Hi, 

 

I'm new to the forum and to Skoda.  I'm currently running around in a supercharged Golf R32, which has served as our family car for the last 2 years.

 

Because I cycle to work and now do fewer business miles, it's my wife who mainly drives the car.  Equally, our kids (3 & 5) are at an age where space, trim durability and features like tables and pan roof would be popular.  Neither care about performance, but my wife really wants a compact car and not a proper off-roader.  I'm ready to give in to their demands and go cold turkey on performance cars, which I basically can't use with my family-man lifestyle anyway.    

 

Perhaps I shouldn't surprised to find that the Yeti is coming out as the main contender - but I am, a little! :peek:   The main alternatives at this stage look to be a Golf SV and BMW 2-Series Active Tourer, which would have to be a lot better on closer inspection to compete against the Yeti's value for money.  I can afford a more expensive car, but there's something very appealing about a Yeti!  

 

Spec-wise: I'd prefer petrol, leather, non-polished alloys (they'll need refurbing when my wife kerbs them) and pan roof.  

 

I'm going to have a closer look at a Yeti, but can already see some questions: 

 

1) Yeti urban or Outdoor?  I prefer the look of the urban model, but see that it's only available with lower power engines if I want leather.  Is the 1.2 TSI any good?  I tried this with the DSG 'box on an A3 some years ago and was quite impressed.  It seems, however, that there are some stonking deals on the latest L&K TDI 150 4x4 models - perfect, apart from the bling wheels.  

 

2) Parking / around town: What's a Yeti like to park?  We live in a congested city centre, so compact dimensions and ease of parking are must for my wife.  

 

3) PCP or lease:  There are some very attractive lease deals, but equally there seem to be plenty of dealers / brokers willing to offer a discount and Skoda's 0% PCP.  Any advice or experience would be welcome.   

 

Thanks in advance.  

1) I'm not up to date with current options but have read enough to think the 1.2 may be alright.

2) easy peasy even I can park a Yeti

3) entirely a personal decision depending on your means-I have a PCP as it suits me.

Personally I recon it's the perfect town car with a brilliant turning circle, vision and if a lot of cold start short runs with no need for towing petrol would be best.....it's never going to win any fashion awards though but removable rear seats more than offset that for me.

It's a Swiss knife.

Edited 11 August, 201510 yr by Ryeman

ive a yeti 1.2 dsg and its great for the kids. they can see out of the windows and climb all over it and haven't broken anything yet. The 1.2 engine is surprisingly good but if you are used to driving a R32 its going to feel VERY slow along with most other yeti engines. The Yeti is easy to park, its boxy with great viability and slightly smaller than a golf on the outside. It feels light and nimble around town. I love the dsg gearbox most of the time and regret not having steering wheel paddles. When accelerating hard the gearbox hangs onto the gears to the red line which just makes a lot of noise and doesn't seem to accelerate any faster than changing at 5000rpm. There are some great deals, I used a broker and enjoyed the experience. I think the deals will get better as the time when the Mk2 yeti release approaches.

Thanks for the input so far.

 

Any Yeti is going to feel a "bit" slower than a 350+hp R32, although that needs to be balanced against the fact that I rarely use all of that.  That's why I'd also be interested in the 150hp 1.4 TSI and 2.0 TDIs (available in 4x4 Outdoor L&K spec).  It's just a matter of whether 110hp is going to be a step too far.

 

The more pressing issues for me at the moment are comfort; practicality; durability and carrying capacity.  I don't really care about running costs, but I don't want to be constantly fretting about the kids' mess, not the potential for minor scuffs and scratches!  I imagine it may also take some time to sell my current car, as it's not quite the sort of thing that I could part-ex or drop off at webuyanycar.  

 

I've got a day off with my 5-year-old girl tomorrow, so will drop-in at the local Skoda showroom and report back.

Basil,Welcome to the forum.

I have the both Yeti (CR170)and R32 thou not supercharged......would love that!

Yeti is fine for all the family stuff and would do the job intended very well.

You would miss the power on the R32 to Yeti.

Are you selling the Supercharged R?

