I no longer own this car. In the end its excessive road noise, creaks and buzzes from the fascia and its harsh suspension totally spoiled this car for me. Skoda may be making a name for itself in catching up with 'the market' but it is, in my view, producing new models too quickly without properly testing them on UK roads. I would probably never buy another Skoda after the experience of the Yeti. In fact excessive road noise seems to be an issue in a number of cars I have driven recently in my search for a car to replace the Yeti.

September 2013. An update may be of some interest. My car hasn't been without problems. I have had a problem with the front suspension, which I have seen referred to elsewhere on the HJ website. A knocking developed at the front of the car which turned out to be a defective 'tie bar' which was replaced under warranty. This made a big difference to the quietness of the car on the road. There seemed to be less road noise after the repair, which is one of my main criticisms of this car. It has so much rubber on the road that poor road surfaces sound in the car. Skoda should pay attention to refinement in this area. I got rid of my Octavia because of excessive road noise. The Yeti is quiet on smooth surfaces. Do they ever test cars in Britain. I have recently completed a round trip to the Costa Brava - 3000 miles - and achieved 53 mpg, on largely super smooth roads.

This brings me to another problem which was with the air conditioning, which failed when I was abroad! It seems that the air-con has a problem with something corroding and leaking. It seems this is not uncommon. The repair was done under warranty, and I gather that the replacement of the 'condenser' would have otherwise been a very expensive repair. One for Yeti owners to look out for! The locking mechanism on the fuel filler failed. The laminate on the badges front and back failed and is the subject of a recall. The laminate has also failed on a replacement badge.

The car has now completed only 21000 miles and I had it serviced at 15000. The engine oil never needs topping up. I do lots of short journeys between lengthy motorway trips, and so far have not experienced any particulate problems. I have not replaced any tyres yet which I suspect will be quite costly. The tyres have 5mm tread depth all round and were 'swapped' at 10000 miles. Spare not used to date. Best things about the car - comfort, driveability, superbright headlights. Worst thing - excessive road noise when driving on noisy road surfaces in UK of which there are many. It could also benefit from a sixth gear, which more powerful models have.

Update June 2012.

Just completed a 2500 miles tour of France and Spain. The car averaged 55 mpg. I am really pleased with this, as I was initially a little disappointed with the fuel consumption. The climate control was on all the time, which I believe can also affect the consumption. The engine has completed 8500 miles so far.
Another bonus was to find how quiet the car can be when running on flat quiet road surfaces as they are in Spain and France. Much of the mileage was on motorways at or near the legal limits.
Road surfaces in the UK unfortunately are VERY NOISY - which I have found with every car I have owned.
The car performed faultlessly, and proved extremely quiet and comfortable, when covering such a high mileage over two and half weeks.

The best thing about this car is its driveability. The high driving position, light steering and road holding inspire confidence. It feels like a much bigger car than its dimensions suggest. It’s Golf ‘roots’ really shine through.

On my short list were the VW Golf, Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series, none of which offered the apparent space, flexibility and practicality of the Yeti. In fact the boot space proved to be far too small, especially with a spare wheel on board.

Pros.
Great to drive
Powerful, responsive and smooth diesel engine
Feels rock solid on the road
Heated seats/ screen washers
Auto closing of windows e.g., if left open and it rains
Interior fit and finish – leather seats and fittings
Headlights the best on any car I have owned that are adjustable via onboard technology for continental driving – neat
Feels very well put together
Good sound system/connectivity/ SD card etc.
Light positive gear change
Nice touches like subtle interior lighting for front central area, boarding lights etc.
Electrically folding door mirrors, which aren’t even mentioned in the brochure and handbooks I have for the car

Cons
No DAB radio
Thirsty if driven hard - around 45mpg.
I have to use a stepladder to wash the roof
Road noise.
Buzzing and creaking from fascia.
Harsh suspension.