Best Skoda ever?

[pinkpanther]

I have to agree with him - without doubt the best car Skoda ever made (I had 4 of them!)👍

 

I can attest to the Karoq being in no means a worthy successor..............

 

Youtube

[Quadra840AV]

I'm watching that video now..... That's a coincidence 🫠

When my Roomster expires my next is a Yeti. 👍

 

Great cars which have quite a following. On a recent 7 mile drive to a rural Sainsbury's I counted 31 of them during my journey.

 

 

[pinkpanther]

6 minutes ago, Quadra840AV said:

I'm watching that video now..... That's a coincidence 🫠

When my Roomster expires my next is a Yeti. 👍

 

Great cars which have quite a following. On a recent 7 mile drive to a rural Sainsbury's I counted 31 of them during my journey.

 

 

Speaking as a former Roomster owner (a wonderful remapped 1.9 TDi and then a pretty disappointing 1.6 TDi) I can only agree with pretty much everything Jayemm had to say. 

 

My favourite Yeti was a facelift 2.0 TDi 140 BHP (with a Shark Stage 1 map) closely followed by a rather wonderful (right up until the pan roof started leaking) pre-facelift 170 Elegance.

 

Happily I traded the 170 in for my current Jag 😀

 

 

[Bexhillian]

22 minutes ago, pinkpanther said:

I have to agree with him - without doubt the best car Skoda ever made (I had 4 of them!)👍

 

I can attest to the Karoq being in no means a worthy successor..............

 

Youtube

I've relieved an untouched pension pot of a few pounds of excess weight and I've a 75th birthday imminent.

I'm at the Love it or List it moment with my faultless Yeti but it is nearly eight years old (52K miles) and I'm perhaps seeking my last hurrah.

The new 2024 Kodiak will be a bit too big in size and likely, in pounds.

I'm tempted with a new Karoq Sportline with a few extras.

 

Where does the Karoq score its 'down votes', apart from its lack of an individual look?

 

[muppix]

47 minutes ago, Bexhillian said:

I'm at the Love it or List it moment with my faultless Yeti but it is nearly eight years old (52K miles) and I'm perhaps seeking my last hurrah.

 

No such thing as a Last Hurrah.

 

Unless, that is, you buy an MX-5. Hehe.

[pinkpanther]

1 hour ago, Bexhillian said:

I've relieved an untouched pension pot of a few pounds of excess weight and I've a 75th birthday imminent.

I'm at the Love it or List it moment with my faultless Yeti but it is nearly eight years old (52K miles) and I'm perhaps seeking my last hurrah.

The new 2024 Kodiak will be a bit too big in size and likely, in pounds.

I'm tempted with a new Karoq Sportline with a few extras.

 

Where does the Karoq score its 'down votes', apart from its lack of an individual look?

 

It's simply a car I've never gelled with.

 

Whilst the Karoq is perfectly competent, it's in no way a joy to drive, or own, all in my opinion of course.

 

I suspect I may well end up with another Yeti, although given my experience with my last one, definitely sans pan roof!

 

The Yeti is a tough act to follow, whereas there is little to distinguish the Karoq from it's VAG Brethren.

 

My advise would be to take a Karoq for a long test drive and see what you think👍

Edited 20 February by pinkpanther

[Prezafab]

We're due to collect our eighth Yeti between us - the latest I could find for sale, from Dec 2017.

 

My other half wasn't blown away by a used Karoq, and really didn't like the Kodiaq I had once.

 

There are more and more people chasing fewer and fewer good, well-specced used Yetis. I almost got tempted by an L&K but that roof is the only real major flaw in the Yeti design (sometimes).

 

If you have a good one, keep it. If you are looking, SEL Drive or SEL are fine.

Edited 20 February by Prezafab

[MCAMRA]

Many many years ago I said on this forum that the Yeti would become a classic car.

 

Most Yeti owning peeps at that time on this forum scoffed at my stupidity. Most of those I guess have since replaced their cars.

 

Ha ha.

 

The Yeti is still the best all round car ever invented. It can do everything. And it is still the best looking suv. 

 

We bought ours new in 2011 and it will stay with us until it dies.

 

 

[daviemck2006]

I came into a chunk of money last year, just before my 60th birthday. At the time I had a 2014 yeti elegance, a 140 bhp 4x4 dsg that I had owned for 3 years. It was relatively low mileage and drove like brand new, and looked brand new. I still had 1 year of finance to pay. I changed it for a karoq 1.6tdi dsg, so I have a much newer car with no finance. The Karoq is comfier and cheaper to run. However I miss my yeti. I loved it. I only like te karoq. Its forgettable to drive, forgettable to drive. Will I ever buy another Karoq? Probably not despite it being a good car. Would I ever buy another yeti? Yes. In fact I nearlydid a couple of months ago to use as my workhorse don't care about it car, but instead bought a mk4 golf gttdi. I actually went looking for a roomster. I love the yeti because it's different, a it of an oddball. The only criticism of it I had was the boot a bit small, and the seats a bit hard, although I did 700 miles in one day and stepped out of it fresh enough at the end.

[PedalBin]

As much as I liked / like my 1.2 TSI Elegance ('mine' for five years until June last year and now Mrs Bin's)  I replaced it with a Karoq Sportline 2.0 TSI 4x4 DSG. The Karoq is without doubt the finest car I have ever driven. I remember cursing when I had to drive Mrs Bin's former car (a Ford Fusion) "It's not as comfortable as the Yeti, not as quick, not as quiet, stereo not as good, doesn't have climate control, doesn't have heated seats, etc, etc". 

 

I find myself doing the same now when I drive the Yeti instead of the Karoq. The Yeti is a perfectly fine car but the Karoq is more comfortable, quieter, actually has acceleration, is an utter joy to drive with light precise steering, the suspension soaks up the bumps, the 4x4 means it grips the road like glue, it has a better stereo, better speakers, a bigger boot, a heated steering wheel, heated seats that don't take ten minutes to warm up. The infotainment display is bigger and the rear parking camera is something I never thought would be so useful, I tut when parking the Yeti, "no parking camera".  It looks better to that the 'box on wheels' look of the Yeti. Would never go back to the Yeti through choice. Still each to their own. 

 

I plan to drive this Karoq until they stop making spare parts for it. Shame Skoda have ruined the looks of the Karoqs with the latest update. 

 

 

[oldstan]

What have they done to the updated version that you don't like.  I've not looked that closely at them so wonder what they've done.

 

I have no axe to grind regarding Yeti versus Karoq ... I'm perfectly happy with the Yeti but can't imagine I wouldn't like the Karoq either. In facr the shape and size of the forthcoming Dacia Duster looks alright to me. I'll stop by and look at one in due course but don't plan on getting rid of the Yeti all the time it's running OK (and the DSG box continues to function).

 

The two things that I can recall have gone wrong with it are the drivers door wiring issue - easily sorted by my indie garage, and the  LED that illuminates the speedo needle has stopped illuminating.

[gumdrop]

I have had two Yeti, 2x wheel drive 110ps they both towed beautifully, first my Eriba then my Orion.

They carried almost everything I offered up including several Ercol captains chairs and all sorts of 

camping gear. It was quick, handled well, braked well and, I thought, looked amazing in and out.

[PedalBin]

3 hours ago, oldstan said:

What have they done to the updated version that you don't like.  I've not looked that closely at them so wonder what they've done.

 

I have no axe to grind regarding Yeti versus Karoq ... I'm perfectly happy with the Yeti but can't imagine I wouldn't like the Karoq either. In facr the shape and size of the forthcoming Dacia Duster looks alright to me. I'll stop by and look at one in due course but don't plan on getting rid of the Yeti all the time it's running OK (and the DSG box continues to function).

 

The two things that I can recall have gone wrong with it are the drivers door wiring issue - easily sorted by my indie garage, and the  LED that illuminates the speedo needle has stopped illuminating.

 

Not a fan of the redesigned front and grill, the wheels have been changed too. Both for aerodynamics improvement I understand so they are are a little bit more fuel efficient. 

 

Inside there is less tech, I am assuming due to the onging Chip shortages, so no Canton option and I think the heated windscreen may be gone too? USB ports have been changed to USB Cs, and the hard drive has gone from the Infotainment centre too. Skoda have pretty much ruined the looks of their cars to my eyes the redesigned Superb, Octavia, Karoq and Kodiak all look a bit 'meh' to me. 

[pinkpanther]

2 hours ago, PedalBin said:

 

Not a fan of the redesigned front and grill, the wheels have been changed too. Both for aerodynamics improvement I understand so they are are a little bit more fuel efficient. 

 

Inside there is less tech, I am assuming due to the onging Chip shortages, so no Canton option and I think the heated windscreen may be gone too? USB ports have been changed to USB Cs, and the hard drive has gone from the Infotainment centre too. Skoda have pretty much ruined the looks of their cars to my eyes the redesigned Superb, Octavia, Karoq and Kodiak all look a bit 'meh' to me. 

My 2023 SE-L Karoq has a heated windscreen,  although this was part of Winter Pack+

 

USB C ports are poorly sited and I suspect may not prove especially robust in regular use.

 

The hard drive is not missed though,  given I used a 128 Gb USB stick 👍

[pinkpanther]

6 hours ago, PedalBin said:

As much as I liked / like my 1.2 TSI Elegance ('mine' for five years until June last year and now Mrs Bin's)  I replaced it with a Karoq Sportline 2.0 TSI 4x4 DSG. The Karoq is without doubt the finest car I have ever driven. I remember cursing when I had to drive Mrs Bin's former car (a Ford Fusion) "It's not as comfortable as the Yeti, not as quick, not as quiet, stereo not as good, doesn't have climate control, doesn't have heated seats, etc, etc". 

 

I find myself doing the same now when I drive the Yeti instead of the Karoq. The Yeti is a perfectly fine car but the Karoq is more comfortable, quieter, actually has acceleration, is an utter joy to drive with light precise steering, the suspension soaks up the bumps, the 4x4 means it grips the road like glue, it has a better stereo, better speakers, a bigger boot, a heated steering wheel, heated seats that don't take ten minutes to warm up. The infotainment display is bigger and the rear parking camera is something I never thought would be so useful, I tut when parking the Yeti, "no parking camera".  It looks better to that the 'box on wheels' look of the Yeti. Would never go back to the Yeti through choice. Still each to their own. 

