[xplorauto]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

While it is a jack of all trades the Yeti is far from perfect which I hope has been addressed in the face lifted version.

There ain't a perfect car out there my friend and I don't think one can expect the Yeti to be especially given that it is as you said 'a jack of all trades'. Even purpose built vehicles are more often than not, short of being perfect in delivering the purpose it was built for. So I would argue that while critiquing the yeti, the aspect one has to evaluate is 'optimal balance and trade-off' and certainly not absolute perfection.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

While the specs are more than adequate on paper there are glaring shortcomings when it comes to dynamics and feel. These are my personal views after my drive, which I feel buyers must know of as not many even bother to check out how any car drives.

Of course the Yeti may not be a go-kart or even be as exhilarating to drive as opposed to an M3 bimmer or an S4 audi, but pit her against a Koleos or a Santa-Fe or a Fortuner and you would know that she is no less a go-kart in her territory. Not just that, she holds her own against the X1 and the Q3 as well even though being a million rupees cheaper

Originally Posted by dark.knight

- Non linear acceleration, slight jerky motion can be felt when you want it to do more, then turbo kicks in and car goes crazy. Should be tuned for more linearity as its a 95% city car.

When you get a hefty 2.0 litre block you cant get any more linear in acceleration without using a twin turbo or a twin scroll turbo which in turn would need a far more sophisticated ECU to control them. But where would that put your cost? Down size the engine and you loose out on the loads of grunt you get now. Having driven the Yeti for over a year and half now both in crawling Bangalore traffic as well as out on open highways when taken her to Munnar and Goa a few times, I can say with conviction that the torque curve she has is linear enough at this price and more than driveable in city and on highways.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

- Steering stitching must be definetly more grippy, the shiny smooth steering is very slippery to inspire confidence. Perforated PU leather is the best fix. Costs can be cut by putting in PU leather all over.

Okay point taken, but does this qualify as a glaring short coming?

Originally Posted by dark.knight

- Nil steering feedback at low/crawling speeds, though it weighs up and gives feeback above 50. Steering has to have more character at all speeds. The curse of EPS lives on. Dynamics, not much to talk about.

For maximum steering feedback, hydraulic power steering is the way to go. The new Jaguar F-type, still uses the HPS I am told, but then that is a sports coupe/cabriolet to be taken out only on weekends on a race track. My other car is a Fiat Linea T-Jet and she is much better than the Yeti when it comes to the steering feel (both active and passive). But on everyday commute to work which is about 35 kms away I thank the Yeti steering for being easy on my wrists.

Yeti is an everyday commuter and needs a light steering. Hence EPS and hence loss of feed back. I haven't seen a single car out there using an EPS and having adequate steering feedback at low speeds. But as long as they weigh up nicely on the highways, there isn't much to complain about. Thats what the Yeti does

Originally Posted by dark.knight

- Diesel thrum radiates thru the floor and overall to all passengers, specially at medium speeds. Should definetly be better insulated. A 1.6 petrol should be considered as an eco-friendly more refined option at competitive pricing.

I have no clue what you are talking about my friend. Diesel thrum radiating through floor to all passengers? Yes, I agree that the VW engines tend to clatter a bit on cold start but disappear briskly once it warms up. But how you describe it to be is quite far removed from what I have experienced on my Yeti and the 3 others that my friends and colleagues drive.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

- Glaring omissions in the form of no bluetooth pairing/streaming, no electric folding wing mirrors for a 20L + car. Camera would be nice due to high rear windows but the existing top-view graphic proximity sensor is fine.

Hardly any contemporary cars of the current Yeti's generation came with a stock BT. An OEM BT module can be retrofitted on the current Yeti though. I have it on my Yeti and it works seamlessly out-of-the-box.

The new Yeti does get BT capable entertainment system and a rear view camera. I am not certain about the electric folding wing mirrors but I suppose its there too.

As for me at 20 Lakhs I would rather have a 4x4 haldex clutch system with auto diff lock than an auto folding wing mirror. But to each his own.

Having said that, what I think is necessary for a car like the Yeti apart from a DSG gear box are adaptive headlamps and adaptive cruise control. The Yeti is a great long distance traveler. Adaptive headlamps are really handy on twisties and the auto leveling function is quite useful on highways.

On long haul commutes, I tend to get a stiff and sore calf muscle by holding the accelerator in position for long. That's when I miss the cruise control. But the regular CC is dangerous and I would rather not have it. Therefore the adaptive CC is the one that makes sense.

Then again, we keep saying that the Yeti is over priced but technologies like that are going to add to it. I kind of feel that just because the Yeti is comparable to an India hatch back in size we expect a matching price. We tend to forget the technologies the yeti brings to us at the size.

