Long time lurker just signed up and posting to say thanks to you folks.

The thanks are to numerous members here who have (unknowingly):

- encouraged me to go ahread and actually buy a Yeti

- given me ideas and tips to modify said Yeti

A bit of history: I spotted a Yeti for the first time maybe August 2012 - and all I really saw was the name badge. Intrigued by the (what I then thought was a stupid) name I googled it and learnt about the car properly... reading many good reviews and also discovering this site and reading of the tremendous enthusiasm for the Yeti shown by the members/owners here. Since then I have lurked a great deal, reading with interest various threads and members' experiences and their Yeti modifications. And oh, I also got to like the name "Yeti".

Encouraged by the good reviews and the enthusiasm here, I ordered one at the beginning of October. Candy white 1.4TSI SE + a few factory fitted options (ESP, spare wheel kit, fold flat passenger seat, lumbar support, floor mats). I finally picked up the car early Feb 2013.

While I was waiting I was impressed by some of the modifications that some members have made (and had generously shared) here... and I unashamedly nicked a couple of those ideas - so, a belated thank you to you folks for sharing those ideas and "how to" tips.

Also while waiting, I ordered (and received) several "new bits" for the Yeti: Citigo badges (both front and rear), some PlastiDip spray, wheel-arch extensions (and glue), front and back mudflaps (encouraged by suggestions I read here that the front mud-flaps can indeed be modified and made to fit with the wheel-arch extensions, thank you) and finally a set of replacement alloy wheels (Dezent V dark).

I originally attempted to pursuade the dealer / SUK to let me "upgrade" (at extra cost to me) to Matterhorns but - as many have found here - that was a no go, so ended up buying something third party. I am pretty pleased with the result... but am now left with a set 17" Dolomite alloys (with ~150 miles on them).

The Yeti arrived for pick up at my local dealer beginning Feb - but at the time I was recovering from a serious illness and being looked after by my brother and SiL (some 120 miles distant).. so we made the trip to pick up the car and then headed back to his home. Luckily for me he has both a drive-way and a garage (neither of which I have) and so I was able to make use of those facilities to make the modifications I wanted to do (some learnt from this forum). My brother kindly helped me with the mods - particularly the wheel-arch extensions.

If I am able to post a link to a Picasa album, you can see the results here: http://picasaweb.goo...nt.studioj/Yeti

The first six pictures are "before and after" shots, showing the Yeti as stock and after modifications. From the 7th picture on are some shots of the Yeti just back from a local detailer where I opted to have some special coating applied. This is the first brand-new car I have ever owned so I thought I'd at least try to take a bit of care of it. That'll likely be the cleanest it will ever be, mind.

If any one is interested, the rear badge is a Citigo rear (flat) badge mounted upon a plastic disc (~108mm) that I fashioned from the lid of a plastic jar of pistachios. Yes, it sounds a bit gash but I was surprised how well it turned out after I tried it - I'm not sure how well it comes out in the pictures. I am happy to provide more details if anyone is interested in replicating it.

I am still getting used to the Yeti - quite a change coming from a rather shabby Volvo 850 estate which I drove for 16 years. I will miss the vast load space of course, but I'll just have to adjust. I haven't done much mileage yet (my work commute is quite short) and no way yet explored all the Yeti's features (and failings) but the Yeti seems like a great car so far.

My only big niggle is the deeply irritating way that water can cascade into the car when opening the doors or windows on a rainy day.

I do have another niggle which I'd like to ask your advice on, it is that the driver's footwell (at least) seems to take forever to get warm - even well after there is plenty of warm air blowing from other outlets. Suspecting it might be sensor related (are there temperature sensors?) I now just set the heat setting to "max" (which I assume is uncontrolled max heat) and pump all air downwards, but on a cold day my legs are still feeling chilly even by the time I get to work some 12miles mixed urban/motorway. It's just possible that it's because I am particularly sensitive to cold but it was never a problem with the Volvo. I wondered if this is a known problem with the Yeti or whether I should chase it up further with the dealer (I did take it in to query it but they just said to "keep an eye on it" - without even taking a cursory look at the car, which didn't impress me much, tbh).

Another question, if I may. I now have an unwanted set of 4 17" Dolomite wheels (not tyres). They have delivery mileage + a single trip of 120miles so should be nearly as good as new. Is there a market for these? And what might be a reasonable price to ask (for a quick sale)? Thanks in advance.

Apologies for the length of this post.

Anyway, I'd like to thank you folks for your (unknowing) encouragement and especially to the folks who shared the ideas and tips that I benefitted from. Thank you.

Jont

Nice photo's - like the black grille surround, is it painted or wrapped? Also the rear de-badged (with the all back Skoda emblem) looks nice imo. ;-)

Volvo 850s have very effective heaters. Your 1.4 will warm up a great deal more quickly than the diesel-powered Yetis, but heat to the footwell is not the Yeti's strong point. I've found the quickest way of getting good strong heat is to turn off (or to minimum) any ventilation until the engine coolant is at 90deg C, then turn it up. My 1.2 takes about 2-3 miles to get to 90 deg C this way.