As a good market to sell would be here,they love a nice .:R32

http://www.r32oc.com/

Or are you already a member?

I drove a 1.2 yeti elegance with pano sunroof for the last 4 years. Would recommend that engine any day. The only reason I now have a 1.4 is that the elegance trim in the octavia doesn't come with the 1.2 in the UK. It's a cracking wee  engine

Basil,Welcome to the forum.

I have the both Yeti (CR170)and R32 thou not supercharged......would love that!

Yeti is fine for all the family stuff and would do the job intended very well.

You would miss the power on the R32 to Yeti.

Are you selling the Supercharged R?

As a good market to sell would be here,they love a nice .:R32

http://www.r32oc.com/

Or are you already a member?

 

Yes - I'm BenH over on r32oc; that username was taken on this forum!  You can see my car here: http://www.r32oc.com/topic/99097-mk5-r32-supercharged-family-runabout/

 

There's a great sense of occasion to using the R32 and it's been amazing when I've had some time on my own.  The downsides are that I can't use its performance when driving with the family (which is most of the time); I need a roof rack / box for anything more than 1 night away or when using bikes; and it's my wife who uses it the most.  

With 2 young children, make sure the Yetis' boot is large enough for all their stuff. The boot isn't huge to start with and if you specify the spare wheel its level with the rear sill. Having said that, with the standard roof rails, its easy enough to fit a roof box.

 

Andy

For many years we have run a Fiat Doblo (hers ) and a 1.9TDi Octavia Estate (mine). Last year the wife was told that she needed both knees replacd so we looked to replace the Doblo, the only criterion was auto. After a lot of research we bought her a 1.2TSi DSG Yeti. Realising that she would struggle to drive the Octy we then decided to replace it, so I bought another Yeti. On paper the performance should be similar to the Octy, as the power output is the same. In practice I have no complaints, although I am not a fast driver.

As regards parking, you are sitting high up, with good all round vision, so it should not be a problem. My wife drives into London for work and has to park on street, in a congested area, so I specced self parking, which she uses regularly.

Thanks for the input so far.

 

Any Yeti is going to feel a "bit" slower than a 350+hp R32, although that needs to be balanced against the fact that I rarely use all of that.  That's why I'd also be interested in the 150hp 1.4 TSI and 2.0 TDIs (available in 4x4 Outdoor L&K spec).  It's just a matter of whether 110hp is going to be a step too far.

 

The more pressing issues for me at the moment are comfort; practicality; durability and carrying capacity.  I don't really care about running costs, but I don't want to be constantly fretting about the kids' mess, not the potential for minor scuffs and scratches!  I imagine it may also take some time to sell my current car, as it's not quite the sort of thing that I could part-ex or drop off at webuyanycar.  

 

I've got a day off with my 5-year-old girl tomorrow, so will drop-in at the local Skoda showroom and report back.

 

Hi  I've got a 110PS and whilst they go OK, when out of first I think you will find it a bit slow, so would suggest that the 150 would be more your cup of tea.

 

The 110 is fine for me as I have the TT for fun (well different fun!) and just wanted something to commute/trundle about in which my Yeti does admirably. If I didn't have the TT I'd go for the more powerful version like I've done with previous cars.

 

As you can afford more, I take it you've considered the VW and Audi options? Perhaps not, just noticed the kids mess etc. comment!

Edited 11 August, 201510 yr by VAGCF

Also the L&K comes with park assist so can park the Yeti for you, either parallel or bay parking, it will even steer the car out from parallel parked spaces, if you specify the rear view camera, you can see where it is going to go on the display inside the car, this could prevent any damage to the wheels or reversing into something. Also the L&K has more parking sensors than some of the lower models and once you see the Bi-Xenon lights in action you will wonder how you did without them.

 

 I also found that the seats in the L&K don't need to be electric as they are good enough as is, some owners complain about the manually adjustable seats in lower spec models, but you will have to have a try in one to decide this yourself, the reason I state this is that some options like fold down front passenger seat only can be had with a non electric seat, I think the seat back tables might be as well, but you will have to check.

