Skoda Yeti - Skoda Yeti misleading brochure

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Mon 13 Jun 2011 15:58
Skoda Yeti - Skoda Yeti misleading brochure - norstar

Hi all,

My wife and I ordered a Skoda yeti in January and as part of that, we read the brochure, compared it to the owners manual which was online and ordered it with an Off Road button. This was because the brochure says "it will...hold the car still on a hill start" under the paragraph describing the "Off Road Button". On the page setting out the specific functions of the button, it describes the first as "Uphill Start Assist" which in the owners manual, explains this is where the brakes are actuated on an incline. Couldn't be clearer.

My wife is a bit nervous on hill starts and we intended to use it in hilly terrain a lot so imagine the disappointment when we let go of the brakes on the first hill we found only to roll back almost to oblivion. Turns out that hill control is a cost option separate to the Off Road button. Althought the brochure includes that option, why would I order that when the Off Road button description includes the above?

So Skoda have blamed me for not discussing the brochure in detail with the dealership but have admitted they have lessons to learn about the wording of it. They have grudgingly upped a gesture of goodwill to £250.

Where do I stand? We stopped using the car as soon as we got back from our trip and found the option missing but there are 1,300 miles on the clock. We took delivery of it in May 2011 - about 3 weeks ago. Skoda say we can't reject it, and this is the last offer. If we return it to the dealer for a full refund, we'll have to reorder and wait for another 16 weeks to get a replacement, but we've got a baby so can't really do that. If we take compensation, how much would we expect? Does it matter that it was bought on finance so technically I'm not even the owner for 3 years?

Thanks.

Edited by norstar on 13/06/2011 at 16:05

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Mon 13 Jun 2011 16:42
Skoda Yeti - Skoda Yeti misleading brochure - bonzo dog

Hi Norstar, sorry to hear of your unhappiness with your new car; a few points if I may:

  1. The on-line owners manual is irrelevent since it will usually include every feature possible on a car optional, standard or neither (in many circumstances)
  2. I clearly can't say what it said in the brochure you down-loaded but the current one makes it very clear in a number of areas that the Off Road Button is an optional extra. Of course Skoda may have changed this after comments from others in the same position as you.
  3. I'm pretty sure that brochure specifications cannot be enforced in law.

I'm not trying to rub it in but as I keep saying, if a feature is important to you, get it in writing off the seller.

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Mon 13 Jun 2011 17:02
Skoda Yeti - Skoda Yeti misleading brochure - norstar

Thanks for the reply, but as I said, I ordered the Off Road button and have that installed on the car. The issue is that the brochure clearly says that the Off Road button includes the ability for the car to hold itself on a hill, and when we got it, it doesn't.

The issue about the owners manual is that it clarifies the function headed "Uphill Start Assist" which is vague in the brochure, not clarifying what is specced as standard.

Brochure specifications cannot be enforced in law? That surely can't be right. The brochure is what determines the car you order. If that were true, the brochure could say "this model does 180mph and does 100 to the gallon", you order on that basis then find it does 100 tops and 20mpg. That would make car manufacturers unaccountable for their product descriptions.

I'm no expert, but I would have thought that the basis of an item being not as described derives from the description in the brochure no?

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Mon 13 Jun 2011 19:27
Skoda Yeti - Skoda Yeti misleading brochure - bonzo dog

Sorry Norstar, I've been staring at a computer screen all day (mainly spreadsheets) looking at this forum as a break

I've completely mis-read your post

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Tue 3 Dec 2013 16:21
Skoda Yeti - Skoda Yeti misleading brochure - tick tock

OK, so this post is over 2 years out of date.

This years brochure quotes brakes hold for approx 2 seconds, and then car rolls back. That ain't very long and could be as little as 1 second depending on the angle of slope.

They quote 'active as of a 3% slope'

Hope you got a fair solution to your complaint all those years back.

Buying cars is a bit like buying a house, its 'Buyer Beware' crap.

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