Skoda Yeti 4x4
Discussion
Just over two years ago, I bought a Fiat Panda 4x4 to keep the miles and inclement weather off my V8 Vantage. Reader's Cars threads for both are here:
Panda 4x4
V8 Vantage
The Panda was (very) slow, noisy, small, scruffy, slow, old and slow, but the daft little thing got under my skin and I ended up really enjoying having a car that I didn't need to care too much about - I spent way too much on it, but I rather enjoy tinkering and improving.
However, as you might have gathered, it was sloooow. 60 was it's happiest cruising speed, up to 65 if I turned the music up and 70 with ear defenders. To be fair, the engine was excellent - it would probably have sat at 75-80 all day, but it just sounded like it was being thrashed at anything above 60, so I didn't bother. As well as local driving, I also did some pretty hefty journeys in it either for photography or mountain biking and eventually, 300+ miles days got a bit tedious. So - it was sold and the hunt for its bigger brother started.
Five Yetis viewed and five rejected - two for rusty doors (common issue) one for a noisy transfer box, one for a knackered turbo and one at a Skoda main dealer about 100 miles away who omitted to tell me the car was sold when I called to book in a test drive.... Eventually, an advert I'd been watching for a few weeks had its price reduced to what I thought was acceptable and I press-ganged my son into a 10-hour round trip from the Midlands to Edinburgh and back.
No piccies yet, as it's been raining most of today. So - here's a low-res thumbnail from the seller's advert:
More piccies when I've cleaned it properly.
Its full title is Skoda Yeti 2.0 TDI CR 150 Monte Carlo 4x4 - a fairly rare trim level, with stripy seats, fake carbon dashboard panel, black grille, sideskirts, wheels and roof.
It is mechanically excellent - the previous owner is a Skoda devotee (he's just bought his 20th...). He bought the Yeti for his wife to haul their grandkids around in. He worked in garages all his working life and now he's retired, has a tame garage for all his work. He didn't want to sell it "needing for anything", so he had a service done (including the Haldex oil) and an MOT as there wasn't very long left on the ticket. The rear tyres were a bit low, so he put a brand new pair on (Michelin cross-climates).
However, his wife wasn't the most car-proud of owners, so the exterior shows the signs of an un-caring owner and many years of quick car washes. The interior was far worse - everything was just mucky. I've spent most of today (between rain showers) vacuuming and steaming and cleaning the manky plastics.
It'll take me a while to get it how I want it, but I find it quite therapeutic - I feel that a good clean removes all traces of the previous owners and makes the car mine.
Plans? Not much really, but I said that when I bought the Panda and look what happened there..... Apparently, the EA288 engine remaps quite nicely to around 180-190 bhp. Its already quite nippy in a normal VW-esque boosty kind of way, but a remap might make it a bit more zingy at the top end and it might help the fuel consumption (which wasn't actually too bad - 53 mpg from Edinburgh back to the Midlands)
Panda 4x4
V8 Vantage
The Panda was (very) slow, noisy, small, scruffy, slow, old and slow, but the daft little thing got under my skin and I ended up really enjoying having a car that I didn't need to care too much about - I spent way too much on it, but I rather enjoy tinkering and improving.
However, as you might have gathered, it was sloooow. 60 was it's happiest cruising speed, up to 65 if I turned the music up and 70 with ear defenders. To be fair, the engine was excellent - it would probably have sat at 75-80 all day, but it just sounded like it was being thrashed at anything above 60, so I didn't bother. As well as local driving, I also did some pretty hefty journeys in it either for photography or mountain biking and eventually, 300+ miles days got a bit tedious. So - it was sold and the hunt for its bigger brother started.
Five Yetis viewed and five rejected - two for rusty doors (common issue) one for a noisy transfer box, one for a knackered turbo and one at a Skoda main dealer about 100 miles away who omitted to tell me the car was sold when I called to book in a test drive.... Eventually, an advert I'd been watching for a few weeks had its price reduced to what I thought was acceptable and I press-ganged my son into a 10-hour round trip from the Midlands to Edinburgh and back.
No piccies yet, as it's been raining most of today. So - here's a low-res thumbnail from the seller's advert:
More piccies when I've cleaned it properly.
Its full title is Skoda Yeti 2.0 TDI CR 150 Monte Carlo 4x4 - a fairly rare trim level, with stripy seats, fake carbon dashboard panel, black grille, sideskirts, wheels and roof.
It is mechanically excellent - the previous owner is a Skoda devotee (he's just bought his 20th...). He bought the Yeti for his wife to haul their grandkids around in. He worked in garages all his working life and now he's retired, has a tame garage for all his work. He didn't want to sell it "needing for anything", so he had a service done (including the Haldex oil) and an MOT as there wasn't very long left on the ticket. The rear tyres were a bit low, so he put a brand new pair on (Michelin cross-climates).
