?

Apologies 62 plate, I just meant a place issued in Sept 12. Not registered and delay is as its on a ship getting to UK (that is what i have been told) as already built.

I would change the order if you can, I think in today's driving enviroment ESP is essential plus you will also get a nice bag of goodies with the Elegance. Just my thoughts....

hi and welcome to the forum.

Good choice of car, the SE plus is pretty well specced.

True, it doesn't get the ESP. But that is a personal matter if you feel it's needed.

Some people will say it's not and some people will say it's an essential just in case you ever need it.

if you just potter about and it's a family vehicle that is not going to fly about the chance of needing it is greatly reduced.

Agreed, it would be nice to have the extra bits and pieces of the elegance, but as you have the huge expense of a new baby on the way, I think the money would be better spent there.

The 1.2 is a very capable car in any trim.

Enjoy and welcome to Briskoda

We were in exactly the same situation as you. We had a great Mini clubman S which, as a couple, was big fun. However, when my daughter arrived we had to get a 'proper' car and got a big second hand Mercedes estate. That was a disaster as it cost a fortune to run and the ride was awful over the speed bumps round here.

We've now got a 1.2 dsg SE plus Yeti and it is perfect. The ride is the best I've had in a car (yes it's on 17" rims) but it is controlled and beautifully damped.

When we looked at the Yeti specs we thought that getting the 1.2 TSI in Elegance trim would be overkill and depreciate more than a 2 litre diesel Elegance. The SE Plus is a great spec and you get the seat back tables which, now my daughter is a bit older, thinks is the coolest thing ever. The only thing you'll need is seat covers for the back seats as they're about to get sick, food, drinks and more sick spilt on them! The Yeti wins best family car awards for good reason. The buyers guilt will go the day you pick it up and when you take your baby home in it you'll be glad.

One thing though, try and delay delivery so you get it on a 62 plate as it'll help residual value.

1.2 tsi is a great choice. I have it with a DSG box and am averaging a true (fill to fill) 41.4 MPG. Driving is a mix of Motorways, A & B roads and some town driving. You will find MPG improves as mileage increases.

I know I seem to be in the minority here, but having owned a skoda yeti 1.2 SE DSG for a year, I was very dissappointed with the poor ride quality( jiggy ride as mentioned on 'what car' reviews and other reviews on this site). This only seems to affect the smaller engined yetis with the larger 17" wheels. I also had problems with the turbo, which had a lag that often made it hard to control at lower speeds. I purchased the yeti after taking this out for a test drive and reading reviews here about how good the ride was. I would strongly advise you to have more test drives with this vehicle to be sure you are satisfied with these points. I would add that I had no problems with the vehicle during my year of ownership.

I have now sold the vehicle and bought one with a much more compliant ride and progressive power band. I appreciate that the yeti is classed as a 4x4, and that the vehicle was perhaps setup more for offroading, but the reviews for the high ride quality only seem to apply to certain vehicles in the range. I noticed that Richard Hammond recently gave comments on this in the Daily Mirror, again stating that you have to be careful which combination of alloy/tyre is on your vehicle as some of them can result in a choppy ride.

We don't bother with seat covers but just in case use a large towel fitted the full length of the rear seat cushion which does the job and a quick

wash sorts it out. We dont bother covering the seat backs. A towel is easy to fit and remove and fits under safety seats a treat. If you get a plain one

to match the seat colour doesn't look too bad to.

I know I seem to be in the minority here, but having owned a skoda yeti 1.2 SE DSG for a year, I was very dissappointed with the poor ride quality( jiggy ride as mentioned on 'what car' reviews and other reviews on this site). This only seems to affect the smaller engined yetis with the larger 17" wheels. I also had problems with the turbo, which had a lag that often made it hard to control at lower speeds. I purchased the yeti after taking this out for a test drive and reading reviews here about how good the ride was. I would strongly advise you to have more test drives with this vehicle to be sure you are satisfied with these points. I would add that I had no problems with the vehicle during my year of ownership.

I have now sold the vehicle and bought one with a much more compliant ride and progressive power band. I appreciate that the yeti is classed as a 4x4, and that the vehicle was perhaps setup more for offroading, but the reviews for the high ride quality only seem to apply to certain vehicles in the range. I noticed that Richard Hammond recently gave comments on this in the Daily Mirror, again stating that you have to be careful which combination of alloy/tyre is on your vehicle as some of them can result in a choppy ride.