Originally Posted by dark.knight

- Some have noted that the stock tyres do no good to a refined drive. Better tyres should be put in as default.

A couple of months ago, my yeti developed a side wall tear on a rear left tyre due to my own fault. Since I had already done over 25K on my ODO, I was considering going for a tyre upgrade. I realized that Yeti has a weird tyre configuration and there is hardly much available at that size which are worthy of that car. So I stuck on to the stock tyres. I am not saying they are top-notch but at that size you dont get too many options either. Skoda can consider using a more common rim size where the cross over tyres are more freely available

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Last but not least make sure all Check-Engine lights/fuel pump issues are solved forever. Skoda is walking on edge as far as reliability goes.

The fuel gauge is a problem and I have had to get that replaced once. Apart from that nothing in 18 months. There are 4 Yetis in my circle of friends and I don't think the Yeti has some pressing reliability issue which makes it less dependable than any other car. I had a getz in 2005 which required a replacement of the steering wheel column within the first six months. Before that I had a Zen which needed an alternator change within the first 6 months. My brother had a corrola which needed a ECU change within the first 6 months. So I can't see how any other brand is any more reliable than the Yeti...

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by xplorauto

There ain't a perfect car out there my friend and I don't think one can expect the Yeti to be especially given that it is as you said 'a jack of all trades'. Even purpose built vehicles are more often than not, short of being perfect in delivering the purpose it was built for. So I would argue that while critiquing the yeti, the aspect one has to evaluate is 'optimal balance and trade-off' and certainly not absolute perfection.

Thankos XplorAuto and I couldn't have put it any better myself!
In my 3 years 3 months of ownership of the Yeti, In spite of some of the shortcomings, I still thank the day that I made the decision (even before launch) to buy it, as it has proven itself day in and day out. It takes us effortlessly to any mall as well as easily to our farm and does not complain! Even when it is due for service (after 15K Kms) there is not even an iota of lack of performance / composure and it still behaves reliably and predictably. Mileage for me has been a consistent 15-16 Km/l in mixed driving in Delhi and Gurgaon.
Some unique aspects which I would like to mention:
-My dog (labrador) fits comfortably in the boot and I don't have to worry about the seats getting dirty.
-Being 4x4, I Can take it easily to village roads without the suspension getting damaged (which I can't even think about my Laura with). I am not into hardcore offroading, though I have taken it into the Aravalli hills for offroading twice and it fared decently well.
- The ride quality is a little on the harder side, but after changing the tyres ( to Yokos Earlier and now Bridgestone in stock size), it really transformed and has improved. Others who have moved to 215/65 R16 size would have seen even better ride quality.
- Most of the time my wife drives it to office now and she enjoys the commanding view and reserves of power
- The non-linear power is because of the gap between the 1st and 2nd gear ratios. This is by design to do offroading in 1st gear as the Yeti does not have a dedicated 4x4 Low ratio. But you get used it over time. One thing I have done in my Yeti is to increase the Idle speed with a VCDS to 825 rpm instead of the default 775 which it was earlier. (this completely prevents the engine stalling problem that I faced during my early time of ownership). I had also given feedback to Skoda then and I think they also implemented an idle rpm increase across all Yeti's at that time.

Overall the Yeti is an intelligent car, with 50% SUV and 50% car genes to serve most city dwellers well.
Just sharing my personal views!

Regards,
Behemoth

[anandpadhye]

The new Yeti will have improved GC (min 200mm) to really become a SUV? I really wish they offered a low ratio gear-box and LSD.

[dark.knight]

@Behemoth @xplorauto -I can fully understand what the both of you are saying, and my last post was about the areas where the Yeti can improve and not a cavilling of any sort. I unapologetically look at machines for what they are and what they offer and its my nature to see how they could improve. To stand still ultimately means going backwards.

In the words of Mr.Shankar Balan in the last page, the Yeti is a niche product.. even though it is actually much more practical/VFM than a Laura or Superb. It never had the sales it could've only because of wrong perceptions. While I still stand by the areas of improvement I've pointed out I never said 2 things that others might a) its hatchback sized b) its expensive. It certainly has the size of a big car and it certainly is a sports utility vehicle. I know virtues like 4x4 and a multi plate electronically controlled clutch costs money, but electrically foldable wing mirrors and bluetooth hardly costs anything to come factory fitted which it might from now. As for driving, even though I've driven a 1/3 Series I never kept in mind that "ultimate driving machine" tag to critique a Yeti, that tag belongs to only BMW. Its just small mods to make everyday driving easier in the Yeti which @Behemoth has pointed out by tuning the idle speed by the diag system which has even been adopted by the company now.