What a great first post! And WELCOME,

I think I'm speaking for all, there! We love nice photos too. Your Monster looks superb, and those wheels..........

And though I haven't contributed much to the intellectual property contained in this forum, I CAN say that you're right - the knowledge and enthusiasm really IS motivating.

Keep going, and join in the fun.

Thanks, Steph64

like the black grille surround, is it painted or wrapped?

Both the "top lip" and the lower "grille surround" were spray (can) painted with six coats of PlastiDip (which I'd never used before).

The "top lip" was removed from the car (because it was easy) and sprayed separately with just minor masking for the mounting clips and the patch where the badge was to adhere.

The lower "grille surround" was sprayed in situ, with fairly rough masking of the surrounding bodywork and grill etc. Fairly generous overspray regions were left either side of the "chrome" being sprayed - meaning that the spray also gets onto the grill edge a few millimetres and onto the bodywork, say, an inch - this then easily peels cleanly off when removing the masking - automatically breaking at the joint between the paintwork and the "chrome".

Sorry, very difficult to describe but if you stick "PlastiDip" into google or YouTube you'll get a better idea. In this way one does not have to spend forever masking up very accurately - but I admit it did take a lot of courage to put trust in the technique and spray onto the paintwork of my brand new car!

When I came to demask I found I had some slight bubbling/lifting of the PlastiDip at the back edge of the bottom centre section of the grill surround where it nearly meets the grill - this was caused by there having been some residual water trapped between the two when I did the spraying (that I hadn't noticed). I couldn't be bothered to peel it all off, re-mask and do it all again so I just touched it up with a fine brush to seal it off - it's not perfect but you can't see it from a distance (though you can just make it out in the pictures). I can always do it all again another time if I feel the need.

The amazing thing about this PlastiDip stuff (no, I'm not affiliated, honest) is that you can peel it off any time you like if you don't like it or if it gets damaged - leaving the original surface as new.

Thanks again,

jont

Thanks for your reply and advice, Zib.

... but heat to the footwell is not the Yeti's strong point.

< sulk >

I've found the quickest way of getting good strong heat is to turn off (or to minimum) any ventilation until the engine coolant is at 90deg C, then turn it up. My 1.2 takes about 2-3 miles to get to 90 deg C this way.

Ok, thanks for that, I will give it a go. But I fear it may not help me as after a couple of miles I *do* have nice warm air available - it just doesn't seem to be filling the footwell much. Hey ho, I shall persevere and experiment a bit more. Cheers.

jont

What a great first post! And WELCOME,

Thank you both for the compliment and for the welcome, Freshacre.

Maybe the little tid-bits of information in my posts here will go a little way towards repaying other peoples' generosity.

jont

Volvo 850s have very effective heaters. Your 1.4 will warm up a great deal more quickly than the diesel-powered Yetis, but heat to the footwell is not the Yeti's strong point. I've found the quickest way of getting good strong heat is to turn off (or to minimum) any ventilation until the engine coolant is at 90deg C, then turn it up. My 1.2 takes about 2-3 miles to get to 90 deg C this way.

Err this is why I chose the heated seats option on my second Yeti ;-)

I was freezing all the way into work most winter days ;-(

JeZ

Welcome Jont.....Great posting. I really like the black grill surrounds.

Let us know how you get on with the 1.4 TSI.

It's favourite for my next Yeti.I'm hoping for the new 140 bhp with cylinder shutoff ,as in the new Octavia III.

I think I might have to wait for the Yeti II as I don't think it'll be in the facelift.

Very impressed with the rear badge, have you doctored it in any way or was it a simple stick-on job?

Great post! Really like the look of your car as well.

As to the wheels and tyres: you need to be a Freedom member to sell things on the forum. There is a special section for that.

Nice posting and welcome to the Forum

Like the grille, but not struck on the wheels, but that is because they wouldn't suit my useage.

And can I ask a favour? Currently your "Location" is just shown as UK. It is nice for us to know where people are, so could you change it to a town or county?

Thanks, BobbyG79

Very impressed with the rear badge, have you doctored it in any way or was it a simple stick-on job?

I removed the three little plastic location lugs from the reverse face of the (rear) Citigo badge to save me the bother of having to locate and drill holes in the disc that I fashioned.

The Citigo badge is stuck to the disc with its pre-attached foam sticky and the disc is in turn stuck to the car with a ring of thin sticky pads at the outer edge of the disc.

The disc is ever-so slightly concaved on the reverse face (and similarly convex on the front face) and there is also a rear (paint) facing ridge/step of about 1mm wide x 1mm deep at the outer edge so that the very edge of the disc nearly touches the paint and hides the sticky pads.

This ridge was preformed on the original jar lid but I did have to shave its depth a bit as it originally stepped slightly deeper than the thickness of the sticky pad material I had. Sorry if that's a confusing description.

Thanks too to bilun777, 900000 & Llanigraham (Ok, I have now narrowed my location (a bit!))

jont

Cheers, Jon.

I like that rear badge more than the PastyBoy ones.

Thanks for revising your profile, Jon. I'm pleased to see that we are near-ish (!) neighbours - quite adequate information on a public forum.

Oh, and welcome from me, too !