Just noticed I've got a finger nail sized bubble on my lower drivers door. I've already had my rears resprayed and protective foils fitted as a goodwill gesture. I've read some scary stuff from owners with rapidly rusting doors that even resprays can't cure. I suppose the 10 yr perforation warranty won't cover it. I've only had the car 14 months and i'm starting to think I should have kept my previous car. I'm worried now that maybe I should get rid soon.

I've been hunting around online trying to find out as much as I can about the Skoda Yeti as I'm pretty sure I would like to buy a Skoda Yeti Elegance.

 

But I've come across various people complaining about the paintwork like it chips easily or there is paint blisters caused by the galvanising process before the body is painted

 

Is this a few one offs or is it a general problem with the yeti paintwork.

 

Opinions please 

Mine is 3 year old and no problems with the paint.

The only problem I have is a bit of gravel rash around the rear door wheel arches where door foils were never applied. But it's still not broke the paint. Wear and tear if you ask me.

It's most likely a problem with the very early yeti's which mine is. I also have the odd little chip where you can see the off white primer underneath. I'd say buy the latest yeti you can afford then you're less likely to have this issue. When I bought mine it was the only 1.2 available at the time. Trouble is I bought it outright. My replacement will have to be financed.

Same as Dinski, well pleased with the paintwork!

I too have very early Yeti (2009), no problems here

I think the problem is that you do not get people on forums starting topics on how brilliant and blemish free their cars are, they normally are here if they have a problem.

As stated it might have been a problem with early Yeti's but I'm on my second one and no problems here.

Yeah, well it is only the one bubble I've seen so it's not the end of the world I suppose. I just want it to be in good order for when it comes to trade in, in the future.

Mine is a mid-2012 and had the blister issue, just fixed under warranty last week (though appeared last September). Nothing to do with wear and tear in this case - it was blistering under unbroken paintwork.

Seems to be 2 topics running on this issue - could they not be combined into one?

Does anyone know:

 

1  When this problem first surfaced

 

and

 

2  When (if ever) Skoda resolved it

 

 

[Edit:  Possibly around July 2010 (?) for the first question on the basis of the following post:

 

Warning to all Skoda Yeti owners .You're new pride and joy which cost you 15000- 23000 will have paint chips on both rear passenger doors within weeks and that's with mud guards dealer fitted, itcould be worse. The chipping is at the bottom of the rear doors. Skoda know there is problem because they have a film available as part of their protection pack for off roading. This film should have been put on all yeti's as standard to stop chipping in normal use.I have been to my dealer who was very helpful Thomson & Potter who by chance had brought in this film for another stone chip customer. Phoned Skoda service but told it was not a recognised problem come on Skoda who are you trying to kid ? . Skoda do the decent thing get the dealers to contact there customers and fit the film. Don't ruin you're good reputation for such a small item.

 

But what about the second question?]

Edited 23 February, 201412 yr by docc

I,ve just done a search and it appears you are correct on the time of the first posting of this issue. It does seem to raise it,s ugly head from time to time, but as you read the threads relating to this subject it appears that Skoda UK take an individual approach to each case as and when they are brought up.It does seem as though Skoda appear to sweep this issue under the carpet and do not want to issue a general recall on this issue.

Tony

It's most likely a problem with the very early yeti's which mine is.

 

I've not had problems with bubbling paint on my 2010 Elegance.  Yours is late 2009 I think?

 

I did get stone chips to the forward flare of the rear wheel arches and Skoda UK agreed to get those re-sprayed and foils fitted.  AFAIK they started to fit the foils as standard from new on all specs some time in 2011 (eg this post - I'm sure there are others).  Note that, although my wheel arches did show stone damage, there was no sign of the paintwork or bodywork deteriorating eg bubbling as a result - although I'm fairly sure it would have done if I hadn't been been keeping an eye on the bodywork for precisely that problem. 

 

I think it is important to distinguish between two issues:

(1) The non-fitment of foils to the rear wheel arches on early models, which didn't necessarily result in deterioration of the finish apart from impact damage.  This issue is what docc's posting is referring to, and what happened to me.

(2) Paintwork problems occurring elsewhere on the vehicle, which might be due to damage or might be due to poor manufacturing process.  There are threads on here about other owners experiencing this eg this one.  It's worthwhile reading the whole of that thread.  There's a suggestion that it's a VAG-wide problem, but also that lots of different manufacturers are affected.  There's criticism of modern, water-based automative paints, and a reference to 'zinc inclusions' whatever those might be.  I've no idea whether any of these are valid, but there does seem to be general support for the idea that the problem occurs on vehicles other than just Yetis.

 

Because of its location on the vehicle, it's not clear whether Andy's problem is one or the other or possibly even a combination of the two.