[tomthump]

I bought my Yeti Elegance 4x4 in April 2012, from Marikar, Cochin. I had booked with St.Antony's but as they couldn't deliver on time I had cancelled my booking and purchased from Marikar. ( St..Antony's has not refunded Rs.50,000/- booking advance, so beware when paying advance to them).
My service expenses to date are given below. I had a bus break of the right rear view mirror, and also changed one set of tyres. December service they dismantled and repaired the ac unit under warranty. It is much better now.
The odometer has touched 50,000 KMS now.

29/06/12- oil - 474.00
09/10/12 - oil, oil filter - 4,930.00
20/12/12- air filter element, interior cleaning (1850)- 3,624.00
25/04/13 - oil, filters,etc - 14,227.00
07/12/13 - oil, filters, fluid- 10,218.00 ( incl washing, servicing)
TOTAL - 33,473.00

[volkman10]

With the facelifted Skoda Yeti that goes on sale later this year, Skoda is slated to introduce a 1.2 TSI engine option. The 1.2 TSI petrol Yeti will be cheaper than the current base 4x2 Yeti diesel and will also come with only front-wheel-drive. Unfortunately, there are no plans to launch the automatic DSG variant yet.

http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...ia-374167.aspx

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by tomthump

St..Antony's has not refunded Rs.50,000/- booking advance, so beware when paying advance to them.

Skoda have disengaged from St. Antony's and they no longer have the dealership - so I guess you can say a permanent goodbye to that money which you may already have written off in your mind.

[abbey4u]

Recently on my Madhya Pradesh trip, i jumped onto a big and bad bump, which seems to have broken my headlamp clamp (see marked in red), Any suggestion how to get that fixed. My headlight is still intact but is loose.

[Carcrazy60]

Originally Posted by abbey4u

Recently on my Madhya Pradesh trip, i jumped onto a big and bad bump, which seems to have broken my headlamp clamp (see marked in red), Any suggestion how to get that fixed. My headlight is still intact but is loose.

These blokes have a rubber sealant kind of thing which solidifies into hard rubber. I had a similar problem and they just placed the two ends properly and applied the solution. In less than five minutes it had solidified into a stronger bond. I have been using the car for a long time now and have faced no wobbling issues at all.

[abbey4u]

Originally Posted by Carcrazy60

These blokes have a rubber sealant kind of thing which solidifies into hard rubber. I had a similar problem and they just placed the two ends properly and applied the solution. In less than five minutes it had solidified into a stronger bond. I have been using the car for a long time now and have faced no wobbling issues at all.

When i gave it to them they just said it has to be replaced. Any idea if it's easy to access the joint, and can be a DIY (I have a glue which came with car dent remover and i think it can be used for that)

[Carcrazy60]

I think you just need to take out the front grill and the joint in the center of the car becomes visible. Thats all I can remember right now.

[pramods]

Originally Posted by abbey4u

When i gave it to them they just said it has to be replaced. Any idea if it's easy to access the joint, and can be a DIY (I have a glue which came with car dent remover and i think it can be used for that)

Just to let you know getting the bumper out is a "difficult" task unless you know every screws and bolts, or you have the service manual, I have seen it and it takes lots of time and effort, you have to get through the side panel as well you have to get the sensor(if you have elegance).
The best part you can remove the light without getting the bumper out there are only 2 joints that in the light, even though its difficult but possible to work on, my suggestion take it to some body repair shop and they would be able to take out the bumper and also the light and then you can fix the glue and light back, it would be cheaper to do that way than going to service and replacing the light, the light are not that "pricey" I believe they are somewhere 12K only

-Pramod

[volkman10]

New Skoda Yeti facelift to launch in July.

Skoda Auto will launch the facelift version of its crossover SUV, the Yeti, in July. The SUV was showcased at the Auto Expo 2014 and features new styling elements and an improved interiors.

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...-july/35063542

[Carcrazy60]

I had taken the car for the free Ac check up. I told them I thought I could hear a slight noise while the Ac was on if you were standing next to the car with the Ac on. They said the Ac is fine but we think the dual mass flywheel is making some noise. If indeed it's the flywheel, surely it would be covered under the warranty? My Yeti is just a year and a half old and I have done just about 18500odd Kms.

Some advice please. Thanks in advance.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Carcrazy60

I had taken the car for the free Ac check up. I told them I thought I could hear a slight noise while the Ac was on if you were standing next to the car with the Ac on. They said the Ac is fine but we think the dual mass flywheel is making some noise. If indeed it's the flywheel, surely it would be covered under the warranty? My Yeti is just a year and a half old and I have done just about 18500odd Kms.

Some advice please. Thanks in advance.

Any DMF problem would also show us as engine misbehaviour like unstable idling, juddering if it is a functional issue. Though difficult to guess remotely, but if your car is driving fine and engine is not exhibiting any drivability issues it should be fine.