Team-BHP - 2013 Skoda Yeti Elegance 4x4

Hie all,
This is my second post and I will try me best to be more up to date in follow up of this thread.This post will cover from my search to buying to owning of the Yeti.Just a piece of sort of a negative which will be present throughout my post,I am not into the visual appeal of things and not good with the ICE so my post will be very limited on these topics.And frankly its going to be a long boring post.

PRELOGUE
We are a family of 3 doctors and an engineer who lives abroad with family.The garage in toyota friendly,it has a 13 year old qualis (280000km) and a 3 year old liva GD(30000km) and my ride a 2010 YZFR15 (14000kms).First things first,I still consider the qualis as the best vehicle I have ever had and it has proved me right in 13 long years and no question of selling it in the near future.I really can't describe the qualis in a review and that's why I haven't done so yet.Its an adjective I use for reliability,toughness,longevity.The liva is wonderful to drive sedately and added to it massive space and toyota qualities make us pretty satisfied with it.
So as any youth who has grown up to cars I too am crazy about it.We had a swift with a CAI and was pretty much the benchmark for us in terms of driving fun till the yeti landed( I know a comparison is stupid but I don't have another example). So I did my graduation,done a lot of touring and I always met an obstacle when I ended up hearing these famous words "only 4wd can go beyond this point " So after multiple encounters with this I decided its time I surpass this and on I went for hunting a 4wd vehicle.I had been in the used car market for almost a year and have tried everything from old military 550 to used montero.If i start on it ,this thread will become downright painful.But anyone can always ask me and I can share what little I learned from all that.Fast forward to may 31st,after almost finalizing on a used fortuner I came home to tell my parents I thing the search has ended and it truly did because what awaited me in my car porch was a matto brown TD vehicle.It costs 22.5L otr and the (used) Tford was at 17.75L By this time I were pretty knowledgeable and with the Yeti threads around I would be a liar if I said I weren't a diehard fan.I knew it was a laura that has 4wd and ditched the large boot for rear seat flexibility and its german,a definite step up from our beloved japanese toyotas.
Enter Mr Abraham,mariker motors ernakulam,He was the single biggest reason I was sold in a TD and that's a big deal because I have been doing TD of used vehicles for year.The TD vehicle had done 70K and there were just a few plastic rattles.The way he drove the car, I realised one thing instantly,I am never going to push this vehicle to even half of this and this beast of a vehicle can take this for almost 75k and still feel ready for many more.And the decision was made easy because I came to this straight from a Tford,no disrespect to anyone and I being a toyota fan , have to painfully accept Tford is no match for this unless its on a offroad challenge and toyota want to charge you a liver and a kidney for it,otr 28.75L and more importantly in a family which already owns a qualis space was not a criteria.

An important factor is,with all the research I did ,I came to the conclusion that I never am going to push this vehicle too much offroad,All it needs to do is make sure I don't get stuck and my vacations are more fun.I guess all the offroading I will do will be <5% and I didn't want that 5% to decide and make me compromise the 95% (everything other than offroad ability) so I decided I didn't need a hardcore offroader with basic road handling like endy,Tford,Pajero,Montero. XUV was ruled out because I think yeti is a better offroader as well as on_roader than the XUV and we had vitamin M for yeti.Duster doesn't have a 4wd.The only real competition was whether I wanted a used Nissan X_Trail ,which I couldn't get in a price and condition that I needed.And there is an absolute deficiency of Yeti in the used car markets in Kerala and of the very few who bought it,nobody wants to sell and now I know its a disease I also am sure of having.