However, his wife wasn't the most car-proud of owners, so the exterior shows the signs of an un-caring owner and many years of quick car washes. The interior was far worse - everything was just mucky. I've spent most of today (between rain showers) vacuuming and steaming and cleaning the manky plastics.
It'll take me a while to get it how I want it, but I find it quite therapeutic - I feel that a good clean removes all traces of the previous owners and makes the car mine.
Plans? Not much really, but I said that when I bought the Panda and look what happened there..... Apparently, the EA288 engine remaps quite nicely to around 180-190 bhp. Its already quite nippy in a normal VW-esque boosty kind of way, but a remap might make it a bit more zingy at the top end and it might help the fuel consumption (which wasn't actually too bad - 53 mpg from Edinburgh back to the Midlands)
I have this engine in my Octavia Scout, and got it remapped when I bought it by Celtic Tuning mobile service. Took it to 195bhp and 305 lb/ft torque. They also blanked off the EGR software.
It makes a massive difference to the performance and still achieves 60mpg on a run.
I've put 100k on the engine since the remap and zero issues.
It makes a massive difference to the performance and still achieves 60mpg on a run.
I've put 100k on the engine since the remap and zero issues.
the cueball said:
I think you beat me to that car by a couple of hours... hope it last you well..
My hunt continues...
There’s a red Monte Carlo just appeared on Autotrader - in Taunton, and if you’re REALLY willing to travel, there’s another in Northern Ireland.My hunt continues...
The white one in Keighley doesn’t exist, despite the ad being renewed regularly. The other white one in Grimsby is over-priced (IMHO) and the metallic grey just doesn’t look right for some reason (and it’s also a bit over-priced too)
Sold my 2017 2.0L Yeti 4x4 last month, I thought it was a great car and was sorry to see it go, but an opportunity to buy a friends 730d was too good to miss.
OP = with yours having a sunroof watch for the drain tubes getting bunged up, first sign of this is wet carpets in front foot wells, common issue on sunroof models. I do like the spec of the Mote Carlo Yeti though.
As for the Heldex, get this serviced every 20-30k miles and make sure they clean off the gunge from the gauze on the end of the pump, as well as changing the oil. If left undone the Haldex system can seize up. I had a garage do mine for around £200 but if doing it DIY there are kits available but, ensure you drain from the correct plug as very close to the Haldex drain plug is the diff drain plug. I've heard of owners draining the diff by mistake, then removing the Haldex filler nut and adding oil (it only takes a small amount) thinking they have drained the Haldex, which they haven't. The diff then seizes up shortly after driving off. Skoda initially refused to acknowledge the need for this, but have recently changed their mind and now dealers offer the service to customers.
Here's a before and after photos of my Haldex pump when it was serviced at 30k miles...
OP = with yours having a sunroof watch for the drain tubes getting bunged up, first sign of this is wet carpets in front foot wells, common issue on sunroof models. I do like the spec of the Mote Carlo Yeti though.
As for the Heldex, get this serviced every 20-30k miles and make sure they clean off the gunge from the gauze on the end of the pump, as well as changing the oil. If left undone the Haldex system can seize up. I had a garage do mine for around £200 but if doing it DIY there are kits available but, ensure you drain from the correct plug as very close to the Haldex drain plug is the diff drain plug. I've heard of owners draining the diff by mistake, then removing the Haldex filler nut and adding oil (it only takes a small amount) thinking they have drained the Haldex, which they haven't. The diff then seizes up shortly after driving off. Skoda initially refused to acknowledge the need for this, but have recently changed their mind and now dealers offer the service to customers.
Here's a before and after photos of my Haldex pump when it was serviced at 30k miles...
Edited by The Gauge on Tuesday 27th May 14:34
velocemitch said:
I can second that regards the sunroof we had an L&k version and so did my brother. Both had very leaky sunroofs.
On mine it ruined the body ECU.
One of the requirements when I was looking, was absolutely no pano roof. This was a shame because otherwise I quite liked the L&K,and reduced the anmount worth considering to 3! Interesting to hear more than one dealer also say they wouldn’t buy one with the pano roof either. On mine it ruined the body ECU.
As above, service the Haldex, if you’re planning on keeping, do the rear diff and the front bevel box oils. Have you proved the 4x4 works? Have the codes properly read, as there are many owners driving around with a faulty Haldex and no clue about it, as it doesn't bring any light, or flag up on basic OBD stuff. Other than that, it’s the usual stuff, and enjoy.
Another Yeti fan here.
So much that I now have two.
The red one was the first, it's a 2.0 TDI 170 4x4 elegance.
Bought to tow our touring caravan, got the 170 as it has larger brakes.
I ideally wanted a petrol 1.4 L&K but I'd read too many horror stories about the sunroof leaks.
And thought I'd rather deal with DPF problems than a wrecked interior.
The beige one is a 1.2 dsg petrol which I bought to replace the red one as a runaround for Mrs easty, with me getting a better petrol tow car.
