The lights which illuminates the speedo needle on my Yeti flickers on and off, sometimes staying off for a few seconds. I guess it must be a dodgy connection. Do I have to remove the entire dashboard to investigate? Thanks.

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Yes.

And they aren't bulbs but LED's soldered on a circuit board

With 'auto' light position selected, could that be a factor in traveling through sun and shade, giving you a false perception or is it only in darkness?.

Just a thought.

Edited 18 January, 201610 yr by Ryeman

If it is a dodgy LED I'm afraid it's not an easy fix.  The garage man will make a horrible sucking noise and say the dreaded words "you'll have to have a whole new unit!".  There may be ways round it,  but the usual main dealer solution is to replace the whole instrument cluster... which is OK under warranty,  but a very expensive option if the warranty has expired.  Do a forum search though,  and you may find repairs CAN be done, though your main dealer may not be prepared to bother.

If you can get it out maybe an iTech repair man can do it like they do for phones etc......there must be money in these types of repair.

My Superb has started doing the same, as said its an extensive repair job probably involving a replacement cluster.

I'm therefore leaving it for the time being.

I thought I'd seen something relevant to this on the forum a few weeks ago. This thread might be worth reading.

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/379714-instrument-panel-replacement/?hl=%2Binstrument+%2Blight#entry4467664

Cartronix  repair the Yeti instrument panel for £150 inc VAT

I wouldnt even be considering doing this, i would be aiming to make skoda do this/repair this FOC.

I wouldnt even be considering doing this, i would be aiming to make skoda do this/repair this FOC.

 

If the car is out of warranty why should they?

I wouldnt even be considering doing this, i would be aiming to make skoda do this/repair this FOC.

 

It's very unfortunate for the OP this has happened and I hope he can get it sorted out without too much hassle but your advice is based on what? The OP doesn't give the age of the car, where he bought it from, where it's been serviced, whether it has any sort of warranty and if so with whom etc. If it's out of warranty but bought from a franchised dealer and been MOT/serviced by them then maybe there is some hope of a goodwill gesture - it certainly wouldn't hurt to ask particularly if without a contribution he can show he's prepared to go elsewhere and what he'd expect to pay. But if it's an older car bought second hand from an independent dealer, serviced by the local garage down the road and with any warranty expired why would you expect Skoda to fix it for free? (I'm pretty sure when you buy a car it's like anything else -your contract is with the retailer not the manufacturer so if you buy from an independent there's no way you can link Skoda to the contract, even tenuously).

 

This is really the same discussion that's been running on another thread about DMFs - goodwill payments are just that, a gesture to reflect customer loyalty in the hope of retaining the customer for future business. With modern cars so complex and even "simple" repairs often eye-wateringly expensive it's up to each owner to make their own judgement on risk - to reduce the risk of an expensive repair bill by buying a warranty (and then which one) and hopefully never need to call on it or to gamble that the car won't develop an expensive fault whilst you own it. Just the same as pet insurance - do you take out a "warranty" for a monthly premium or "self-insure" and hope for the best. The only thing you can be sure of is that very quickly the breeder ("manufacturer") won't take responsibility, even for hereditary defects. (I here I do speak from experience!!)

 

(Just a thought but would the buyers of new cars really want to pay higher prices so that manufacturers have the funds to be more generous in offering goodwill gestures to subsequent owners once the cars are out of warranty and start needing repairs? And where would you then draw the line - 5 years, 10 years, lifetime? Because that really is what the "Skoda made it, Skoda should fix it argument comes down to). 

Edited 21 January, 201610 yr by Paul52

If it's not Japanese, always take it for 'genuine' service........you might need the goodwill, is my advice FWIW.

Yes, keep dealer serviced, and goodwill is easier.  

 

A cluster is an item designed to be with the car for life, yes the older AUdi/Golfs have LCD failures/fogging issues, but the actual LED/boards are built to last.  LED's are soldered there because of reliability, so if one has failed, i wouldnt expect to be taking it anywhere but Skoda for consultation.

 

I see the Yeti as a new car, not as an old car.  Thats just my opinion.

Yes, keep dealer serviced, and goodwill is easier.  

 

A cluster is an item designed to be with the car for life, yes the older AUdi/Golfs have LCD failures/fogging issues, but the actual LED/boards are built to last.  LED's are soldered there because of reliability, so if one has failed, i wouldnt expect to be taking it anywhere but Skoda for consultation.

 

I see the Yeti as a new car, not as an old car.  Thats just my opinion.

 

What car have you got?

Yeti Elegance 1.8 4x4 TSi 2009.

It still surprises me that VW Group & Ford sales don't appear to be suffering against the 5 and 7 year warranties offered by the Korean brands, Toyota, and the"lifetime" warranty from Vauxhall (admittedly only on a list of specified components).

If Kia, Hyundai, Toyota and Vauxhall are confident enough to offer extended warranties without extra charge, it does make you wonder if the others lack confidence in the reliability of their products.

I thought the Vauxhall one had stopped?

And there are plenty of reports of people having problems with the Kia 7 year one

The OP doesn't give the age of the car.

 

From what I can find it's a 60-reg Yeti 110 4x4 in S spec

It still surprises me that VW Group & Ford sales don't appear to be suffering against the 5 and 7 year warranties offered by the Korean brands, Toyota, and the"lifetime" warranty from Vauxhall (admittedly only on a list of specified components).

If Kia, Hyundai, Toyota and Vauxhall are confident enough to offer extended warranties without extra charge, it does make you wonder if the others lack confidence in the reliability of their products.

To me, it's the fact that the Germans serve the needs of those who desire the most technically advanced vehicle they can afford.....always pushing the boundaries and including reliability in some areas.

The Japanese are much more pragmatic and conservative and value their reputation for reliability above all else......loss of face is a serious issue within the management ranks.

Exciting? V Boring?

Yes, but given the vast amounts of money spent on design, development and testing etc. you have to wonder why there are so may issues with new non-Japanese cars and the cars most of us buy are hardly cutting edge sports cars but everyday vehicles, most of which err to the side of boring rather than exciting!   

 

So many problems, as I've said elsewhere, it put me off buying second-hand VWG cars.

^^^^depends, as always, on your budget......if you have a profitable business or money 'in the bank', you can indulge.

If your on a limited budget, it's another matter entirely.

That's when 'boring' makes sense.

An important aspect of the Japanese 'domestic market' is that the 'legislated' MOT is soo onerous after ~ 5 years, resulting in early scrappage thus the national fleet average is v young and 'experimental'.

Eg: VVT tech was 'proven' domestically before export to customers used to Japanese reliability.

The Germans don't have that luxury and the wider market, at times, gets to be the guinea pig.

Combined with the seriousness of embarrassment it's an important difference between manufacturing countries.

It's the head v heart thing.