Skoda Yeti TDi 4x4
Discussion
Recent purchase, although it's not strictly 'my' car, more of a family pool car. My parents recently bought a new house which is out in the NE Scottish countryside, so winter could prove quite slippery for them. So it'll stay with my parents who plan to run it as a daily driver through winter and relegate it to occasional use through the other part of the year.
My dad drives a 635d and has a set of winter wheels/tyres, but works away at times which would leave my mum with her F80 M3 on summer wheels/tyres. Obviously we could have bought some winter wheels/tyres for the M3, however, there were a couple of issues with that plan; firstly there is a chance of snow being more than just a couple of inches deep given that the roads near their house are quite exposed and snow could blow off the fields and across the road.. meaning that the low ride height of the M3 would turn it into more of a snow plow/risk beaching itself. Second of all, given they've just moved into a new house and they will be sorting through the boxes of stuff they brought with them, a car which they can fill with stuff to take to the tip/charity shops will be really useful. It'll also be useful for taking the dogs further afield/to the vet. Finally in the unfortunate event of any issues/collisions in poor weather, the problem will be with a car worth far less than their current cars.
Process of elimination started with this list:
Core Criteria:
£3500 budget
4WD/AWD
Car or SUV or Pickup
Manual Gearbox
Reliable
Petrol or Diesel
Nice-To-Haves:
Leather Interior
Heated Seats
Xenon Headlights
Cruise Control
Estate/Hatch Practicality
...my initial thoughts were Subaru related with a Legacy Estate ticking a lot of their boxes. Got lots of useful advice and suggestions in a thread that I posted about it on here. As it turned out, the 'nice-to-haves' became a little more important to them and so some of the suggestions (in particular a Subaru Forester) became obselete.
During a scan of the classifieds, eBay, PH Classifieds etc.. I noticed this car and after a few messages back and forth with the seller, it sounded like it was suffering from some form of slight 'DMF Chatter' meaning that it would require new clutch/flywheel, which wasn't cheap but a fairly straightforward repair and the price agreed reflected this.
Fast forward a few weeks and an extended stay at a local specialist, the car now has a new clutch/flywheel and a rebuilt gearbox as it was found to be making a noise on removal. It got an oil change and a couple of other small bits (ARB link, CV joint etc) have been replaced too; I got a good look around the underside and it's in fantastic condition..... every cloud and all that.
Here are a couple of exterior photos of it:
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
The main reason for purchase:
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Two of the biggest beneficiaries:
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Interior/Dashboard:
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Some of the best headlights I've ever used:
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
In addition to the usual Yeti things such as raised ride height, removable rear seats, great visibility; the specification on this car is absolutely brilliant and so far it all seems to work as it should too:
2.0 CR140 TDi
4WD
6-spd Manual Gearbox
Leather Interior
Heated Seats
Xenon Headlights
Cruise Control
Dual Zone Climate Control
Skoda 'Off Road' (Hill Decent Control)
Parking Sensors Front & Rear
Parking Assistant (Self-Parking)
SatNav
Speed Limit Recognition
Bluetooth
Anyway, that's it back, I'll keep the thread updated with photos/info during our ownership.. I'm hoping a couple of things now: my mum gels with the car and gets some real use out of it and also that all it'll require for the foreseeable future is fuel and a wash every now and again.
My dad drives a 635d and has a set of winter wheels/tyres, but works away at times which would leave my mum with her F80 M3 on summer wheels/tyres. Obviously we could have bought some winter wheels/tyres for the M3, however, there were a couple of issues with that plan; firstly there is a chance of snow being more than just a couple of inches deep given that the roads near their house are quite exposed and snow could blow off the fields and across the road.. meaning that the low ride height of the M3 would turn it into more of a snow plow/risk beaching itself. Second of all, given they've just moved into a new house and they will be sorting through the boxes of stuff they brought with them, a car which they can fill with stuff to take to the tip/charity shops will be really useful. It'll also be useful for taking the dogs further afield/to the vet. Finally in the unfortunate event of any issues/collisions in poor weather, the problem will be with a car worth far less than their current cars.
