[chinkara]

Originally Posted by mnemonic

The yeti appeals to the finer sensibilities in one. Little surprise that it remains a niche product in our country.

With her in the driveway, i reckon it will be a hard sleeping indoors

Pricing, my dear sir, pricing.
Why do you thing the likes of us (i.e. me and my ilk, not sure you fall in that ) just admire the Yeti from afar.

I sometimes think, "To hell with it, I can postpone other things and splurge 7 lakhs more on my car." But what use is buying an SUV if you need to cut down on vacations you bought it for in the first place?

[Jayant..B]

Is Yeti a CBU? Or is it assembled here?

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Jayant..B

Is Yeti a CBU? Or is it assembled here?

Not a CBU. AFAIK, its a CKD - assembled here.

[shankar.balan]

save your bucks for 6-7 months and go and get your dream - thats what I did!

it feels like driving a Laura Station Wagon type thing but one is not required to be too mindful of the bad roads on account of the good GC.
and the Luxe and Comfort inside is worth it. For me it is a different world like I said, to the one I have been lurking in for so long, with a succession of Indian SUVs.

Originally Posted by chinkara

Pricing, my dear sir, pricing.
Why do you thing the likes of us (i.e. me and my ilk, not sure you fall in that ) just admire the Yeti from afar.

I sometimes think, "To hell with it, I can postpone other things and splurge 7 lakhs more on my car." But what use is buying an SUV if you need to cut down on vacations you bought it for in the first place?

[nilanjanray]

Originally Posted by chinkara

Pricing, my dear sir, pricing.
Why do you thing the likes of us (i.e. me and my ilk, not sure you fall in that ) just admire the Yeti from afar.

I sometimes think, "To hell with it, I can postpone other things and splurge 7 lakhs more on my car." But what use is buying an SUV if you need to cut down on vacations you bought it for in the first place?

Save hard and then go for it, as Shankar said. Life is short...

[shankar.balan]

Its a CKD.
the pricing differential between the UK and India for the same spec - 2 litre 140BHP CR 4x4 is not very much. Especially in the current scenario where the GBP is ruling at about 80 Rs.
20615 GBP in UK inclusive of VAT.
21 odd lacs in India inclusive of everything. Take into account the discounts etc and you get nearabout pricing.

Originally Posted by Jayant..B

Is Yeti a CBU? Or is it assembled here?

[chinkara]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

save your bucks for 6-7 months and go and get your dream - thats what I did!

it feels like driving a Laura Station Wagon type thing but one is not required to be too mindful of the bad roads on account of the good GC.
and the Luxe and Comfort inside is worth it. For me it is a different world like I said, to the one I have been lurking in for so long, with a succession of Indian SUVs.

Originally Posted by nilanjanray

Save hard and then go for it, as Shankar said. Life is short...

Hmmm, only it would take 2-3 years to save 7 L rather than 6-7 months! Else a higher loan which would cut the weekend and travel budget for at least 2-3 years.
And if you want an SUV because of your passion for travelling, does it make sense to cut down on the same to own the SUV. Fundamental existential question. Makes me want to wait for the Duster. Only, the government will increase taxes on diesel vehicles further from March!!!

[SushilBajpai]

Originally Posted by chinkara

Hmmm, only it would take 2-3 years to save 7 L rather than 6-7 months! Else a higher loan which would cut the weekend and travel budget for at least 2-3 years.
And if you want an SUV because of your passion for travelling, does it make sense to cut down on the same to own the SUV. Fundamental existential question. Makes me want to wait for the Duster. Only, the government will increase taxes on diesel vehicles further from March!!!

I empathize with you chinkara. Although I bought a Yeti, I still feel its story is a bit like that of Jazz.

Skoda has introduced it at a price point that discourages many. Personally I feel that there should be variants of the car starting at least a couple of lakh lower than the least expensive 2X4 on offer today.

Mahindra have done a good job in introducing XUV 500 at a great VFM. XUV 500 is also not exactly cheap, but look at the response. Sometimes I feel that Skoda lost a great opportunity to establish themselves as segment leader. I am also nearly certain there will be more options available in the coming months.

[chinkara]

Originally Posted by SushilBajpai

I empathize with you chinkara. Although I bought a Yeti, I still feel its story is a bit like that of Jazz.