This was 4 and a bit years ago and I've just never found anything that I'd let the Yeti go for as they've both got under my skin.
Enjoy it, there's a UK yeti owners forum and also briskoda both are very useful for problems etc.
So much that I now have two.
The red one was the first, it's a 2.0 TDI 170 4x4 elegance.
Bought to tow our touring caravan, got the 170 as it has larger brakes.
I ideally wanted a petrol 1.4 L&K but I'd read too many horror stories about the sunroof leaks.
And thought I'd rather deal with DPF problems than a wrecked interior.
The beige one is a 1.2 dsg petrol which I bought to replace the red one as a runaround for Mrs easty, with me getting a better petrol tow car.
This was 4 and a bit years ago and I've just never found anything that I'd let the Yeti go for as they've both got under my skin.
Enjoy it, there's a UK yeti owners forum and also briskoda both are very useful for problems etc.
The Gauge said:
OP = with yours having a sunroof watch for the drain tubes getting bunged up, first sign of this is wet carpets in front foot wells, common issue on sunroof models.
No sunroof on mine. I quite liked the idea of one, but having read the horror stories about leaks and fried electrics, no sunroof was one of my non-negotiable requirementsnormalbloke said:
Have you proved the 4x4 works? Have the codes properly read, as there are many owners driving around with a faulty Haldex and no clue about it, as it doesn't bring any light, or flag up on basic OBD stuff.
No - I have no proof of it working yet. It was a bit of a calculated risk, based on the previous owner being fairly fastidious. I’ve plugged in my Foxwell code reader and nothing was reported about the end system, so I’m hoping it’s OK. I’ll find some wet grass or mud to try it out on, just to be sure.Easternlight said:
there's a UK yeti owners forum and also briskoda both are very useful for problems etc.
Already signed up to the Yeti Owner’s Club and have browsed Briskoda a lot when I was doing my research.Easiest way is to launch the car, if the front wheels spin then likely to be 2wd
If you change the haldex oil make sure the fill plug comes out befor draining it, the fluid isn't that expensive
Make sure both headlights work if xenon, ballasts can fail and if the cambelt hasn't been changed then get it done, VAG saying 140k is rubbish.
If you change the haldex oil make sure the fill plug comes out befor draining it, the fluid isn't that expensive
Make sure both headlights work if xenon, ballasts can fail and if the cambelt hasn't been changed then get it done, VAG saying 140k is rubbish.
The Gauge said:
Sold my 2017 2.0L Yeti 4x4 last month, I thought it was a great car and was sorry to see it go, but an opportunity to buy a friends 730d was too good to miss.
OP = with yours having a sunroof watch for the drain tubes getting bunged up, first sign of this is wet carpets in front foot wells, common issue on sunroof models. I do like the spec of the Mote Carlo Yeti though.
As for the Heldex, get this serviced every 20-30k miles and make sure they clean off the gunge from the gauze on the end of the pump, as well as changing the oil. If left undone the Haldex system can seize up. I had a garage do mine for around £200 but if doing it DIY there are kits available but, ensure you drain from the correct plug as very close to the Haldex drain plug is the diff drain plug. I've heard of owners draining the diff by mistake, then removing the Haldex filler nut and adding oil (it only takes a small amount) thinking they have drained the Haldex, which they haven't. The diff then seizes up shortly after driving off. Skoda initially refused to acknowledge the need for this, but have recently changed their mind and now dealers offer the service to customers.
Here's a before and after photos of my Haldex pump when it was serviced at 30k miles...
So easy to pull the pump on the VW group haldex units and to drain the old oil. On my Freelander 2 I have to remove the propshaft then physically remove the entire haldex unit from the diff, then remove the propshaft coupling flange before you can get the pump out! And there's no drain plug because it saved Landrover about 10p on each unit. OP = with yours having a sunroof watch for the drain tubes getting bunged up, first sign of this is wet carpets in front foot wells, common issue on sunroof models. I do like the spec of the Mote Carlo Yeti though.
As for the Heldex, get this serviced every 20-30k miles and make sure they clean off the gunge from the gauze on the end of the pump, as well as changing the oil. If left undone the Haldex system can seize up. I had a garage do mine for around £200 but if doing it DIY there are kits available but, ensure you drain from the correct plug as very close to the Haldex drain plug is the diff drain plug. I've heard of owners draining the diff by mistake, then removing the Haldex filler nut and adding oil (it only takes a small amount) thinking they have drained the Haldex, which they haven't. The diff then seizes up shortly after driving off. Skoda initially refused to acknowledge the need for this, but have recently changed their mind and now dealers offer the service to customers.
Here's a before and after photos of my Haldex pump when it was serviced at 30k miles...
Edited by The Gauge on Tuesday 27th May 14:34
Had a Tiguan 4 motion as well, it was a good car, took it to 189000 miles. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff