New Yeti owner

[abominable]

Hello folks,

We have just taken delivery of our Yeti 103TDI and we are thrilled with it!
We've gone down to a single car family after many, many years of owning Land Rovers plus smaller cars - our Discovery 3 went to it's new owner last weekend (without any tears being shed by us...) and we also sold our Polo 77TSI as it was just a bit too small to use as a single car.

The Yeti is Terracotta Orange with a black roof - who thinks up these color names? It's really a sort of goldy brown, but looks great! And although we got a great deal from Solitaire, the tow bar cost a king's ransom! And we cannot get the tongue out of the holder, so a visit to the Dealer will be neded. We are looking forward to some gentle bush trips in the North of SA and the Flinders, and we will contribute anything useful to the group.

Thanks for having us,

Tony and Annie.

[Transporter]

Welcome to the forum! It's good to have another SA member here and even with the TDI.

[Blue103TDIDSG]

Hi
Great on getting the Yeti home
The two TONE paint jobs look great
the white with black roof really looks good too (IMHO of course)
Bit of a bummer on the stuck towbar
On the other hand the warranty takes "worry" out of it, so just an inconvenience
I'm guessing that the dealer fitted it as part of the "deal" ??

We pick up our TDI next week - we had to select from availabe stock
Prefered the white with black roof but ended up with Lava Blue
still OK as we got a terrific deal and the dark blue metalic looks good
Nearly fell over when he told us that it was $1600 for the towbar fitted
Talk about an "arm and an leg" - more likely both !!
Anyway, he offered to supply the tow bar at cost, in a box when we picked the car up
Will pay separately and also save on stamp duty
So whilst I get to fit it, I get to save a bit under $800 too
So I guess if it takes all day for my son and self, still a worthwhile saving
Then have to get a Skoda dealer to tweek the electronics so that it knows that it is there
All these electronics are new to me - current wheels are a '94 L/C turbo diesel (bought new)

Been researching the towbar bit for about a week now
Emails all over the place, some didn't reply as usual
But, IMHO, the best is the Westfalia unit
Towbar Video - Skoda Yeti Westfalia Detachable - YouTube
But they are not available here - can get one fron UK but it is approx $240 just for the freight
All up landed with dedicated elecrical kit it is approx $1000 -phew
There is a Westfalia dealer in NZ but they have to do all the ADR thingo to sell them here
and with the expected low numbers they appologised and said that it was not worth the time and cost

Seems that the OEM here in Oz is in fact the Bestbars unit from NZ
I emailed them and they repiled that I would have to get from Skoda
Towbars
fourth sketch down on the RHS of the screen "Vertical Titan Hitch Towbar"

Could you confirm that this is the unit fitted to your car ?
If so, is it out of sight or will it be when you get the goose neck off ?
and will the snap in cover then be able to be refitted ?

Seems the other units available here hang down below the bumper
so the cover will not fit without a cutout
skoda yeti towbar

For that amount of $'s I would like it to be hidden
Hope you can help
And good luck with the Yetti

regards

Chris

[Blue103TDIDSG]

Duh !!!

[abominable]

Hi Chris,

The towbar fitted by the Dealer is the Kiwi one, a bit of bent flat steel tongue like we are used to in Oz, as distinct from the European style which remind me of a dog's unmentionables.
It is fitted into a vertical tube well behind the bumper, so I think the cover will fit when and if we ever get the thing removed! It seems to have a flexible "foam" sleeve to prevent rattles, and the fit is so tight that the dealer must have used a jack to insert it...
Not the most convenient thing to get at either - I have to get down on the ground to remove the retaining pin and it's wire keeper. It could of course be just my aged, inflexible joints but it is still streets ahead of the ergonomic disaster that the Poms used ion the Defender 3!

Next task is to get an electric brake controller fitted. Anyone know of a sparky in Adelaide who could be trusted with the Yeti?

[abominable]

Aha! The secret is revealed - Hidden beneath the bumper, in a position visable only if you lie flat on the ground beneath the car, is a bolt and lock nut!

Tightening this will prevent the tongue rattling - perhaps our friends across the Tasman enjoy a bit of a roll in the dust when fitting or removing the tow bar, but I would have thought that a "removable" towbar could have been made a bit easier.

Thanks to Chris and Tony at Solitaire Service for diagnosing the problem over the phone!

Cheers,
Tony

[Carla]

Aha! The secret is revealed - Hidden beneath the bumper, in a position visable only if you lie flat on the ground beneath the car, is a bolt...
Tony

Hi. We have the same tow bar on our yeti, fitted by our dealer in Sydney. Thanks for explaining what the bolt is for. We picked up the car with the tow bar detatched, 'found' the bolt when we couldn't slide the bar into place and were thinking its main function was to make life difficult!
Did your dealer manage to set the codes correctly? Our rear sensors don't automatically switch off when we attach a trailer and there is no picture of the trailer on the display, so we think not... They're going to take a look some time (not pressing for us) but they seemed surprised when I sent a (web-sourced) photo of an example of the trailer on the display, so I'm not certain they're familiar with what it should do or how to set it. (May have just been who I spoke to.) Anyway, it would be good to know of an Australian dealer who definitely knows the correct coding, just in case we run into difficulty with it.
Hope you enjoy your new Yeti as much as we do.