Now the seat back tables, I find these to be angled a bit down for what I would class as normal drivers seating position so to get them horizontal you need the seat more upright, again, you would ideally need to find someone with this option to see if it would work for you.

If you are worried about durability of the interior google the video of Jeremy Clarkson test driving the classic (pre F/L) Yeti. If it can survive that..........

 

As regards your other questions although mine is the classic Yeti in Elegance spec I added the spare wheel and sun roof and frequently drive with four adults and a couple of dogs and never felt the car was under-powered for my style of driving. When driving solo it's reasonably frisky  - fun rather than fast but again no complaints.

 

As for wheels, if you search through the threads you will find there's about a dozen owners and former owners who wanted 16" wheels fitted on higher spec models that come with 17" wheels as standard. Dealers can't arrange this but with a bit of effort with Skoda UK at the time you place your order you might be able to get the wheels you want rather than one of the options listed. It would be safest to get it sorted before placing the order.

 

As for the leather seats. With some reservations I ordered the Gobi Sand. Coming up for two and a half years and no signs of wear so I'm pleased with them. 

I've had my Yeti 170 tdi (Elegance in Petrol Blue) for 3 months and have to say I'm pretty pleased with it.

 

I came from an Alfa 159 2.4 tdi, and was slightly concerned about the loss of power in comparison. Whilst not any sort of comparison to your "R", I've found the 170 diesel to be excellent, quick, pulls well, and surprisingly nimble. Mine was bought new in May (on a lease), but you might struggle to get hold of a 170 (replaced by the 150s in May / June), but if you could find a dealer with one lying around you might be able to get yourself a good deal.

 

As for the interior / wheels / parking / around town "ability", the yeti is superb.

I've just come back from having a look at one in the local showroom: an SE Business TDI 150 4x4.

 

I was really impressed to be honest.  With the parcel shelf removed; the boot space is very tall and square, which gives a really usable space.  I also liked the individual folding / removable seats, which would be useful for us - as would touches like the front passenger Isofix points.  Although the trim quality obviously isn't as good as my past Audis and Volvos, it's quite reassuring to see lots of Golf Mk5/6 parts, making me feel at home - this is a cheaper car after all!  

 

I didn't drive it, but will arrange a test drive to work around our summer holidays, over the next 3 weeks or so.  

 

The thing that really put it into perspective was a visit to the VW showroom, to look around a Golf SV afterwards.  For me and for our needs, there was no contest having sat in a Yeti: the SV's boot and general practicality are way behind.  I'm surprised that the likes of Volvo and VW don't have something more like this in their ranges - I would bite their hands off.  

 

I guess this will all come down to how comfortable I feel in our needs for a car like this - there's no doubt it would be a big step up in capabilities as our only family car, with the trade-off being the effortless performance I'm used to (but don't actually need very often).  

Funnily enough I did it the other way round. Saw a Golf SV in a dealer, thought that is nice and would do for me - my needs are different though. 

 

I'd already thought of a Yeti, but not looked at one. But when I did and found out about the 0% deal it was a no brainer!

 

Talking of VW (continuing from an earlier post of mine), what about the Tiguan? Or Audi Q5?

Ryeman is right about the turning circle, it's superb... Nearly up to the Triumph Herald turning circle... Oops, I'm showing my age!

Regarding parking... Even SWMBO can park it with ease and she admits she has great difficulty parking other cars I have had.... Including the RAV, Tig and even the Honda Jazz!

I even got park assist on the Tig but she didn't like using it.

Have a look at an Octavia VRS estate - love the Yeti but the Octavia may be far more practical and quicker.

Have a look at an Octavia VRS estate - love the Yeti but the Octavia may be far more practical and quicker.

It's hard to beat the Yeti though for it's inner city talents though.

1) Yeti urban or Outdoor?

 

Outdoor if you value resale value. Urban (thought it was called City?) if not.

 

2) Parking / around town: 

 

Dead easy to park. The tight turning circle makes sticking it in even tight spaces a doddle. But I would recommend getting front & rear parking sensors - the rear is standard on most (all?) models but the front isn't - and it is actually quite difficult to judge exactly where the front of the car is. In 25 years of driving and 30 owned cars, Yeti is the first car I can say that about.

