Well it seems I will not be buying a Yeti L&K.

I had asked if I could have one in red, a standard Yeti colour not available on the L&K which was referred to Skoda UK.

The answer came back that the factory says no.

Now, do I believe that or is it Skoda UK telling porkie pies?

1) In Germany you can buy an L&K in Red. Although it is a few hundred euro extra as an optional colour.

2) LHD and RHD come down the same production line.

3) It's just a regular Yeti shell with the sunroof hole.

4) They all come down the same production line and through the paint area, like my wife's Elegance that is red and has a sunroof.

Answers on a postcard...

... but I am left thinking Skoda UK don't want to do it, even though it's a fairly simple request.

I'm not going to rant on about buying eight Skodas in the last two years, but it would be nice if a fairly simple request could be allowed, it is a UK stock colour.

Shame.

It is, indeed, ridiculous. If a colour, or an option, is available from a manufacturer and a customer is willing to pay for it, then it should be made available. That is a simple, first principle of business.

If it is available in Germany with the same type of interior as well then i can see no reason for it at all.

Does the L&K leather vary in germany at all?

I know a lot of car companies are really funny about top end models and body "colours" that have to go with certain interior trims.

That is the only possible, weak, explanation i can come up with.

I agree. Ridiculous situation! Same shell, with equipment thats available on the other models anyway - theres nothing special about it. It should be available in the full range of colours that the Elegance etc are.

I say its a SUK decision. Well, it has to be as the Germans have no problem with the factory producing them like that!

You can now order any spec of Octavia in Race Blue, its no longer reserved for just the VRS - the opposite to your colour issue - but equally, a big mistake imo!

have you tried asking a German dealer if they will do you one, but in RHD ?

have you tried asking a German dealer if they will do you one, but in RHD ?

A very good idea-some of the grey brokers from the 90's are still around and in business just because of this kind of inflexibility.

If dealers here begin to lose some high end deals they will soon lean on SUK.

You'd be better off going to the dealer/factory/Skoda HQ in Mladá Boleslav and ordering a RHD straight from them.

I've never really understood why Skoda UK limit what you can and can't have. A quick check on the Skoda Auto site shows what you can really have.

I imported 2 out of my 3 Skodas from Ireland precisely for SUK's "market setting" decisions like that. And (unintentionally) also saved money as import worked out less expensive for higher spec.

It is bad enough to be sold overpriced Skodas in the UK when compared to most of Europe, but if they are overpriced and on top of that the freedom of choice is limited, then an import is a no brainer.

I am still waiting for Rough Road Package to be available as option on all cars in SUK range... not just the Yeti.

Or try a dealer in the British Forces area of Germany. They will speak good English and be familiar with ordering RHD cars and UK specs.

But have you thought about Warranty if an import. many UK dealers will not touch a grey import and some are reluctant with

those sourced through the overseas Skoda network.

Speaking from repeated experience, the car is not registered as an import in the UK, it is registered exactly the same as a UK purchased car as long as:

• you buy the car in the EU,
  
• you get exact UK specification, ie same engine / brakes / electric windows and so on, speedo in miles, RHD, just more toys/different colour,
  
• you get the Certificate of Conformity (CoC) from the dealership you get the car from.
  

And Skoda offers the standard 2 years Europe wide warranty or whatever it is now.

I did use warranty on the Mk1 Octavia, no problems other than trying to find the car on the UK system, took a call to and a fax from Skoda UK. If a dealer is making a problem, complain to Skoda UK, if they shun you, take it to Skoda Auto Czech Republic, it's just 1 email. Remember that Skoda warranty has to cover you when you are on a holiday trip abroad too, from Skoda Auto point of view it makes no difference where you bought the car.

Having said all that, a quite a few people (and unscrupulous salesmen) import cars which differ quite badly with specification, e.g. lack rear electric windows, have sub-par brakes, or engines that are not even sold in a particular country. Good luck registering these as UK spec with DVLA. Once it is registered as import, you will have a lot more trouble.

The easiest way (in terms of requirements) to import the car to UK is from Ireland, you just need to spec it up with all options you want, plus all options that are already there on equivalent trim in the UK, then make sure you get CoC and speedometer in miles not kilometers., then a ferry trip back (keep the ticket for VAT man), some nice drive to run the engine in, and a visit to DVLA plus fax back to original dealer to recover Irish VAT, that's it .

You can get the cars cheaper from other countries, but you also need to be a lot more careful about requirements there.

I go with it being an SUK block as they tried with 16" alloys. Would contact Skoda Auto (manufacturer) in Malda directly to see what they say.

Have two e-mail addresses for them although I'm not sure if there still current/active; PM will be sent.

Have read of a German customer somewhere on this forum, getting support and help from Skoda Germany to have built a Fabia Scout (I think) in rally green, which normally is not an option for that trim anywhere. Total opposite of SUK who seem to hate having customers, particularly whose tastes differ from their own.

TP