Process of elimination started with this list:
Core Criteria:
£3500 budget
4WD/AWD
Car or SUV or Pickup
Manual Gearbox
Reliable
Petrol or Diesel
Nice-To-Haves:
Leather Interior
Heated Seats
Xenon Headlights
Cruise Control
Estate/Hatch Practicality
...my initial thoughts were Subaru related with a Legacy Estate ticking a lot of their boxes. Got lots of useful advice and suggestions in a thread that I posted about it on here. As it turned out, the 'nice-to-haves' became a little more important to them and so some of the suggestions (in particular a Subaru Forester) became obselete.
During a scan of the classifieds, eBay, PH Classifieds etc.. I noticed this car and after a few messages back and forth with the seller, it sounded like it was suffering from some form of slight 'DMF Chatter' meaning that it would require new clutch/flywheel, which wasn't cheap but a fairly straightforward repair and the price agreed reflected this.
Fast forward a few weeks and an extended stay at a local specialist, the car now has a new clutch/flywheel and a rebuilt gearbox as it was found to be making a noise on removal. It got an oil change and a couple of other small bits (ARB link, CV joint etc) have been replaced too; I got a good look around the underside and it's in fantastic condition..... every cloud and all that.
Here are a couple of exterior photos of it:
Untitled by RS Grant, on FlickrUntitled by RS Grant, on FlickrThe main reason for purchase:
Untitled by RS Grant, on FlickrTwo of the biggest beneficiaries:
Untitled by RS Grant, on FlickrInterior/Dashboard:
Untitled by RS Grant, on FlickrSome of the best headlights I've ever used:
Untitled by RS Grant, on FlickrIn addition to the usual Yeti things such as raised ride height, removable rear seats, great visibility; the specification on this car is absolutely brilliant and so far it all seems to work as it should too:
2.0 CR140 TDi
4WD
6-spd Manual Gearbox
Leather Interior
Heated Seats
Xenon Headlights
Cruise Control
Dual Zone Climate Control
Skoda 'Off Road' (Hill Decent Control)
Parking Sensors Front & Rear
Parking Assistant (Self-Parking)
SatNav
Speed Limit Recognition
Bluetooth
Anyway, that's it back, I'll keep the thread updated with photos/info during our ownership.. I'm hoping a couple of things now: my mum gels with the car and gets some real use out of it and also that all it'll require for the foreseeable future is fuel and a wash every now and again.
Beefmeister said:
They're brilliant cars, I had two - an original and then a facelift over 4yrs before I got my current Octavia vRS.
They're so practical and actually handle far better than they have any right to do - get it on some twisties and you'll find out!
I'd echo those sentiments. Had a couple when I sold Skoda's, never minded when my car was changed from a Fabia or Octavia VRS fro a Yeti.They're so practical and actually handle far better than they have any right to do - get it on some twisties and you'll find out!
We also have (a 4wd) one on Cross Climates as a do anything 6th car and I love it - constantly showing it for all the very muddy lane running around we have to do here. So capable, nimble and fun after the more 'demanding' faster german stuff. Great sound system, heating, panoramic roof - as Clarkson said - is this the perfect car?
Excellent. I do love the idea of a Yeti, I may yet trade in my Superb to get one.
A couple of features that I suspect you will have that I didn't find on the Superb for a while:
- Pressing and holding the lock key will fold in the wing mirrors?
- The wing mirrors are not automatically heated when you turn on the re demister, as they have been on every other car I've ever owned, but on the little dial that also controls the adjustment
- On the stereo/nav display, if you are in "Map" mode then the right-hand dial becomes a zoom in/out function.
- In stereo mode, when listening to the radio, press "Extras" and it gives you the "Radio text" option that displays things like the track name they are playing. I only found this one out about an hour ago on my commute to work, stuck in traffic. I've owned the car for 3 years!!
A couple of features that I suspect you will have that I didn't find on the Superb for a while:
- Pressing and holding the lock key will fold in the wing mirrors?
- The wing mirrors are not automatically heated when you turn on the re demister, as they have been on every other car I've ever owned, but on the little dial that also controls the adjustment
- On the stereo/nav display, if you are in "Map" mode then the right-hand dial becomes a zoom in/out function.
- In stereo mode, when listening to the radio, press "Extras" and it gives you the "Radio text" option that displays things like the track name they are playing. I only found this one out about an hour ago on my commute to work, stuck in traffic. I've owned the car for 3 years!!
The Yeti has been on my radar for some time now but the one the op has bought has now got me questioning that.
Op can you go into detail about the dmf problem along with why the gearbox was changed please.