THE DEAL
Bitter sweet fruit,we opted to upgrade to shield on the insurance renewal.It was a 2013 model and I couldn't get a 2012 model for added discounts.Anyway final deal was 21.25 without shield but b to b cover.We had our issues,(a delay-some lies-no response and then finally all is well in yeti and war) with the dealer, but I will just say thank you for giving me an awesome car and I would definitely recommend Mr Abraham in very high regard.Thank you

THE WOLF ( in sheep clothing)

Looks: As I have already taken bail here,I am happy with it.We are not people who want to show off an expensive car.But from the response of people nearby, they absolutely hate it that I spend >20l on this when they would love to see me in a flashy sedan and I just have to say I took it for my reasons,reasons where a sedan would piss in its pants. Its not a looker,its too small (and too fast) for anyone to take notice.Its subtle and purpose build and is a Tank.Just do the usual open and close door of this and a jap vehicle and you will know what I mean.The wheel arches of the rear wheels tell you this is not a regular softroader that fears the offroad and the underbody design and protection is phenomenal,it just makes you feel like the GC>200mm while it really is 180mm.And the perk of all this small size is, I can treat it like a swift that has 140ps and I will vouch for it that as good as the swift is in corners Yeti is just that little better especially with the stability,safety and 4wd grip.Its cappucino beige in colour and again a subtle character.
The downside,well I am thinking

INSIDE:Its loaded and if anyone has any doubts look at the sedans at this price.Its solid,dual zone climate thing,adjustable seats,steering,bolero ICE,even blowers for feet of rear passengers,heated orvm, MID ( the first for us),auto wipers,adjustable handrest and the flexibility of the rear seats is something all other manufactures need to learn (ecosport has done a bit).I love all the hooks and nets and the thoughtfulness of the guy who made it makes me his fan.The glassholder armrest com seat for the rear passenger is well appreciated by dad and his friends.

The only glitch I find is that the auto ac takes air from outside and even if I go to autoair control thing it puts a lot of unwanted smells inside.I wont complain about lack of sunroof,bixenons,heated seats and all because if I wanted them I would have had to pay another 2L for all that and that too if skoda introduce an L&K.But they could have allowed more freedom with the MID,but our model has settings to change units already unlocked in the mid,I guess the only difference to previous models.Another thing, is not really a bad thing,its just a fictatious wish, wish my rear passengers wouldn't go on a roller coster everytime I turn and believe me its difficult to make your mom wear a seatbelt when she seats in those rear seats,a strict personal choice.

THE DRIVE
If anyone has an issue with the yeti its this section that will cure you.This is a beast,no its a car,no its a really good handling car,na its a hatch,but its 4wd suv (hatch for me),I will call the drive as a mini suv who has been hipnoticed to believe its a tight handling german hatchback. The engine is the heart and the first thing you do in the car is learn to drive the clutch,it comes naturally to someone like me who has 2 diesel cars already.But I still have my stalls especially after I take a hump after slowing down.The engine loves the revs and so its always tingling my right foot,I were advised not to take it beyond 4k till about the first checkup and I have to say its not an advice,its a warning.I haven't driven looking into the rev counter but I guess I have driven it the way I want to but have never had the need to take it beyond 3.5k.The turbo kicks in near 1700rpm but there is already enough power to make you cruise by this time,so anything beyond 2k is turbo,beyond 3k is pushing it and beyond 3.5K, well never needed it till now.Its vibration free,noise well controlled and its only once when I drove it without the ac that I really heard the turbo spool and believe me its an awesome track.Idle rpm is below 1k and best economy is between 1400-1800rpm if the mid is true.Power is just addictive and you feel depressed everytime you have to break the momentum thanks to kerala police with all the speed checks .1st gear is short and before you realise it you are into 2nd, a gear good for traffic and all the slow driving with good response at will,3rd is for those winding roads and village roads and its tricky because this is the point of time where you start to gain speed too fast for you to realise,4th 5th are good to hold onto to speeds anywhere between 40 to 140kmph and you are itching to go to 6th which for me is a mistake,its a personal choice. In my experience 6th strictly for >110kmph and whenever I try to put it below those speeds either I am too slow in progress or I need to go down again.But post 120kmph its THE gear,smooth,calculated,strong and flowing with silky smooth power flow.4th and 5th are what I find myself in most of the times.Simple scary demonstration I got was on a night drive on the perumbavoor muvattupuzha MC road,I went through the gears like I would on my liva and usually liva settles at 90-100kmph,the same exercise on yeti 145kmph.

