[contessa]

Originally Posted by abbey4u

Has anyone done teflon (paint protection) on their yeti. Any recommendation? Went to reliance autozone and checked the material used. Theirs involves a rubbing > Paint polish > paint sealant. Also went to carnation and they showed some guardx product. Rubbing > Paint pre-sealant > Paint sealant. (no polish).

Any suggestion on if i should go with that or not. I have used nu-finish once in a year car polish earlier and they are good but no sure if going with paint sealant will be better?

I'm not in favor of teflon, not because of teflon itself, but more because of the way in which the guys apply it.

I do not think they replace the brush that they use for "buffing" - as often as then should. Since these machines are quite powerful, it will leave minute scratch marks all over your car. It will be very visible from an angle in day-light. I had this problem with both my earlier cars, despite 3M guys applying it.

I will recommend that you use car wax and hand-buff it with a good cloth. Repeat this on a regular period.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by autoskooll

I verified if the VIN is valid in the attached link & found that it was produced in June 2011 more than a year back.Now does this mean that the car was put together back in june 11 or was it manufactured later on?

Hi Autoskooll,

The VIN essentially indicates the date when the "kit" was manufactured. In your case, rather in the case of any country where the vehicles are supplied as CKD Kits, this date has little relevance apart from any changes that the vehicle would have gone through, technically or cosmetically.

When you go to see your vehicle in the yard ( and please do so, I insist), you will see a sticker on the white covering of the bonnet which has a manufacturing date and an expiry date. This manufacturing date is the date of assembly of your 'kit' at Aurangabad and the expiry date is the date before which the plastic covers should be removed to avoid damage to the paint. They lose their insulating properties post that date.

Coming to the changes, there are been no changes made in the Yeti from 2011 to 2012 except the change in the alloy wheel design and it is best that you tell the dealer that you are particular about the Nevis wheels and would want a vehicle with those wheels or he could exchange the alloys for a set of Nevis from another vehicle.
If he denies, tell him to cancel your booking and vehicle, simple. That will bring him back on track.


Please keep in mind that YOU are paying money for your vehicle and it should be to YOUR complete satisfaction. DO NOT sign any document till YOU are completely satisfied.

[abbey4u]

Originally Posted by contessa

I'm not in favor of teflon, not because of teflon itself, but more because of the way in which the guys apply it.

I do not think they replace the brush that they use for "buffing" - as often as then should. Since these machines are quite powerful, it will leave minute scratch marks all over your car. It will be very visible from an angle in day-light. I had this problem with both my earlier cars, despite 3M guys applying it.

I will recommend that you use car wax and hand-buff it with a good cloth. Repeat this on a regular period.

Thanks. I gave this a lot of thought and have decided to not go for any teflon. Last weekend i did polishing by myself and the result is good. I have used The Once-a-Year Car Polish | Nu Finish

[fi.robin]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Hi Autoskooll,

The VIN essentially indicates the date when the "kit" was manufactured. In your case, rather in the case of any country where the vehicles are supplied as CKD Kits, this date has little relevance apart from any changes that the vehicle would have gone through, technically or cosmetically.

When you go to see your vehicle in the yard ( and please do so, I insist), you will see a sticker on the white covering of the bonnet which has a manufacturing date and an expiry date. This manufacturing date is the date of assembly of your 'kit' at Aurangabad and the expiry date is the date before which the plastic covers should be removed to avoid damage to the paint. They lose their insulating properties post that date.

Coming to the changes, there are been no changes made in the Yeti from 2011 to 2012 except the change in the alloy wheel design and it is best that you tell the dealer that you are particular about the Nevis wheels and would want a vehicle with those wheels or he could exchange the alloys for a set of Nevis from another vehicle.
If he denies, tell him to cancel your booking and vehicle, simple. That will bring him back on track.


Please keep in mind that YOU are paying money for your vehicle and it should be to YOUR complete satisfaction. DO NOT sign any document till YOU are completely satisfied.

What part of the Kit will the date be associated with? Not all will be manufactured in same month.

I bought my Fabia in July 2008 and it was assembled in India, the VIN reads:
Year of production: 8 2008
Month of production: G july
Producing factory: A Aurangabad (India)
Country of manufacturer: TM Europe, Czech Republic
Name of manufacturer: B Skoda Auto a. s.

It makes me believe that it refers to the assembled month (in our case).

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by fi.robin

What part of the Kit will the date be associated with?

It indicates when the kit is "mated" which means when the the body and the engine are kitted together. That is when VINs are allocated to any vehicle, across the world.

[fi.robin]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

It indicates when the kit is "mated" which means when the the body and the engine are kitted together. That is when VINs are allocated to any vehicle, across the world.

It may sound stupid but will ask anyway .

The mated date is the assembled date and isn't that what we look for at the time of purchase? And shouldn't the sticker date then be close to the date in VIN (or month) if not same.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by fi.robin

It may sound stupid but will ask anyway .

The mated date is the assembled date and isn't that what we look for at the time of purchase? And shouldn't the sticker date then be close to the date in VIN (or month) if not same.

Not in the case of SKD/CKD kits. You see, the Yeti would have been mated, assigned a VIN and then put into a "kit" which would have been stocked at the plant. Then, upon getting an order, it would have left the plant in a container, alongwith other such kits, come to the port of shipment, transported to the country of import, transported, probably by road, to the plant there, assembled again, and then, the assembly line supervisor would have put that date sticker on the bonnet.

Does this clarify?

[fi.robin]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Not in the case of SKD/CKD kits. You see, the Yeti would have been mated, assigned a VIN and then put into a "kit" which would have been stocked at the plant. Then, upon getting an order, it would have left the plant in a container, alongwith other such kits, come to the port of shipment, transported to the country of import, transported, probably by road, to the plant there, assembled again, and then, the assembly line supervisor would have put that date sticker on the bonnet.

Does this clarify?

My understanding was that major components are imported separately and then assembled here. That is what the "mated" you are referring to.

About 3 years ago I was having this discussion with an ex employee of Skoda (who was then the service manager at a Skoda service center). From what I understood was - earlier manufactures would import cars almost already built with just minor stuff to be assembled here. Of course there was a loop hole in the government rule of CKD which they were exploiting. Most of the Octavia came through this. But then rules changed and that was no more possible. So now the engine, gearbox etc are imported separately and then assembled here. If this is correct then the "mating" is actually happening here in India, right?

I am not sure how much of this is correct. Sorry for being off track.

This is what I found on one blog

• According to the finance ministry, vehicles imported as CKD kits with pre-assembled engine, gearbox, etc. will attract a duty of 60%
• On the other hand if these components are imported separately for local assembly then they will incur duty as low as 10%

In which category does Yeti fall?

[autoskooll]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Hi Autoskooll,

First, i'd like to Thank you (devdath) for your brisk response to my post. In fact i read your post when i was at the dealer while waiting to visit their stockyard. It was a long wait as they told us that the vehicle had arrived in the city and would be unloaded from the trailer and driven to the stockyard. Anyway when we went to have a look at the car itself(SILVER ELEGANCE) my suspicion's came true and the car was indeed fitted with 16"Moon rims. The Sticker on the bonnet read 2-5-12. There was another (WHITE ELEGANCE) which was manufactured in early June as it read on the bonnet fitted with 16" Nevis right next to it(not visible in the photo). The sales exec told me that they are helpless and they simply sell what the manufactures provide them.He told me that everything comes from the Czech Republic.These rims were registered with this particular car and they can't be swapped or changed for various warranty issues. We told him that we would simply cancel the booking if the rims can't be swapped or changed to the ones(Nevis) advertised in their latest brochure.

This morning however their sales head got in touch with us and informed us that the rims can be changed.We'll be going to have a look at the car again once he confirms the same.

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by autoskooll

First, i'd like to Thank you (devdath) for your brisk response to my post. In fact i read your post when i was at the dealer while waiting to visit their stockyard.

These are usual tricks played by dealers to ensure that customers do not go to the stockyard so that the dealer can hide/cover up small nicks and dents, give the customer the vehicle the dealer wants to push rather than allowing the customer to choose the piece he wants etc etc.

Originally Posted by autoskooll

We told him that we would simply cancel the booking if the rims can't be swapped or changed to the ones(Nevis) advertised in their latest brochure.

This morning however their sales head got in touch with us and informed us that the rims can be changed.We'll be going to have a look at the car again once he confirms the same.

That was your trump card Autoskooll.

Rims registered with the car?? That is hilarious.

Nevertheless, I m happy that you got the vehicle of your choice, and going by the photos, it looks to be a clean piece too.

Enjoy your ride and throw me a party when we meet at Pune the next time.

[pramods]

The rims are registered with car, each VIN number has all the associated feature and accessories on a car, the factory knows what's was on the car with VIN even the mud flaps and other details, have a look at page 1 on this thread I have put most of the details with the codes and what it means which even include the smallest feature that are there including tire manufacturer version. It's going to be done via dealer on their own and it's never be the OEM mentioned in VIN so it's gonna be a dealer addon!
Hope this clear the doubt, if you need all the real details registered in Skoda database worldwide register to Erwin site and put your VIN , remember its a paid access , you can buy 1 day or more access and get all the Skoda original factory manuals too.

-Pramod

[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by pramods

The rims are registered with car, each VIN number has all the associated feature and accessories on a car, the factory knows what's was on the car with VIN even the mud flaps and other details, have a look at page 1 on this thread I have put most of the details with the codes and what it means which even include the smallest feature that are there including tire manufacturer version.

This is very interesting Pramod. Thank you for this information. I do not know of any manufacturer, Indian or Japanese who is so fastidious in tracking a vehicle.

Kudos to Skoda

[pramods]

Last Saturday I tried to what is the worst FE I can get driving on highway, this means you need to be fast enough and for long, the new outer ring road was the place to test this, the worst I got was 12.5 kms/l done over a distance of 100 kms, the average speed was in range of 70kmph, with top speed to be in excess of official mentioned figure!

so if you drive sensibly you get rewarded with 18 kms/l and if you drive recklessly you get 12 kms/l, I have and will prefer the first one, be in control and drive in 2 digit and you will see 18+ kms/l and this is the real time FE that you can get out of this 140bhp 320NM vehicle easily!

-Pramod

PS: Just to let you know this vehicle can do insane speed just don't shift it to 6th gear, keep it in 5th gear and you can touch more that 4.5K RPM at this RPM the speedo will be near to double ton!

[Sachin Bhatt]

No changes that were significant for you to base your decision on. also, the old one, which I have (bought in sep 11) is awesome. However, if you are buying it now, you ought to get the latest....for all you know, this may impact your resale price to an extent if at all. So just simply go ahead and insist on the latest. Am not sure about the relation between the Vin date and the car manufacturing date, but if there is, you should insist on the latest one.

[FuelInjector]

was travelling and got back today. saw an ad in Hindu on discounts from TAFE. called them and one Mr. Shankar picked the phone. he offered me 2.25L discount on 2011 Elegance. On road now comes to ~19.5L.
He also mentioned that Skoda plans to increase their prices by 1L. While on the trip lot of my friends suggested to go for a car that is consistently sold well and has good availability of spare parts.
Do you think this can be an issue with Skoda? am planning to go over to Vinayak motors tomorrow with family as they have not done TD on Yeti.
am a confused man now ~frustrati~.