What year is the car? and how many miles had it done when it needed the work done?
Op can you go into detail about the dmf problem along with why the gearbox was changed please.
What year is the car? and how many miles had it done when it needed the work done?
I'm surprised to find so many PH driveways have a Yeti tucked away, I was imagining a tumbleweed-esque car journal here where it was like I was talking to myself!!
They're fantastic cars though so I can understand their popularity; if you can live with the slightly quirky looks then I think that they represent fantastic value for money and offer genuine versatility and quality too. I tried out the park assist yesterday before I dropped the car back with my folks and was blown away, what a system it is; surreal as hell, but absolutely brilliant!!
I wish I'd taken a video of the car while it was rattling, but it was worse than this on the Yeti but sounded similar to this: Click Here
I think that the gearbox work could have possibly been avoided if the DMF was diagnosed and fixed as soon as it happened, but the excessive vibrations by the DMF caused damage to the box.. so that was a (not insignificant) unexpected cost, but things seem to be quiet and operating as you'd expect now so no point dwelling on it.
They're fantastic cars though so I can understand their popularity; if you can live with the slightly quirky looks then I think that they represent fantastic value for money and offer genuine versatility and quality too. I tried out the park assist yesterday before I dropped the car back with my folks and was blown away, what a system it is; surreal as hell, but absolutely brilliant!!
magooagain said:
The Yeti has been on my radar for some time now but the one the op has bought has now got me questioning that.
Op can you go into detail about the dmf problem along with why the gearbox was changed please.
What year is the car? and how many miles had it done when it needed the work done?
This car is a '59' plate car and it's got ~120k miles on it, doing a glut of miles (~100k) in the first few years of ownership. The previous owner was an old lady who I get the feeling trundled around in the car day to day which caused the DMF to give up the ghost and start to rattle.Op can you go into detail about the dmf problem along with why the gearbox was changed please.
What year is the car? and how many miles had it done when it needed the work done?
I wish I'd taken a video of the car while it was rattling, but it was worse than this on the Yeti but sounded similar to this: Click Here
I think that the gearbox work could have possibly been avoided if the DMF was diagnosed and fixed as soon as it happened, but the excessive vibrations by the DMF caused damage to the box.. so that was a (not insignificant) unexpected cost, but things seem to be quiet and operating as you'd expect now so no point dwelling on it.
Drive Blind said:
the dog on the right doesn't look too happy with your purchase
Haha, he doesn't does he! Bailey is just over 15yrs old, he's done more than his fair share of posing for photos and doesn't have time/patience for it now... can't even bribe him to look at the camera with treats anymore?! Just spent three years with a 170bhp Monte Carlo 4x4, have to say I agree with everything said so far, the practicality is obvious and expected, it’s ability go rather rapidly down a back road would take many by surprise!. Bloody good tow car too, they punch well above their weight.
The only critiicism I might have is the engine sounds a bit noisy, I’ve noticed this after driving mine yesterday for the last time. I’ve changed it for an old Honda CRV with the 2.0 Petrol and the engine in the Honda is much quieter. Diesel versus petrol issue really.
I think Skoda need their heads checking dropping the name and bringing out what looks just like a Seat Ateca clone instead.
The only critiicism I might have is the engine sounds a bit noisy, I’ve noticed this after driving mine yesterday for the last time. I’ve changed it for an old Honda CRV with the 2.0 Petrol and the engine in the Honda is much quieter. Diesel versus petrol issue really.
I think Skoda need their heads checking dropping the name and bringing out what looks just like a Seat Ateca clone instead.
I had one, the only car I ever bought new, thanks to a legacy. It was a 2WD SE 110bhp diesel, and I bloody loved it. The 140 wasn’t sufficiently quicker to justify the extra cost, but it was the most practical car I’ve ever had, and handled far better than it had any right to.
I chopped it in for a Clio 200,and honestly, I wish I hadn’t. The Clio is brilliant (superb) at the right time, but as an overall car the Yeti was great. I didn’t like the facelift as it lost a lot of its character, and I really don’t like th new thing that just looks like any old box.
I chopped it in for a Clio 200,and honestly, I wish I hadn’t. The Clio is brilliant (superb) at the right time, but as an overall car the Yeti was great. I didn’t like the facelift as it lost a lot of its character, and I really don’t like th new thing that just looks like any old box.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff