Yeti OEM Roof Bars with OEM bike holder (Thule 532)

Went into my local Skoda dealer in Norwich to get a realistic price for the OEM Yeti roof rail cross bars KLAS630001 and three bicycle holders part number LBT009003A that were priced at £72.00 each.

Having stated in my email to the company and spoken on the phone that I had looked at Thule fittings they dropped the price for the complete set for me. Placed the order and within a few days drove to the dealer and picked up the parts.

Nice finished Yeti roof bars but when the bike holders turned up they were the standard Thule 532 boxes I could have crossed the road to Halfords to buy?

Plus they can be bought for around £40.00 each for three off.

Very annoyed at this having pointed out that I was prepared to pay more for a genuine Skoda item and had already looked at the Thule prices. At no time did they point out that they were supplying bog standard Thule fittings to me at a higher price having been sent an email stating that I had checked Thule fittings.

The Skoda accessory booklet showed a photo of a single upright support for the bikes.

Not impressed with Skoda supplying Thule fittings and not even commenting on the fact that they were nothing to do with Skoda OEM parts but were a standard item from any good accessory shop.

FlyingBrick

Have you raised this with SUK?

Should have asked on here first bor, we'd have told you!

More likely the dealer made the switch.

Why don't you return then for a refund under the guise that they're not what you ordered??

Ah, I see your point now. I also bought my cycle carriers from a Skoda dealer, but they supplied the Thule 591 (the single upright support type in the brochure) rather than the 532 you have been offered. Either way you're going to get a Thule unit - Skoda don't make their own.

Hi Bobdog

Out of interest do you know what they charged you for the Thule 591 system as the MRP is around £92.00 each and on the internet £65.00 each? I will need three off as they are a better design than the Thule 532 which came from Skoda.

I will try returning the Thule 532 units as they never pointed out that Skoda only provide Thule bike holders and not the usual OEM product that you always pay more for.

Having discussed Thule on the phone and in my email to Skoda pointed out the same item, at no time did they tell me that they only provide Thule units and that Skoda UK do not have anything specially made for the Yeti.

Also when I went to the showroom the salesman told me he had a pair of bars and bike holders on his own Yeti which did a great job and very sturdy. Should have recorded the conversation that took place.

Well the misses is better at arguing our point so hopefully she will drive down there with the three boxes and see what can be done. If Skoda UK has these parts as official numbers on their accessory list then why don’t they point out the make being sold to the customer?

FlyingBrick

Hi Bobdog

Out of interest do you know what they charged you for the Thule 591 system as the MRP is around £92.00 each and on the internet £65.00 each? I will need three off as they are a better design than the Thule 532 which came from Skoda.

I will try returning the Thule 532 units as they never pointed out that Skoda only provide Thule bike holders and not the usual OEM product that you always pay more for.

Having discussed Thule on the phone and in my email to Skoda pointed out the same item, at no time did they tell me that they only provide Thule units and that Skoda UK do not have anything specially made for the Yeti.

Also when I went to the showroom the salesman told me he had a pair of bars and bike holders on his own Yeti which did a great job and very sturdy. Should have recorded the conversation that took place.

Well the misses is better at arguing our point so hopefully she will drive down there with the three boxes and see what can be done. If Skoda UK has these parts as official numbers on their accessory list then why don’t they point out the make being sold to the customer?

FlyingBrick

Even if was the "OEM" version the only difference would have been that Thule would printed "Skoda" instead of Thule on it and sent it out in a different box.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Hi Flying Brick, I'm sorry but I'm crap at remembering what I paid for things even recently, and I've had the bike carriers for a couple of years now. They are good though - I'm pleased with them.

Back to the dealer and the misses returned the three Thule 532 bike carriers back to the Skoda dealer the next day without any problem. They put a refund on the card and we kept just the cross bars designed for the Yeti. No problem with the local Norwich dealer. Thank you sales dept.

Now looking for the Thule 591’s as they look better and waiting for Ford online to come up with the goods soon as they are back in stock or Sandicliffe which seem to be giving the best prices at the moment.

Read the manual on the bars and used a high quality torque wrench set to 4 Nm to tighten the bolts onto the rails instead of feeling by hand.

Just my luck to have the Halfords torx T15 snap inside the bolt just as I got to 4 Nm.

Well the bolt is in and would have to use pliers or a wrench to gouge the cone shape if I need to take the bolt out, so much for using a torque wrench on the bolts.

FlyingBrick