 

3) PCP or lease:

 

PCP - you then haver the option to buy or use it as P/X at the end and you will find there will be plenty of equity in the car. Lease is dead money.

1) Yeti urban or Outdoor?

 

Outdoor if you value resale value. Urban (thought it was called City?) if not.

 

2) Parking / around town: 

 

Dead easy to park. The tight turning circle makes sticking it in even tight spaces a doddle. But I would recommend getting front & rear parking sensors - the rear is standard on most (all?) models but the front isn't - and it is actually quite difficult to judge exactly where the front of the car is. In 25 years of driving and 30 owned cars, Yeti is the first car I can say that about.

 

3) PCP or lease:

 

PCP - you then haver the option to buy or use it as P/X at the end and you will find there will be plenty of equity in the car. Lease is dead money.

 

+1 for parking / around town comments, it really is great to park and fun to throw around too.

 

Not so sure on the PCP vs Lease comment. It really does depend on the deals available at the time. When I leased our Yeti in April, the deal Skoda UK could offer me on a lease saved me approximately £3k vs their equivalent PCP deal. At the end of the day, buying a new car will cost you money, cars depreciate, it's all about working out which option costs you the least - in my case it was a Lease, in others it may be PCP.....

 

Horses for courses of course, but I think the "Lease = dead money" statement is false.....

I'm very pleased that I chose front parking sensors, never had them before but really useful.

I did consider a few other things but salesman talked me out of them; the fold flat front seat, He asked how often would you need it? ask a friend with a van.

He also said about the waste bin 'I don't collect sh:t in my car, I clear it out'.

 

PCP was the best deal for me, my trade in was used as the deposit and I got cash lump sum that was equal to the final payment, 0% interest for 42months. So at least the 'dead money' part was a cheap option. Free servicing for 3 years.

 

I thought he had some valid comments especially about the waste bin 

Edited 14 August, 201510 yr by RickT

If you don't have front sensors shop windows can be useful.

If you don't have front sensors shop windows can be useful.

Are you planning a ram raid?

For what it is worth, the performance of the 170 in the Yeti is pretty exhilarating and when combined with the way the Yeti handles on the road there's a stack of real FUN to be had round undulating and bendy roads.

 

I had a Mk1 Yeti 170 TDi from 2010 for nearly 3 years, jumped up into a Superb, again 170 - and in both cases found the engine to be reasonable ec onomical snd pokey, though the tall go-kart like performance of the Yeti was missed.

 

And so i'm now back into a 170 L&K Tdi this time with DSG 'box.  In the transition from Mk1 to Mk2 a little of the chuckability and go-kartness has been smoooothed out to give the Yeti a more compliant and less pitter-pattering ride over the bumpy bits (aka pot-holes), but the out and out performance seems to be much better when the pedal is floored for a quick squirt past a tractor, or a sheep.

 

So - in essence what I'm saying is - your Yeti will be the most practical family man set of (shiny) wheels you'd ever need with space aplenty, with parking friendliness for even the most demanding of myopic missuses, and yet, when you get the opportunity to sneak out away from the brood and get onto the long and winding road on your lonesome, you will enjoy the grin-inducing thrill of this upright boxy breeze block of a car as it continually surprises you with its road-stickiness and squirtability combined with the security of that 4wd system that compensates for any bog-ups you might engender.

 

Oh - and that scuff-resistance... .... I frequently carry a ton of stuff with edges and feet and handles - musical instruments, amplifiers, stands speakers atc to the point of filling the whole of the available space.  Yeah sure - take the seats out and my problem evaporates but everyone and again lassitude intervenes and said 'stuff' gets lumped in wholesale.  Since 2010 in whichever car is being thus assaulted there's never a mark on any of the in-contact bits of trim or seat.

 

This may, or may not be of any use to you, but you asked!!

 

G

 

PS Have you bought one yet?!

 

PPS This L&K 170 has so much fun in it that I'm tempted to shovel off the Z4, though I would miss the posing and the pulling that car offers.... Posing's great, but the pulling is cr*p

Edited 14 August, 201510 yr by Freshacre