I didn't want to reopen the 17" v 16" debate so I didn't mention that I chose 16" wheels for my 1.2 Tsi DSG Elegance! As I've said before I drove both a 16" and a 17" shod Yeti back-to-back and TO ME the 16" ride was much more comfortable. I know others disagree but there is no doubt that shallower sidewall tyres transmit more road imperfections to the car body and hence the ride is different to deeper sidewall tyred vehicles. My Yeti is a March 2012 version and I haven't noticed any turbo lag at all, seems smooth and progressive at all speeds.

Thanks to all for the advice. As we have a £ 1k non refundable deposit on the order we are sticking with the SE plus. In addition my wife is one not to worry. She loves the car and the deal so has told me to stop worrying about it. We are going to go for a drive in a SE test at the local dealer though to see what 17" wheels are like, more as a salve to my worry than anything else. Will report back.

Also appreciate the baby sick/food advice, something I had not thought of with the fabric seats!

Thanks to all for the advice. As we have a £ 1k non refundable deposit on the order we are sticking with the SE plus. In addition my wife is one not to worry. She loves the car and the deal so has told me to stop worrying about it. We are going to go for a drive in a SE test at the local dealer though to see what 17" wheels are like, more as a salve to my worry than anything else. Will report back.

Also appreciate the baby sick/food advice, something I had not thought of with the fabric seats!

I'm sure you won't be a bit disappointed. My wife has a Roomster with the 1.2 engine (albeit with DSG) and it's an absolute jewel.

I have just changed my Yeti 140 Elegance for a 140 SE Plus so similar trim to your new one. We love it and have just returned from a trip to Austria.

Our car has 17" wheels as did the one before it. I also have a set of 16" winter wheels (steel rims and winter tyres) and to be truthful, I haven't really noticed any real difference in ride quality which I think is good.

After your Fiat 500, I'm sure you'll appreciate the high seating position and if you are concerned about lack of ESP (which I managed without for 30 years) think about the safety aspects of the multiple airbags, the high driving position which brings better visibility and the fact that your Yeti will (I think) be much more substantial than the 500.

Regarding the back seats and your youngster, a towel is a fine idea or when my son was young, we bought seat covers from Mothercare.

Another thing we found was that a disposable nappy under the cover on a child seat was great for preventing the sometimes inevitable accidents from wetting the car seat underneath the child seat.

Put the guilt behind you and prepare to enjoy a really great car! What colour will it be?

If you know the name of the ship, there is a website where you can track vessels at sea! Some might think this a bit sad but it's quite entertaining.

John

Edited 30 August, 201213 yr by jst_at_home

You could get the Autoglym lifeshine treatment or similar for the fabric to treat it so it doesn't stain or soak in, just wipes off, available via eBay or even your dealer. They also do a treatment for the outside.

Or maybe an aerosol tin of Scotchgard upholstery protector aroung £6 a can.

Or an aerosol can of Scotchgard upholstery protector ...about £6 a can.

Well ventilate after application.

Picked up the Pacific Blue 1.2 SE Plus this evening. Very pleased on the 12 mile journey home. Commute on the M20 tomorrow, and I am actually looking forward to it!!!

One issue that I am not sure is sortable, Amundsen + media unit...whoaaaa I thought DAB radio like Urban!!! Radio, settings, band no DAB function :( Instruction book Amundsen + , DAB as standard in book....no DAB....have they turned it off somehow? Anyone else had this with a new SE Plus?

Picked up the Pacific Blue 1.2 SE Plus this evening. Very pleased on the 12 mile journey home. Commute on the M20 tomorrow, and I am actually looking forward to it!!!

One issue that I am not sure is sortable, Amundsen + media unit...whoaaaa I thought DAB radio like Urban!!! Radio, settings, band no DAB function :( Instruction book Amundsen + , DAB as standard in book....no DAB....have they turned it off somehow? Anyone else had this with a new SE Plus?

You'll probably find an asterisk beside it in the manual which means where fitted. Dab is not fitted in the UK Other than the urban AFAIK. But then dab coverage is pretty iffy in so many places it's not too much of a loss in my view.

Sent from my MZ601 using Tapatalk 2

Commute was very good. Bad section where the fiat 500 used to judder on bad concrete road, no issue in the yeti in 17". That fear, so far unfounded. Really, really pleased with the feel and the 1.2 does have a bit of zip to it. Even better than my opinion, my wife seems to like it. She was very sad to pass over the fiat, but so far likes the Yeti in a cannot be unfaithful to the fiat way!