UKC

Although the Octavia is the holy grail of UKC car ownership, I'm considering a Yeti, probably the 2.0 4WD version.

Seems to be a reasonable combination of ground clearance (Local roads flood regularly and are heavily potholed) and decent boot for gear/dog, rather than a bulky hatchback like many of the 'SUV' types.

Anyone got any opinions on the Yeti? (I know it's a planet killer but thats offset by no kids and no future family tree to hoover up resources).

In reply to Ridge:

Take a careful look - the boot is not that big unless you drop the back seats. My next door neighbour has one - he really likes it and it has been very reliable with not a single problem in 3 years

I have an Octavia scout so 4x4 with as much ground clearance as the yeti but a much bigger boot 

In reply to raincloud:

Hello, long time Yeti owner here (from 2010).

Removing (or not having in the first place) the spare wheel gives about 25% more boot space.  You can also slide the rear seats forward to increase the space without actually folding them.

I tend to agree, though, that putting dog and gear in the boot with the rear seats up wouldn't be ideal.  But if it's just you and the dog then the seats could be down, or even removed altogether.  Or the gear could go on the rear seats.  One of the nice things about the Yeti is that it offers a number of different configuration options to make the most of the space inside quite a compact overall package.

At the end of the day, though, it's certainly not got the interior space of the Octavia estate.

In reply to raincloud:

I sleep in the back of my Scout regularly but I doubt if I could stretch out in a Yeti. And the rake of the rear window means you can see the stars as you lie in bed  

In reply to Ridge:

Thanks for the prompt responses. The flat, rather than sloping rear door seems to give a more useable load space than other similar sized cars, (but I'll look in more detail before buying) and I really like the configurable rear seats (just me, Mrs Ridge and the hound for most of the time, and would probably remove the smaller rear seat when carrying a couple of mates. I think on balance the ability to fully remove rear seats and use as a small van would be more useful than the octavia estate most of the time.

What are the running costs on a 4x4 scout? Neighbour has a yeti and claims it's fairly frugal on diesel.

In reply to Ridge:

I had Yeti 4x4 TDI and found it very unpleasant to live with, the engine is very rough but I did get about 42 mpg which was ok, long journeys was a pain as suspension firm and noisy, don't think you could sleep in the rear with the seats removed unless you was very short and the seats are very heavy, all in all I hated it.

In reply to Ridge:

Loved my Yeti. Not a big car but surprisingly spacious for its size. I very often used it as you suggest, as a van.

Consider the petrol variants. I had the 1.2L TSi and it was surprisingly nippy and frugal. Only ever felt underpowered with five adults on steep hills.

In reply to Ridge:

Not exactly like for like but Honest John's  "real" mpg figures are  43.6 for Yeti 140 4x4 and 49.6 for Scout 150. I assume the reason there's no real comparison is because the Yeti has been repaced by the Karoq.

In reply to Ridge:

Had a 2014 diesel 4x4 and id buy another in a heartbeat ( in fact I'm thinking of getting a second hand final production model when my current pcp runs out).

It ticked so many boxes for me space, power, cheeky looks, solid feel, boxy shape and the handling was awesome.

OK, it's not doing to swallow a whole family and gear in it but with a bit of careful packing (vertical instead of horizontal) it's surprising how much you can get in.

Was getting about 45-50 mpg on a long run. 

Gutted I haven't got one now. 😔 

In reply to Ridge:

Similar tale to when I foolishly bought a Landcruiser many years back. It looked big and capable but poor driving experience really and in terms of interior space SO much less room than the MPV I ultimately changed it for despite similar external dimensions.

In reply to Ridge: > What are the running costs on a 4x4 scout? Neighbour has a yeti and claims it's fairly frugal on diesel.

I've done ~40k miles in a Yeti 4x4 TDI 2.0/150 and previously had an Octy 4x4 TDI 2.0/140 (less-posh version of Scout, sadly now discontinued). Brim-to-brim mpg in the Yeti is nearly always 45-48 for a mix of motorway and rural driving, not hanging about. The Octy did 45 to 50+ mpg, and an Octy with the newer engine would presumably be slightly more frugal.

As others have said, you can get a surprising amount into the back of a Yeti considering it's no longer than a Golf.

In reply to Ridge:

My mate has a Yeti and he loves it. Plenty of room for several bouldering mats.

Its also quite nippy, but this is probably more to do with his heavy foot and desire to be as close to the car in front.

In reply to Run_Ross_Run:

The Yeti is a very practical car for its Golf+ footprint.  But there is barely any hatchback of  comparable size and price that does not handle better. As for awesome? A McLaren’s handling is awesome. A well-sorted Cayman is awesome. A Yeti, however? Better than a Qashqai, perhaps, but that’s as far as it goes.

Decent overall package though

In reply to Ridge:

Thanks for all the responses, (including the "hated it" minority report from Robert Hutton - will try and get a decent test drive or two).

Strikes me as the best compromise for a 2 adult + 1 dog family in terms of versatility. We have a look at the Scout though, looks like a decent alternative.

In reply to BnB:

. A Yeti, however? Better than a Qashqai, perhaps, but that’s as far as it goes.

Have you driven one? 😉 

In reply to Run_Ross_Run:

I wouldn’t have made that comment if I had not 😊

In reply to Ridge:

Hired one on holiday a while back (or rather, was given one as an upgrade...).

Can't remember the specs, but to mirror others comments, it's surprisingly smaller in terms of load space than you'd expect.

This was pre-kids, but still 2x adults with 2x suitcases (one for clothes, one for climbing gear) took up the back seat and boot.

In reply to Ridge:

I have a 2.0 4x4 16 plate and love it. Plenty space in the back, especially if you know how to organise/remove the back seats. 2 of us always head off with camping, walking, climbing gear, bbq, wood, charcoal, bloody big German Shepherd etc and have absolutely no issues with space.

Great in snow, motorways, single track roads. Bought it in Septemberish and have put 12k miles on it already.

On long motorway journeys, I stick the cruise control on at 60 and get over 50mpg fully loaded with above kit.

It's a very happy 10/10 from me

In reply to Ridge:

Some friends like and use their's a lot, but I've always been struck by how small (or smaller than expected) inside it seems to be. 

In reply to Ridge:

The photo here: https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/46938859615_5fd1290e71_b.jpg shows my first Yeti loaded up with "stuff" from my Dad's house that we were donating to a local charity shop.  All three rear seats have been removed* but the spare wheel is still in place under the raised boot floor.  Loading was a sporadic process over a few hours but it took myself and two hefty fellows at the charity shop warehouse a fair wee while to get it all unloaded!

Run_Ross_Run is correct that the 'secret' to loading the boot with the rear sets in place is to "think vertical" - it doesn't have a cavernous maw that you can just chuck stuff in to willy-nilly like the Octavia estate.  But then it is 18" shorter than the Octy estate (although based on the same platform as the Mk2 Octy).  That was a deciding factor when we were shopping for a new car in 2010: I was keen on the Octy Scout but the missus found it too big to drive with confidence, and was much more comfortable with the size - and the higher seating position - of the Yeti.

As rif says, it can carry a decent amount of stuff for a car of its size.  I'm a little surprised at Durbs' account of not being able to get two suitcases in the boot.  Again, think vertical, and use the flexibility to gain space if the boot if necessary - specifically in that case I suspect that sliding the rear seats forward might have helped, but you won't necessarily know about/how to do that in a rental car.

One of the things I absolutely love about my Yeti is its small turning circle - so often the difference between a swift u-turn and a significantly less swift and more obstructive three-point turn.  It's one of the reasons why I bought another one when the first one was (a) getting on a bit and (b) at risk of being banned from LEZs due to only having a Euro 5 engine.

* Personally, I don't find the seats particularly heavy.  They're definitely lighter than my towball fit bike carrier!

In reply to Martin W:

Cheers for the photos! Obviously I need to have a detailed measure but that looks more than adequate for a 2 adult 1 dog family.

In reply to Ridge:

Had one for five years, a 4WD TDI and would make the following criticism:

Boot space is actually rather lacking, and less than an Octavia - particularly if you have a spare wheel installed which I would recommend for any long trip.

Otherwise it's been an excellent vehicle.

In reply to planetmarshall:

See my post earlier - the Yeti is 18" shorter than the Octy.  It's bound to have less boot space.  It is, however, quite cunning at providing a decent amount of carrying space within its overall size constraints.

Re the spare wheel: worth pointing out that it doesn't take up the whole of the space under the raised boot floor.  A couple of polystyrene boxes fit around the wheel (and over the Adblue tank) and you can squirrel stuff away in those as well.  (The tool kit for the spare wheel fits inside the wheel).  The boot floor even has fold-up hatches to allow access to the contents of said boxes without having to lift the entire floor, so you don't need to empty the boot completely to get in to them.  I find them very handy for stuff that I want to carry around "just in case" without it cluttering up the boot or other areas of the car - stuff like emergency warning triangle, extra hi-viz jackets, torch, top-up bottle of screenwash, ice scraper and such like.

And I find the door pockets surprisingly large, too!

In reply to Martin W:

What, no ice scraper in with the filler cap?

In reply to Tom Valentine:

Nope.  Never come across that before.  The filler cap does have cut-outs around its rim which allow you to 'park' it on the filler flap rather than leaving it to dangle and potentially drip diesel on your paintwork or, worse, the floor.  It's even documented in the user manual (but who ever reads that, especially for something as blindingly obvious as putting fuel in?)

Another personal observation about the raised boot floor when you have the spare wheel: it means that when loading and unloading the boot you don't have to lift heavy bags or the like up and over the boot lip while leaning over.  With my advancing years, and the increasingly dodgy state of my musculo-skeletal system, that's quite a boon.  (The spare wheel is a 205/60R16 so about 8" deep; not having it therefore leaves a reasonably high lip inside the boot.)

The boot floor being level with the boot lip also means that I can sit on the edge of the boot to put my walking boots on without risking toppling over backwards into the boot!  In fact, If I didn't have the spare wheel then I would probably have opted for the variable boot floor for those very two reasons:

https://eshop.skoda-auto.com/cz/en/b2c/false-boot-floor-for-yeti-daa630001x

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/344087-variable-boot-floor/?do=findCo...

In reply to Martin W:

I only asked because my wife's Rapid Spaceback has one.

As regards the boot floor, the drop in the Octavia when the seats were folded flat was  was  substantial so with my very limited DIY skills and using the boot-tray as a template I fashioned a false floor out of MDF and  60mm x35mm timber. The result is good enough to sleep on.