Went into a Skoda-approved garage today to address a couple of issues with my 2-week-old Yeti. Both of these were identified within the first couple of days of ownership and were -of course- covered under warranty.

1. Steering wheel alignment was slightly off, with dead centre needing a couple of degrees of steering angle. This was so slight that I could only be sure about it after driving on a long, flat straight on the highway and was barely perceptible around town, but was confirmed by the garage.

2. The upholstery panel on the passenger-side rear door had not been properly mounted at the factory. The panel was sticking out, leaving a gap between the panel and the door through which I could see that the white plastic studs that clip it to the door were not fitting in the holes in the metal.

Everything was fixed with no questions asked, but before leaving the mechanic also suggested that I do an oil and oil filter change after the first couple thousand kilometers to clear out any metal filings that may have made their way into the oil due to the engine being new. This definitely used to be the case with some of the older cars I have owned when manufacturing tolerances were not yet what they are now, but as it isn't part of the service schedule suggested by the manufacturer I was wondering what your views are on this. Is it a case of "better safe than sorry" or just the garage trying to generate some business for themselves?

George

Certainly new engines are much cleaner internally now than they used to be, and the tolerances are much, much better and more consistent.

An oil change, with the correct oil may not hurt, but not sure if it will do much good either.

Most manufacturers have a dedicated first fill high detergent and anti scuff oil which promotes bedding in, and if this process is not complete before you go to the normal recommended grade of synthetic then components like rings may not bed in properly or cams and followers may scuff.

There seems to be increasing awareness of the occasional lack of accuracy in the vehicle alignment from the factory. An offset in the steering could be a symptom of that. If the garage did a proper 4 wheel lazer alignment then fine, but it is possible to just extend one side track rod and shorten the other to centralise the steering wheel, this is not so good.

The positive benefit to handling and fuel consumption, noticed by me and reported by others, would suggest money is better spent here, unless as is hoped, the garage did it properly.

I had the same problem with the steering wheel alignmenet, I specced the 3 spoke wheel, took it to the dealers who looked at it, took the Yeti out for a spin (don't think they had ever seen the 170hp version at that time) and returned the car saying they had fixed it, which of course they hadn't. I have lived with it ever since as it is very slight and on keeping a check on tyre wear I know it is the steering wheel that is about 1-2 degrees out and not tracking.

To me the s/wheel need removed and reposition correctly.

Edited 29 January, 201313 yr by servicepoint

Removing the steering wheel and repositioning it is quite a coarse adjustment, as shifting by even one spline is likely to result in about 8 or 10 degrees of movement. It's unlikely the factory have got it wrong by that amount. There should be no problem in principle doing a fine adjustment of slightly misaligned steering by shortening one steering arm and lengthening the other - the amount of movement needed is tiny. However, for complete peace of mind a 4 wheel alignment check by someone who knows what they are doing is probably a good idea to make sure this is the only thing wrong.

Thanks to all for your input. I will be monitoring tyre wear and will probably also take the car in for a proper alignment as soon as I have the time. As for the oil, I'll wait a little while longer to make sure everything has bedded in properly as nickguzzi suggests and probably take it for an oil change before the summer and the really high temperatures that we get just to be safe.