So, after about 18 months in a nice Fabia Monte Carlo Tech, 1.2tsi we are looking to upgrade. I like skodas and have driven octavias at work on and off over the years.

We have two little ones (2 and 4 years old) and feel like we want a bit more room, but not too big a car. The fabia is on Skoda pcp finance so its easier to chop in for another Skoda. We are thinking of a personal lease this time as we always change this car every two years and the lease allows us to get a much more expensive car for similar money.

I have done a lot of reading and searching for deals and if we go for a yeti, it will be the 2.0 TDI 150 Outdoor L&K with no options, other than metallic paint and probably dealer fit rear mudflaps.

It's looking like I can get one of these for around £400 deposit and 23x £200. At the moment we pay £180 a month for the fabia. So overall the payments would be about £30 more per month. I am thinking this is not a lot more money, for a lot more car.

I have got some deals together and presented my plan to the wife last night. She hasn't really seen the yeti and from the brochure she wasn't exactly excited by it. I am going to try and push it, as I think it's a good deal and the right sort of car for us at the moment.

What's your thoughts and how can I persuade her?

If you're willing to shell out for the L&K, which IMO is too expensive, you might as well get the petrol. Smaller, lighter, simpler, and by all accounts a cracking engine.

Me, if I had my time again and could have convinced the wife, it would be a 1.4TSi (150) Octavia SE L...£0 Tax, plenty room, plenty power, plenty extras (at the moment), VG mpg.

I agree the L&K is an expensive car but there are some good lease deals on it which actually means it the same price as the elegance or cheaper.

I would look at the 1.4 petrol but the diesel is cheaper on the lease.

The Octavia is too long for the wife.

Are there any reviews on the 1.4 yeti 4*4 yet?

A test drive and a good look inside and out should help to persuade her.

A test drive and a good look inside and out should help to persuade her.

I cant seem to find anywhere that had an L&K in, let alone a demonstrator of the new diesel. But yes, I will keep trying on that.

A test drive and a good look inside and out should help to persuade her.

Yep!

It's the classic case of 'never judge a book by its cover'.

As I said in another topic, dealers only have S or at max SE models to demo. My dealer had an L&K in the showroom but he would not even open the doors to show me the inside because it was ready for collection. Looking through the windows it was the brown that eventually dissuaded me and that I wanted a 1.2 engine. The 1.4TSi sounds a real nice option but its still brown interior.

I wanted a petrol 4x4 Yeti but the fact that the only available version is brown with brown leather seats made me start looking elsewhere, resulting in moving to a CR-V.

I'm not sorry as I always wanted more cargo space and the CR-V is cavernous in this respect.

Yeti pretty much dead in the water as the boot space is really quite limited especially if you have a spare wheel in... If you have two little ones with all that entails plus the enterage that SWMBO travels with then you will be forever playing with the seats to try and squish it all in... or its roofbox (and ladder) time..

Yeti pretty much dead in the water as the boot space is really quite limited especially if you have a spare wheel in... If you have two little ones with all that entails plus the enterage that SWMBO travels with then you will be forever playing with the seats to try and squish it all in... or its roofbox (and ladder) time..

Just had a look at the boot dimensions of the Yeti compared to the fabia and it seems the Yeti is bigger even with seats in place? If that's fine, that's OK. We can generally manage with the fabia boot, its just the odd now and again we need a bit more room.

I dropped boot space wise quite dramatically as it turns out from a FLII Octy to Yeti.( Octy had false floor from an estate that fitted the hatch )

 

As human beings we can be adaptable when faced with boot space challenges   & even with a spare wheel taking up some depth, the  fold / tilt / removability of the 3 rear seats can create a surprising amount of additional space, even the small middle one.

 

I have the false floor on top of the spare wheel & investigated removing it when i did 4 adults to Oktoberfest last year with luggage, on looking at removing, this is quite tricky as there are star head screws in some quite awkward spaces & while the floor is sturdy in position, it feels like you couldn't manhandle too much before you damaged it. In the end we managed without having to remove it, just left parcel shelf out.

Now the Octavia false floor is even simpler than an IKEA flat pack to install & remove.

Daughter has a '62 Fab and she seemed to get far more in to her boot that we ever did with the Yeti.. which seemed to take the one big suitcase and the rest just fitted around it.. but I did have a full sized spare wheel and looking to pull the load cover across. Many times we would drop a seat or remove it for more space.

 

It is IMPO the achilles heel and the soon as Skoda get a Yeti plus into the market I'll be down the dealers..

 

Wasn't trying to put you off and if you can fit into a Yeti - go for it, the drive is IMPO miles better than the Fab and far more engaging than the Superb...( excepting long distance trips..)

If you ask enough people I'm sure you will get a lot of reasons not to have a Yeti - comparing specs will tell you that there are cars out there that are more frugal with fuel, have lower VED, more space in the boot, are more refined, have more toys as standard and, let's face it, better looking (although they do say beauty is in the eye of the beholder).

 

But there aren't many cars where you come back from a test drive with a big smile on your face and that smile is still there pretty much every time you drive it two years later; at least that's been my experience. And it is a past Car of the Year but perhaps more importantly even Jeremy Clarkson finally had to give in and admit there was a lot to like.

 

 If you've not done it yet, take the wife and yourself of for a decent test drive - sometimes the heart needs to rule the head!

 

(Before I ordered mine I test drove the Mk 2 Octavia and the Yeti back-to-back. I ordered the Yeti despite at the time it being the best part of £5,000 dearer but I've never regretted it - and it was my own money!).

Christopher Robin loved driving it and there was plenty of room for Pooh Piglet and Eeyore in the back seat.........

Well I'm am that age, forgive me for drifting off.

Agent x20 has made some great points. If boot space is important, and it is with kids,take some bags equivalent to your usual load down to the dealer and see if they fit. We managed with 2 a dull plus one kid but we removed all shelf and packed vertically.

Christmas trips to northern Ireland were always anxious to see what size presents he received and whether we could fit them in for the return trip.

 to see what size presents we received and whether we could fit them in for the return trip.

 

Never had that problem... 

Well he's 8 with lots of aunties, uncles, cousins eyc

Thanks all. Some good points.

We are going to have a good look and test drive, but I think it will be fine. Got the deal on a new L&K ready to go, just need to choose a colour!

Only sticking point at the moment is trading in the fabia. Need to get a trade in value to cover the PCP settlement. Got some offers to do that, but our preferred more local dealers are not committing just yet.

Which satnav system comes on the new MY16 L&K? And does it display stuff like parking sensor info, climate control stuff etc? Or is it just the audio and satnav stuff it shows?

Which satnav system comes on the new MY16 L&K? And does it display stuff like parking sensor info, climate control stuff etc? Or is it just the audio and satnav stuff it shows?

 

the new 6.5 inch amundsen  

Christopher Robin loved driving it and there was plenty of room for Pooh Piglet and Eeyore in the back seat........

 

Looks like someone's got the inside track on the new co-presenters of Top Gear.

the new 6.5 inch amundsen

Thanks. Does that show up things like the climate control?

The old one did so I imagine that the new one will as well as having smartlink capability