Other aspects well,the steering is so light but feels so solid at higher speeds,good feedback,precise,gets you involved and very easy to handle.Gear is actually butter smooth and the throws are delightful.Finding a good driving position is a piece of cake,brakes are low on feel but I guess its attributed to all the safety packages.
The suspension is set for this to be a handler more than to give you a carpet ride.It indicates the grade of the pothhole you just went through with varying degres of sound but its never too harsh.The TD vehicle was thrashed in some bad bad roads and if you guys want a tip I can tell you the faster you go through them the less it effects you but its something I dare not try in my vehicle hehehe.Handling is the best I have had,better than swift shod with 225 tyres.The big improvement is the confidence the brakes give you and its not woblly over uneven surfaces.But definitely,this is never a vehicle you would love to be driven in on bad roads.So in short its a handler that can take a bad roads,it was another point that it beats the sedans.

OFFROAD
From what I did with the TD vehicle (turned it around in a rubber estate without roads) and a short trip to idukki I found it to be very very good,I being not one for hardcore stuff.The tyres hate anything slippery and other than that its at peace with all that I threw at it.Special mention of the hill descend control because it is the safest way to get downhill on a slippery surface simple because its the individual tyres that are braked which is something we humans can never repeat.I didnt find much difference with the offroad button but it was a short drive in offroad so will have to look at it again.The ace up its sleeve is the same thing people ridicule it for,the size,its a maruti 800 among offroader if I can use that name.You almost always find an easier way that you just cant do with a tford or endy.Anyways for my requirement.

Economy has been around 12-13kmpl and the lesser was when we had to do the offroading and mostly stuck to gears below 3 for a while.
I use it as a four seater but on a lone trip we never had many complaints from a thin 5th passenger.Luggage space is adequate but we always have the Qualis for it.MID was confusing but now well versed.

NEGATIVES
Washing the alloys are a pain, its a dirt magnet so much so that even the A pillar has its fair amount.Dirt gets deposited between the doors and the body and beware and be sure to clean it everytime you wash the car.I would have liked the back seats to have more reclining because if it was restricted by the tray I am ready to remove it.Stalling is an embarresing affair and I miss taking slopes with just the clutch which I love in the qualis,but hill assist is a boon here.No cooled glovebox.

The small things,hooks are good for shopping duty,ac is a chiller as expected,visibility is A+ with enough adjustment we can get a position similar to qualis which is impossible in almost everything else.The parking assist catches even those small insignificant plants and driving this through tight roads with these kind of plants is a tensed situation.Love the cornering lamps and auto dimming rear view mirrors,small but helpful and something you never realise.Lights are good but with the speeds this thing goes at an upgrade is looking like a necessity.Auto wipers are awesome but struggle with variable rains rather than on and off rains,It wipes when you take a corner or you are held up in the dirt spray from the vehicle in front of you.I love wrong turns because this is so easy to turn,its a life saver when you go places without roads.No rattles or nothing even close.Enough storage spaces,good quality seats and everything is quality actually,only driver unlock brings me stares from my passengers in crowded situations and rains,accessibility to trunk is a boon .Audio player is good,I am not qualified to say more than that.

The only issue I have had is of some white smoke that comes for about 2-3mins and I notice that its usually when the car has been parked in a slope for a while before the incident,talked to skoda and they say its with the variable quality of diesel but I have looked for associated symptoms but got nothing.So buying their story as of now.

A big thanks to all the yeti owners and their threads,can't name everyone but thank you allclap:

I know this thread is not much but I am waiting for all your opinions and feedback and feel free to shoot any question.I feel I haven't done justice to the yeti but I will keep updating this post whenever I can.
Cheers to all,drive safe and YETI IS AWESOMEagree: