[shankar.balan]

I would love to do that Akshay - indeed I asked the 3M blokes for the glossy finish stuff but they said they dont have any. They are working only with this carbon fibre look alike and since I spent 1200 odd bucks on it yesterday I dont want to change it in a hurry atleast until I decide to change the whole part...

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Shankar may I suggest you wrap those pillars in a gloss black wrap which 3M has? The carbon fibre looks a bit tacky with the rest of the pillars in nice glossy black. Also these are just plastic parts, so they won't be too expensive even if you do have to replace them at some point.

Please don't say Grave - because my Yeti is far from that stage and my affection for it is also far from that stage...call it adolescence if you will, but not Grave.
I do get what you mean though...
Its interesting that you are planning to settle in Eagleton? Are you going to live on the golf course or nearby?
I ask as a golfer and I propose to park near Clover Greens at the other end, for my later years...

Originally Posted by jjvten10

Dear Balan,
1. Undoubtedly by far the most comprehensive narration from cradle to should I say grave ?? of the Yeti.
2. You have undeniably made me lust for an Yeti..same story now begins to garner the required finances. Would be settling down at Eagleton Bangalore in the very near future, hence your experience in driving around in Bangalore is invaluable.
3. Many thanks for the outstanding article.
Cheerz..JJ

[shankar.balan]

A small pointer required please.

I recently had my tyres and wheels rotated. Discovered that one Alloy is scarred by some stone or rock while driving. It is minor but looks unsightly once you know it is there.

I was thinking of perhaps buying a full size spare along with an alloy and placing it in the boot, because the space saver spare is not necessarily the best option for our Indian road conditions, even though in the last one and a half years of Yeti ownership, I have not experienced a single punctured tyre.

Or should I simply wait till it is time to change all the 4 tyres to new ones and do it at that time at one shot?

Any idea how expensive the alloy wheel is? And will a regular sized tyre mounted on the alloy and then used as a spare, cause serious difficulties in the rear boot loading area?

Requesting expert advice on this please...

Thanks in advance...

[condor]

Shankar, you could replace that alloy with a brand new one. But that will fix the damage but never can you fix the cause. An alloy, at some point in it's life, will get scratched.

So, even if you get a new alloy, please be ready for another scratch. Not today / tomorrow, but will happen somewhere down the road.

Reg getting putting a full sized spare - yes, by all means.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

A small pointer required please.

Originally Posted by condor

Reg getting putting a full sized spare - yes, by all means.

Doesn't the Yeti come with a spare Alloy? And that too Shankar's Yeti is the top end version !

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by condor

Shankar, you could replace that alloy with a brand new one. But that will fix the damage but never can you fix the cause. An alloy, at some point in it's life, will get scratched.

So, even if you get a new alloy, please be ready for another scratch. Not today / tomorrow, but will happen somewhere down the road.

Reg getting putting a full sized spare - yes, by all means.

Originally Posted by ampere

Doesn't the Yeti come with a spare Alloy? And that too Shankar's Yeti is the top end version !

Hey thats cool! I am not totally stressed on account of the scratch. The idea primarily was to go full size instead of space saver. If I do change to full size and get a brand new alloy, I will of course start using the brand new alloy and put the scarred one into the boot as the spare. And Yes, while I will always do my best to be careful with my driving, I am fully aware that one cannot molly coddle the car so much that one never gets one's alloys scratched!


The Yeti comes with a space saver spare with a steel wheel.
This is standard across the world. If one wants to get that changed to an alloy and a full size spare then one needs to do it at one's own cost.

Same story with BMW, Audi and many of the more expensive Euro cars...

[condor]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

If I do change to full size and get a brand new alloy, I will of course start using the brand new alloy ..

I hope your tryes are omni-directional and not uni-directional. If the regular are uni, then you could get an omni-directional for the spare wheel. But that will have to be used only till the affected original gets repaired.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by condor

I hope your tryes are omni-directional and not uni-directional. If the regular are uni, then you could get an omni-directional for the spare wheel. But that will have to be used only till the affected original gets repaired.

The 4 OEM tyres which I am running are uni-directional
The spare is a smaller tyre and needs to be replaced with a full size tyre
If I make the change I shall go with the recommendations of other Yeti users, and probably buy Yokohamas or Bridgestones or something. Those, in all probability, unlike the OEM tyres, will be omni directional.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I do not really want to say that it IS the Auto Wash that did for my A Pillar panel covers...

Quoting myself as above!

I am sorry but it most certainly WAS the Pronto wash that did my A Pillar and B Pillar glossy black Plastic Covers in! Hundred percent proven...

I went there today for a quick surface wash along with my wife. It had rained and my car was rather spotty and dirty today.
Everything was fine in the wash but when those rollers had finished their job, I noted that the right side ( Driver side) A Pillar cover corner edge was again broken off in exactly the same place as it was before. I am 100% sure this was on account of the action if those fibre loaded rollers. The vehicle was perfect when it went into the wash. and the A Pillar on the passenger side, which had broken off on the previous visit and which I subsequently glued back on, managed to stay put this time and did not break off.

Of course I brought it to their attention. The owner was not there and the other chap dressed in white who was there would not accept the fact. He did say I should have told him about this first before getting the car washed a second time. But I said I wanted to experiment and prove this to myself first. Finally he did accept it after a fashion. I also told him that I will not be coming back in my Yeti for his Auto wash.

So I paid him Rs 250/- for the external car wash and drove away. Again Pronto did not see fit to give me a bill and nor did he even offer me one.
I then went straight to 3M and got that small edge piece of the A Pillar re-stuck with some strong feviquick and had the carbon fibre sticker job also re-smoothed over.

The A Pillar appears fine now but we all know that the problem is there. I will change those plastic covers by and by. And I will never be able to go back to Pronto to get my Yeti washed.

The design of those A Pillar covers being so pointy at the edge near the bonnet, actually creates a ready made recipe for disaster, on account of the auto wash roller fibres getting caught there and literally pulling it and breaking off the edge piece.

[samyboy]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Any idea how expensive the alloy wheel is? And will a regular sized tyre mounted on the alloy and then used as a spare, cause serious difficulties in the rear boot loading area?

Shankar, I had asked if I could purchase a spare alloy and have full size tyre right when I bought the car. One of the senior folks in the sales told me that if I was to do that the base cover below which the tyre is stored will not close fully. I did not like the idea of not having a perfectly flat surface to keep my stuff on. You might want to check into this before putting your money on it.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by samyboy

Shankar, I had asked if I could purchase a spare alloy and have full size tyre right when I bought the car. One of the senior folks in the sales told me that if I was to do that the base cover below which the tyre is stored will not close fully. I did not like the idea of not having a perfectly flat surface to keep my stuff on. You might want to check into this before putting your money on it.

Yep mate.
Will do that. Nor do I want a non- flush fit of the floor cover.
Cheers.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

And I will never be able to go back to Pronto to get my Yeti washed.

Good decision, because other than damaging your A-Pillar auto car washes (except the contact-free ones that use waterjets instead of those hideous rotating brushes) are bad for your paint too.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Good decision, because other than damaging your A-Pillar auto car washes (except the contact-free ones that use waterjets instead of those hideous rotating brushes) are bad for your paint too.

Ah. Thats an interesting input. Thanks. So all good then...

[jjvten10]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

I would love to do that Akshay - indeed I asked the 3M blokes for the glossy finish stuff but they said they dont have any. They are working only with this carbon fibre look alike and since I spent 1200 odd bucks on it yesterday I dont want to change it in a hurry atleast until I decide to change the whole part...




Please don't say Grave - because my Yeti is far from that stage and my affection for it is also far from that stage...call it adolescence if you will, but not Grave.
I do get what you mean though...
Its interesting that you are planning to settle in Eagleton? Are you going to live on the golf course or nearby?
I ask as a golfer and I propose to park near Clover Greens at the other end, for my later years...

Dear Balan,
Sorry, missed your query. Have picked up a county on the course and hope to attain nirvana on the course in the near future. Cheers. JJ

[shankar.balan]

Whoops!

The right side front alloy and rear alloy are both scuff damaged and scarred now. The horrid stony roads of Bangalore and its innumerable pot holes are to blame. I am rather distressed though the damage is small-ish...

[shankar.balan]

One more problem. My Drivers side door bottom appears slightly damaged and the shut line is no longer as flush as the left side one. I cannot imagine how this can have happened unless it was when that fool in the Michelin tyre shop raised it up without using the hoist and it fell back to the ground quite hard.
There is no paint damage etc but clearly the muck is getting into the underbody protecton cover on account of that having been slightly broken by that mishap narrated above.
Now what worries me is the door.
I guess I shall have to get it tinkered and knocked back into shape by going to the workshop. Heaven alone knows how much this is going to cost!