Skoda has introduced it at a price point that discourages many. Personally I feel that there should be variants of the car starting at least a couple of lakh lower than the least expensive 2X4 on offer today.

Mahindra have done a good job in introducing XUV 500 at a great VFM. XUV 500 is also not exactly cheap, but look at the response. Sometimes I feel that Skoda lost a great opportunity to establish themselves as segment leader. I am also nearly certain there will be more options available in the coming months.

I agree. I have actually taken a TD of XUV. But it will also not be available before April-May, right? And taxes would increase by then.

[Jayant..B]

Is Skoda's online sale handled by Carwale.com?

I enquired about Yeti on Skoda India website, where they claim that they will call the prospective customer in 1 hour. It never happened and I received a call only after 10 days, that too from Carwale. And they dont even know the exact prices and details of the vehicles. I think they just pass on the info to the dealers for further follow-up, coz I receive a sms that I will be contacted by the dealer within a day and even after 4 days, I am still waiting!

[SushilBajpai]

Originally Posted by Jayant..B

Is Skoda's online sale handled by Carwale.com?

I enquired about Yeti on Skoda India website, where they claim that they will call the prospective customer in 1 hour. It never happened and I received a call only after 10 days, that too from Carwale. And they dont even know the exact prices and details of the vehicles. I think they just pass on the info to the dealers for further follow-up, coz I receive a sms that I will be contacted by the dealer within a day and even after 4 days, I am still waiting!

It's best to call the dealer directly. There is definitely a communication gap between Skoda and their dealers. Skoda is unable to even effectively communicate information like firmware updates. The case in point is the firmware update for Yeti, which was released a couple of months back. Asset Auto and Europa (in Pune) were clueless about it. Finally I was able to update the firmware at Autobahn, Mumbai.

Having said that I have noticed this disconnect even with other manufacturers like Volvo and Mercedes. The messages left through website remain poorly attended.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Not a CBU. AFAIK, its a CKD - assembled here.

Yes, The Yeti is a CKD, but as the engine is imported pre-assembled , it now comes under the 30% duty slab, as against the 10% duty slab which was applicable earlier. Almost all manufacturers have borne a major brunt of the government policy change, as they are not yet assembling engines in India yet.
VW group also has plans to start the engine assembly in India by 2012 end, as do many other manufacturers.

Regards,
Behemoth

[Jayant..B]

Originally Posted by SushilBajpai

Skoda is unable to even effectively communicate information like firmware updates. The case in point is the firmware update for Yeti, which was released a couple of months back. Asset Auto and Europa (in Pune) were clueless about it. Finally I was able to update the firmware at Autobahn, Mumbai.

Is this firmware update done Free of Cost? How does a customer know if his car needs an update?

How much time does it take?

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Jayant..B

Is this firmware update done Free of Cost? How does a customer know if his car needs an update?

How much time does it take?

Yes, it is done Free of Cost. It is done mostly on the customer's request if they are facing problems (such as in my case with the AC tripping). They basically check online with Skoda servers for the latest firmwares for selective controllers (there are 19 on my Yeti Ambiente), and for one controller, it takes around 30 min to update. Out of these the Engine ECU is the main one. In my case, I asked them to check for updates on the Engine ECU and the Climatic controller. The ECU firmware was updated with the latest release, while the other was fine.

Skoda India also gave a CD version of the ECU firmware to all dealers with the advice that when all Yeti's come for service to the workshop, they have to update the software - however as the Yeti's come for service only once a year, most users would not even have gone to the workshop yet.


Regards,
Behemoth

[shankar.balan]

Some replies below;

Originally Posted by Jayant..B

Is this firmware update done Free of Cost? How does a customer know if his car needs an update?

Yes this is correct. It is done free. I was told that they get to know that a particular vehicle requires an update the moment they hook it up to the computer when carrying out the PDI etc. Apparently in the case of my Yeti it was already done.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

They basically check online with Skoda servers for the latest firmwares for selective controllers (there are 19 on my Yeti Ambiente), and for one controller, it takes around 30 min to update.

This is interesting information - thanks Behemoth!

Originally Posted by Jayant..B

Is Skoda's online sale handled by Carwale.com?

Yes I am told Carwale does some online work for Skoda - but personally, when buying such an expensive thing I would much rather pop up to the dealer with my affirmation of purchase, sit across the table and do my negotiating.