 

I plan to drive this Karoq until they stop making spare parts for it. Shame Skoda have ruined the looks of the Karoqs with the latest update. 

 

 

I suspect this is the exact Karoq I ought to have bought👍

 

I did play with the configurator last night though and easily came to a price worryingly close to £50k for a 2.0 TSi and a few choice options 😬

[Prezafab]

Ok, number 8 collected (4x4 dsg diesel) and driven 5 hours home. 48mpg at 'pressing-on' speed. The rest is pure Yeti. It's not a posh Audi like the other household car, but it's still comfortable, enjoyable to drive and in some ways all the better for the lack of pretence about it. Good in unexpected puddles too !

[b1ackb1rd]

On 20/02/2024 at 19:32, Quadra840AV said:

I'm watching that video now..... That's a coincidence 🫠

When my Roomster expires my next is a Yeti. 👍

 

Great cars which have quite a following. On a recent 7 mile drive to a rural Sainsbury's I counted 31 of them during my journey.

 

 

 

I was in Bishop's Castle, Clun, Craven Arms area yesterday, the area is stiff with Yetis!

[MCAMRA]

One thing that has never been dicussed or mentioned by reviewers is that the Yeti is a very easy car to drive on the wrong side of the road.

 

It is probably is the most ambidextrous car ever made. 
 

My yeti  (living in France) is left hand drive and I find it such an easy car to drive in the UK. The visibility you have, the size of the mirrors etc makes it perfectly safe to the point that it does not make a difference. And you can see the potholes coming lol.

 

Other left hand drive cars I have driven in the UK can be a handful. Especially in cities or joining busy duel carriageways. Yeti…no problems.

 

I guess it is the same the other way around….driving a right hand drive Yeti in Europe must be very easy.

 

The Troc or the skoda/seat equivalents do not have that same visibility. 
 

There you ago, the Yeti is a true European car. 

 

 

Edited 22 February by MCAMRA

[J.R.]

1 hour ago, MCAMRA said:

I guess it is the same the other way around….driving a right hand drive Yeti in Europe must be very easy.

 

That is what I drive, TBH I had never given it a thought as I am so used to compensating after 18 years of RHD in France.

 

I have a specific problem of being blind in the left eye so cant see as far to the left and the straight ahead field of vision is narrower, when I take a Priorité à Droite I especially one at an acute angle I really do sail through without looking (Inshallah!) because there is no point, the width of the A and B pillars in the Yeti causes me a very large blind spot and I have to position the passenger seat and headrest to not add to the B post blind spot.

 

The MK1 Octavia was fine, the MK2 terrible by comparison, the Yeti worse still, no different to any other newer vehicle and less of a problem for those with 2 eyes.

[muppix]

1 hour ago, MCAMRA said:

I guess it is the same the other way around….driving a right hand drive Yeti in Europe must be very easy.

 

 

Can confirm. We’ve been across to France a number of times, and on one visit to Germany via Rotterdam we came home with a vintage motorcycle in the boot. I can’t imagine any other car with so much flexibility and still fun to drive.

[MCAMRA]

1 hour ago, J.R. said:

 

That is what I drive, TBH I had never given it a thought as I am so used to compensating after 18 years of RHD in France.

 

I have a specific problem of being blind in the left eye so cant see as far to the left and the straight ahead field of vision is narrower, when I take a Priorité à Droite I especially one at an acute angle I really do sail through without looking (Inshallah!) because there is no point, the width of the A and B pillars in the Yeti causes me a very large blind spot and I have to position the passenger seat and headrest to not add to the B post blind spot.

 

The MK1 Octavia was fine, the MK2 terrible by comparison, the Yeti worse still, no different to any other newer vehicle and less of a problem for those with 2 eyes.

The choice of car whilst being blind in one eye must be very driver specific. I actually just googled it and there are no cars that stand out.
 

Last November I hired in the UK a RHD. It was the first time I had driven a RHD in 20 years or so. I thought I would struggle but I had no problems whatsoever. 

 

My conclusion after a couple of days that it is far more comfortable and easier to drive a RHD than a LHD. It felt more natural. For me. And I have driven mostly (90%) LHD.

 

Blame Napoleon.

 

 

[J.R.]

10 hours ago, MCAMRA said:

The choice of car whilst being blind in one eye must be very driver specific

 

I dont think it comes into the purchasing criteria, I buy what I want to drive or what I want to repair and wont mind driving, I would have to adapt in a similar way to the individual vehicle whatever side the wheel is on, most of it is automatic and intuitive like driving with the head slightly turned to have equal vision left and right, los knowing that on certain junctions I must pull up at an angle sit up in the seat and turn my whole body around as well as my neck.

[Frenchtone]

^  

I agree with JR, I have had a 'lazy' left eye all my life, never caused me a problem,but, as above, oblique angled right hand junctions need a different strategy, ie last minute approach at 90'!