Edited 23 February, 201412 yr by ejstubbs

Sorry to have to break this news to everybody, but I have blisters on all four doors, above and below protector strips, some already rusting, some unbroken. Alas, car is over 3 years old (by four months). Skoda at the moment are not accepting any responsibility, and customer services are not replying to e-mails. All I can say is, based on my experience, don't get a Yeti, unless you are prepared for the re-sale value to drop through the floor, or rather through the panels! 

Photos or it hasn't happened.... :|

Sorry about lack of photos... inexperienced newbie!

 

Hope the link below works - there are three photos.

 

http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/chocomad/media/20140605_091809_zps8d497dd5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

Feedback would be very welcome.

 

Thanks

Your link only takes you to 1 photo.

 

If you clic on the icon that looks like 2 chain links and then go to the bottom line of the screen that comes up, that line should blank out, then you just right "clic and paste" the link in a new posting.

Sorry to have to break this news to everybody, but I have blisters on all four doors, above and below protector strips, some already rusting, some unbroken. Alas, car is over 3 years old (by four months). Skoda at the moment are not accepting any responsibility, and customer services are not replying to e-mails. All I can say is, based on my experience, don't get a Yeti, unless you are prepared for the re-sale value to drop through the floor, or rather through the panels! 

It is certainly not something that affected all Yeti's as I had a '59 plate (now traded in for the current one) which was 100% blemish free apart from some minor scratches on the drivers door near the door handle from the previous owner.

 

So to say "don't get a Yeti, unless you are prepared for the re-sale value to drop through the floor, or rather through the panels" is a bit extreme.

Sorry about lack of photos... inexperienced newbie!

 

Hope the link below works - there are three photos.

 

http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/chocomad/media/20140605_091809_zps8d497dd5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

Feedback would be very welcome.

 

Thanks

 

Looks very similar to the blisters on my offside front door - pretty much the same distance from the rubbing strip too. When I initially reported it to the dealer there was just the one blister that had just started to crack. When it went in for repair a second, and what looked like a third had shown up. There was no quibble at the dealers; they had seen it before and pushed it straight through to Skoda UK for approval.

 

It wasn't all sweetness and light though. I wasn't impressed with the quality of the repair work, which looked like it had been finished off with a brillo pad. Depending on the angle you see it at, you can tell it's a different shade on the lower door :( Fortunately ChrisRS (now a sponsor on here) was able to sort the poor finish out, even if the colour remains the same (different) colour! Corrected paintwork is on the left, and as the VW body shop had done it on the right

 

Sorry about lack of photos... inexperienced newbie!

 

Hope the link below works - there are three photos.

 

http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/chocomad/media/20140605_091809_zps8d497dd5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

Feedback would be very welcome.

 

Thanks

Thank you...

Thanks, Llanigraham, for the advice of how to download more than one photo. Hope this now works.

 

http://s1259.photobucket.com/user/chocomad/media/20140605_091809_zps8d497dd5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

 

Sorry if I come across as extreme... I used the words 'based on my experience'... my experience being that when I took the vehicle back to the dealer, it was reported that that mine was not an isolated problem, that they had seen other vehicles with a similar problem, and that, since the other cars were still under 3 years old, they had been repaired. Unfortunately mine is over 3 years old and Skoda are so far saying that it is not 'a corrosion from within problem'. I am only a layman but when I see bubbling with no break, be it very small at this stage, I can't help feeling the way I do. Sorry . If you look on other forum sites, others have had the same problem.

 

Any advice on how I can get this problem would be much appreciated. Thank you.

To Whom It May Concern,,,ANY Yeti with ANY corrosion problems.

 

Take the vehicle back to the dealer (any dealer) lead the Manager to the catalogues section, pick out the Yeti Brochure and flip to page 49 (Customer Service section)....point at the Warranty, second pargraph...

 

and for the additional peace of mind there's a 12 year body protection warranty.

As has been found in the past, there is doubt whether this is a corrosion problem, and I think that others have been told that it is caused by a chemical reaction with the zinc primer used. How that fits in the the Skoda warranty, I'm not sure.

 

I washed mine the other day and note that I have 2 sections down to the white primer on one rear door, and another 2 black sections on the other, one of which is underneath the vinyl stone guard. Both doors have been resprayed by Skoda under warranty in the past when I complained that my car didn't have thew door foils fitted. Now I've got to decide whether it is driving a round trip of 160 miles to my nearest dealer to see what they say about it.

I have small bubbles on my left rear door. No damage from the outside, it comes from within.

The car is 2 years old.

I will take it to the dealer next week.

The warranty does not mention corrosion...it says 12 year body protection.

 

The paint and its underlying layers are the bodyworks protection.